An Australian woman who walked away from her established life and moved to Italy alone at 40 has revealed the true costs behind the huge move as more people look to escape to the European country.
Stefanie Reilly, who now runs a business helping people navigate a move to Italy, told Yahoo News that a growing cohort of people are contacting her about escaping Australia.
She has since spoken to more than 100 Australians considering doing the same — and around two-thirds are women.
The majority are in their 40s and 50s and are questioning what they want the next 10 or 20 years of their life to look like.
Some are coming out of relationships, others have older children or more flexible careers, while others haven’t experienced any major life upheaval at all.
“They’ve just reached a point where they’re questioning whether they want to keep doing the same thing for the next 10 or 20 years,” Stefanie said.
“There doesn’t always have to be some huge event that makes you want to change your life.
“Sometimes you just decide you want to experience something else.”
The decision to start again overseas
For years, Stefanie had talked about living in Italy and properly learning the language, but there was always a reason not to.
After more than a year in Italy, Stefanie Reilly says she has no regrets about making the move at 40. Source: Supplied
She had her own company, close friends, family and an established life in Melbourne.
Then, after a trip to Europe in 2025 coincided with the end of a relationship and some career restlessness, she began looking at her future differently.
“I was close to 40 and suddenly my future didn’t look like I had pictured,” she said.
Rather than trying to recreate her life in Victoria’s capital, she decided to do something completely different.
“I decided I could either try to recreate things again in Melbourne, or I could do something completely different and change things up.”
A month after turning 40, she moved to Italy alone.
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Stefanie Reilly says around two-thirds of the more than 100 Australians who have contacted her about moving to Italy are women. Source: Supplied
She arrived in February 2025 and eventually settled in Lecce, Puglia, where she completed the process of obtaining Italian citizenship through her Italian mother.
“I wasn’t escaping a bad life. I had a good life in Australia. I’d just reached a point where I was ready to do something completely different,” she said.
The financial reality of moving overseas
Moving her life from Melbourne to Italy came with a string of costs Stefanie hadn’t fully anticipated.
She spent about $1,800 on her flight, $800 for help packing up her home, and another $500 on moving costs.
Her Italian citizenship process cost more than $6,000, while setting up her new home meant paying $1,300 a month (€800) a month in rent, plus an agency fee and two months’ rent upfront.
She also underestimated how little she would work initially, spending much of her first seven months living off savings and freelance work.
“You’re basically setting your whole life up again in another country, and it all adds up,” she said.
Her housing costs are now considerably lower than in Melbourne, where she was paying nearly double for a one-bedroom apartment in South Yarra.
The reality behind the dream
Stefanie’s own experience eventually led her to launch To Italy & Back, helping others navigate the practicalities of relocating.
But she is quick to warn that moving overseas isn’t an extended holiday.
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Stefanie Reilly eventually settled in Lecce, Puglia, where she completed her Italian citizenship process and began building a new life. Source: Supplied
“The biggest misconception is probably that moving to Italy means your life suddenly becomes an extended Italian holiday,” she said.
“Eventually, you still have deadlines, bills, washing, bureaucracy and bad days — you just have them with the backdrop of a piazza instead.”
Stefanie has experienced loneliness, heartbreak and moments of questioning her decision, but has also built a business, travelled and made new friends.
More than a year on, she knows she made the right choice, with a message for women wondering if it’s too late.
“You’re absolutely not,” she stressed.
“I moved here at 40, and I’m still figuring it out as I go.”
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