Times New Roman: How We Quit Our Jobs, Gave Away Our Stuff & Moved to Italy

Times New Roman is a true account of lifelong dreams to live abroad, experience another culture, complete an education and alter two career paths. 

When Martha first met John she overheard him musing about quitting his job and living in a box on a beach in Mexico. She was immediately skeptical, but secretly intrigued. Fast forward two years and they are enjoying their honeymoon in Mexico. Before marrying, they had discussed the “box on the beach” idea endlessly. The “box” was upgraded to a more stable dwelling and European countries were included in their pool of choices.

They had enough money saved to bum around for a while, but then what? John was 42 and Martha was 37, too old to throw caution to the wind, too young to retire. Martha wanted to live somewhere and not feel like a tourist in city after city. She wanted to know her neighbors and understand what their lives were like. They needed a plan that would allow them to experience another culture, but also prepare them for future earnings. 

In Times New Roman, you will learn what that plan entailed, how they decided where to go and how they funded it themselves. Using their experiences as a backdrop, Times New Roman focuses on modern life in the Eternal City. By adapting their lifestyle, they learned how to live, eat, shop, cook and dress as the Romans do. And either through osmosis or out of necessity, they picked up some Italian behaviors they never expected. 

“…a delightful, witty, and intimate account of a real Italian adventure. From Miller’s descriptions of the food they eat and the tiny apartment they rent, to the challenging decisions they make along the way, readers will feel like they’re right there with them, enjoying the ride.”
–Travis Neighbor Ward, Author of Living, Studying, and Working in Italy

“…You’ll taste the gelato, feel the cobblestones under your feet, and start daydreaming about quitting your job to move to Italy too!" 
— Laura Vanderkam, Author of I Know How She Does It,168 Hours, and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. www.lauravanderkam.com.

"It is 100% delightful.  Well written, vibrant details...I have to restrain myself from getting online, looking for flights to Italy. ...immense pleasure in a delightfully fun read.
Gretchen Cook, Editor & Publisher of Parents & Kids Magazine, Mississippi

“A delight for the senses! Martha Miller’s vivid anecdotes recounting her nearly two-year sojourn in Rome shows us it is possible to live our dreams. She manages in her deft accounts to capture the human condition in its cultural idiosyncrasy, as well as in its universality.”

Molly Mezzetti Zaldivar, PhD, Coordinator of Italian Studies
The University of Texas at San Antonio

Author Bio
Martha Miller is a former retail marketing executive turned freelance writer and essayist.  Her work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, Wanted in Rome, LifeinItaly.com, GoNomad.com, Go World Travel, International Living, Family Circle, Parents, The Christian Science Monitor and The Writer. Her personal essays and syndicated columns, Living Greenly and Living Online, have been published in regional publications across the United States.