After getting my first job at 14 years old, I became hardwired to feel like my life would be a combination of school, work, and limited play until I retired. That mindset followed me everywhere, including across the Atlantic, when my husband, children, and I moved from Cleveland to Rome in 2014.

After spending time in Italy's capital, we decided to move our family farther south to Mormanno — a quiet town tucked in the mountains with less than 3,000 people — and have been there since. When we first moved, I expected to experience culture shocks in relation to the language, the food, and maybe even the fashion. What I didn't expect, however, was to come face-to-face with just how deeply American my relationship to rest really was.