A Dose of Reality - ExpatTalk.com

My favorite Italy information forum is at http://www.expattalk.com/. It is the forum attached to an amazing website for Expats in Italy, in particular. There is nothing like reading the dialog between people who have already moved there, and who are slogging through Italy's particular challenges each day.
My husband and I have wanted to move our lives there since we were married. Most days, we still do. But each day and each time I lurk on the ExpatTalk.com forums, I seem to put new conditions on that wish. Many of those conditions fall under the heading of wanting to be insanely wealthy before we move, since even folks with great credentials, experience, and connections never seem to get truly "comfortable" (in the financial sense of the word). We're definitely not wealthy (by American standards), but we're still trying - both the earning it kind of trying and the winning it in the lottery kind of trying. The desire for that kind of wealth is really grounded in Italy's sky-high unemployment rate. If we move, we need to be able to support our family.
The other umbrella topic that is of great concern is the bureaucracy - we complain over here about, for instance, standing in line for one hour at the DMV and needing to provide identification (the forms of which have always been well-defined and are not negotiable) . Those of you who know what the Italian bureaucracy is like, understand that the American version of being "inconvenienced by government" is ridiculously laughable compared to what the Italians deal with every day. You have not jumped through hoops, been given random and changeable "rules", or really been inconvenienced until you've had to apply for anything over there. I'm not sure I have that kind of patience.
Clearly, I have a lot of attitude adjustment to do before I get anywhere close to moving.