Why I Moved From Texas to Italy Right Before Retirement

• Alain Bruton moved to Italy in 2022 after years of visiting the twice-yearly design festival in Venice.
• The designer moved from a $1,200 studio in Houston to a three-bedroom home in Venice that cost about $1,070.
• He said it would be beneficial for him and Venice to contribute to Venice’s culture before he retires.

This as-told essay is based on a conversation with Alain Bruton, 59, about his decision to move to Venice, Italy in 2022. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born in Dallas to Irish parents. After graduating from college, he moved to New York and became a professor of architecture and interior design at Parsons College.

After September 11th, I finally decided to leave because I am a European citizen. I was right next to it in Tribeca. This is what I thought. “Well, I’ll just do it. I can’t afford that. I don’t know when I’ll do it, but I’ll definitely do it.”

I was offered a program in Houston in 2016, so I went to the University of Houston and served as the Director of Interior Architecture.

Being in Houston at the time of George Floyd and the growing polarization of American politics, I was concerned about the political and economic direction of the country.

I’ve been single for years, but I didn’t like the American healthcare system. It’s not about health or a system. Although I had very comprehensive insurance, it was difficult to complete the paperwork and manage the insurance. I don’t want to have to deal with getting older and getting sick on my own.

Academia didn’t provide the retirement I wanted.

As an academic, I realized that I wasn’t going to make any more money. My retirement account was fine, and my retirement account contributions from college were fine, but it doesn’t provide me with enough retirement money to actually be able to build a life in America. was.

I’m 59 years old. Do I wait until I’m 63 and retire before moving to Venice, or do I do it now? I’ve talked to a lot of people about this and they say it’s better to go while you’re young. Because I get to meet people, I get to work and contribute, and I don’t look like a retired person. I want to have a nice dinner.

I was encouraged that it would be better to accumulate a wealth of experience and play an active role as a social contributor even in old age.

I thought smart people would wait until they were 62 or 63 to move abroad, spend another five years in college, and then get a better 401(k) deal. I didn’t have a pension plan or anything, so everything was in a 401(k).

I had only been to Venice once, so I was nervous to go.

In 2008, I lived and worked here for several months as I was the exhibition designer for the U.S. pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. After that, he came here every two years for about a week for the Architecture Biennale, and each time he came, he fell in love with the city even more. I began to think of this city as a place where I could live and work.

In the summer of 2021, I traveled and visited six places in Ireland that I had decided I could live in: Dublin, Cork, and Galway. I went to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. I looked into Vienna and Zurich. And the trip ended here in Venice, which was clearly the right thing to do.

I was nervous about moving to Venice because it is a very special place. I have 2 reservations. One is that I previously worked with foreign customers here as a foreigner. I didn’t know that I could get Italian customers or actually build a business here.

And two, I’ve been here before during certain seasons (mostly the good ones), but I’ve never been here during the winter months. The city floods and all sorts of strange things happen.

I didn’t know enough about it from a climate, social, or business perspective to think it was actually viable. I needed to be here to actually ask and answer these questions.

When I got here, I opened my design studio APB: All Projects Being and already had my first client.

For me, the cost of living in Venice is cheaper than in the US

Venice is much more reasonable in every way. It’s a walking city. There are boats, but no cars. A bus is a boat. He is a bass boater and you can buy a one-month pass for 30 euros (about $32) and go as many times as you like.

In Houston, I was renting a beautiful 700-square-foot, one-bedroom, mid-century modern gem with a small courtyard and pool for about $1,200 a month.

I have a huge 1,300 sq ft three bedroom house here that I pay €1,000 and €200 a month as a utility deposit.

My studio is currently working on A game that unites people through conversation, So-called salon. Venice is perfect for this project because it’s a place where people come to have conversations.

Venice is a place full of cultural producers. It takes time to settle down and slowly establish that you are here to stay. Then suddenly everyone will be happy and accepting of you.