I'm back in the US, and back on my rightful path. All my energies are currently directed at bringing together so many seemingly unrelated threads into a trucker's hitch of a national visa to Italy.

This journey is not for the faint of heart!

I started my laser-focused journey (this time!) in February, with a blast of CVs to English schools throughout Italy that meet my requirements of teaching adult/corporate clients. The barrage led to a trickle of email responses over several months, and eventually to an intermittent drip of requests for interviews.

Once in the interviews, it became evident that many schools are taking the "if we ignore Brexit, it won't hurt us" route. Others have been tracking the discussions about visa reciprocity, but are simply paralyzed to make the first step of thousand miles. Many are content to let others be the pioneers of visas for English teachers. But through perseverance I finally found a (woman-owned - girls rock!) school that was ready to tackle the initial effort of adding a freelance teacher (who needs a visa!) to their staff.

Throughout March and April I had sought, and finally found, an immigration attorney (another female!) who also recognized the coming crunch of filling English-speaking needs in the EU from a pool in which GB workers are no longer visa-free.

And so I brought together my Society of Sisters and we have been busily working through the steps needed to create a contract which can be "certified" by the Italian government as valid, which I will then used in my visa application package.

Oh, trust me, I've dumbed this explanation way down! There were dozens of road blocks I had to climb over or go around. There is so much bureaucracy, so many documents that must be translated (certified!), signed in triplicate, original copies sent to attorneys and various government agencies, appointments with several government agencies.

Factor the required unwavering focus in chasing the visa with the ins and outs of everyday life -- errands and expirations and eye appointments -- and a person could quickly become overwhelmed.

But I can almost see the promised land, and nothing will keep me wandering the wilderness!

I'll keep ya posted.