A young woman who left New York City behind to live the good life in the Italian metropolis of Milan has opened up about the vast improvements in her day-to-day life.
Madalyn Monto, 25, grew up outside of NYC and had always planned on moving there in her adult life, according to an essay about her journey in Business Insider.
After college in San Diego, it seemed her plans were right on track as she moved to the Big Apple to begin a job in marketing.
But, as she quickly discovered, the lifestyle wasn’t what she expected.
Growing up outside of New York City, Madalyn Monto, 25, never expected to settle in Italy
But, after NYC’s hustle culture proved soul-sucking, she decided to move to Milan with her Italian boyfriend
‘I had always imagined New York was like, “work hard, play hard,” she told the outlet. ‘I know people there tend to be workaholics, but I thought there had to be a limit somewhere.’
Instead, given her workplace’s hybrid schedule, she found that she could be ‘accessed all hours of the day’ – and new tasks for work arrived incessantly through her notifications.
‘I could access my computer all hours of the day, and I also could be accessed all hours of the day,’ she recalled.
As her stress increased alongside the workload, she and boyfriend Allesandro, who is from Italy, started discussing the possibility of making a change – in the form of relocating to Milan.
‘It was a long discussion we had, weighing the pros and cons of each location,’ Madalyn explained, adding that their ‘decision’ was ultimately based on the superior quality of life and cost of living in Milan.
Madalyn would soon find out for herself how much more Italian culture supports work-life balance, beginning with the interview process for a Milan-based job.
In a viral TikTok, she narrated the pleasantly surprising interaction with her then-would-be employer.
‘I just came from a job interview where at the end they asked me if I had any upcoming trips planned or whatnot that they need to know about in case they hire.’
While she’d always thought she’d settle in New York City, she was disappointed how little she was able to enjoy life with a full-time job in marketing
In Milan, Madalyn was impressed at how much cheaper it was to dine out
She then rattled off a number of days – and weeks-long trips – she had planned.
They then stopped her, and explained that they only needed to know if she planned to be absent from work for a month or more at a time in the near future.
‘”Listen, we don’t care about trips that are a week long, two weeks. We care about things that are like a month. Are you going to need a month off anytime soon?”‘ Madalyn recalled the conversation going.
In contrast, Madalyn continued, asking for 30 minutes off from work for a dentist appointment months in advance at her old workplace might have still been deemed a ‘problem’ by her NYC employers.
‘And if it’s not a “problem,” you’re going to have to probably work early that day, and maybe work late that day, and not have a lunch break,’ she divulged.
At other stages in her interviewing process for a job in Milan, Madalyn recalled to BI of disclosing her planned vacations upfront: ‘I was really hesitant to the point where I was like, “I don’t have to go if you don’t want me to go. I’ll just tell them I couldn’t make it.”‘
She further was wowed at how much the culture emphasizes leisure time – even in the middle of the workday
But she recalled that her interviewers told her, ‘”No, no, go — we don’t care. That’s not important. You’re going to go on these trips. You’re going to enjoy them, you’re going to go on the school ones, you’re going to go on the vacation ones.”‘
And it seems that such values are reflected in the laws of each respective nation.
The United States does not legally require businesses to offer any vacation days to their employees (though on average workers get 11 paid vacation days per year).
In contrast, Italian companies are required by law to give full-time employees 20 vacation days annually – not including public holidays.
On top of that, Madalyn was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was regularly able to meet her boyfriend for long, leisurely lunches during the workday.
In Italy, Madalyn also enjoys four weeks of annual paid vacation time – the minimum as mandated by law in the country
Back in NYC, she always ate at her desk, asking herself, ‘How fast can I eat my food?’
While Milan is considered ‘hectic’ in the context of Italy, it’s still vastly more laid-back than the American business hub when it comes to embracing leisure time.
Madalyn noted that she frequently observed people enjoying wine over weekday lunchtimes, and no one every seemed to be in a hurry.
Servers ‘don’t give you the bill at a restaurant if you don’t ask for it – because they want you to stay there and enjoy it yourself for as long as you want to,’ she reflected.
And the cheaper pricing means getting to take advantage of it all that much more.
‘I was working a good job in New York and made a decent salary, but I wasn’t doing as much just because I was always exhausted or everything was so expensive,’ Madalyn elaborated.
‘Even for a happy hour, it would cost me a minimum of $25 to get a drink, a snack, and a tip versus here, if I want to go out somewhere, I can go and get a glass of wine for €4’ – which is less than $4.50.
‘Right now, it’s so nice to be able to enjoy our lives more,’ Madalyn added.
