It wouldn't feel right to put out a bunch of episodes centered on how to live in Italy without also mentioning some of the things that can make Italy a difficult country to live in. We don't go super in-depth into any of these topics, instead just offering some anecdotal and experience-based information (with actual research as well, to be clear) on freedom of speech/press, Corruption and Trash, Racism, and Fascism.

You might be able to tell that we're very cautious about the way we speak, and this is due to not wanting to be sued for saying something that someone else might take as slander. Though in case it isn't crystal clear from this episode: Fascism = Bad and Italy allowing those elements to forment and grow in power = Really Bad.

In this episode we mention a bakery, but didn't have in our notes the exact quote. The bakery is called "L'assalto ai Forni" or "The assault on the ovens" in Ascoli Piceno.

The original quote on their sign for Liberation Day was "25 aprile: buono come il pane, bello come l'antifascismo" meaning "April 25: as good as bread, as beautiful as anti-fascism."

If there's any part of this episode you'd like to know more about, please don't hesitate to reach out and ask!

And for those of you who prefer to just listen to episodes about what to see and where to eat, fear not! We shall return to those soon, we just wanted to wrap up the "Living in Italy" segment first.

Thank you for listening!

Only a Bag

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Deviating slightly from the episode we expected to make, this week we're talking about the Amalfi Coast. We've touched on it slightly before, but with the summer season starting to ramp up, we wanted to talk about how to get to this popular summer destination, things to look out for, some pastries to try, and how to not get trapped out there!

If you'd like to support Only A Bag and you're headed to the Amalfi Coast (or anywhere!) you can use our Booking.com link to book your next trip!

And if you'd like to donate, you can do so at our Ko-fi (pronounced "coffee"), linked here.

Thank you so much for listening!

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Bluesky

To round up our series of episodes about visas, today we're talking about the digital nomad and remote worker visas. They are possibly the most complicated of the visas available mostly because there is less information about to how receive these visas compared to others like the student visa or elective residency visa. For more information on all of the visas we've talked about you can check out Nathaniel's article "How to Move to Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Americans (2025)."

For more info about being a digital nomad in Italy check out some of our other articles here.

In this episode we mention the list of "highly skilled" jobs that you must fall into to be approved for the digital nomad visa. You can find the list on the official government website here.

At the beginning of this episode we mention the sad news of the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21. We also touch on how the recently announced (and unrelated) Venice tourist tax could affect your travel this summer. Plus, we received a very helpful tip from a listener after last week's episode. They pointed out that, in March, Italy announced a decree which could affect the Jus Sanginis (or birthright visa) requirements. We will keep you updated with that as the final decision will be made in May.

If you'd like to support the podcast you can donate to us on ⁠Ko-fi⁠. This fund will help us buy new equipment for the podcast, like new mics! For more information or to contact us you can go to onlyabag.com!

Thank you all so much for listening!