“I was born at the base hospital, and we lived in Page Manor,” Beall said. “After my dad finished his commitment to the Air Force, he went into civil service, and we stayed in Dayton.
A 1980 graduate of Stebbins High School, Beall wasn’t sure what he would do after high school. Then a friend suggested he go see his father, who was an Air Force Recruiter. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I joined the Air Force and spent 22 years travelling the world,” Beall said.
And during his time in the service, he ended up being stationed in Italy. Divorced with two children, he was happy to meet Susan, his wife-to-be, during that time.
Beall went to several colleges, including Troy State University and the University of Maryland, majoring in general studies. After he retired from the Air Force, he moved to New Orleans in 2002, taking a job with a multi-line car dealership.
“I had family in New Orleans, so I stayed there and ended up going out on my own and doing forensic analysis for car crashes to hopefully prevent court cases,” Beall said.
Beall returned to Ohio in 2005 to be closer to his son and daughter, both living in Dayton.
Then in 2007, Beall sold everything he owned and decided to move to Italy.
“Susan and I were doing the long-distance relationship thing,” Beall said. “It was just easier for me to come here, and I haven’t looked back.”
Today Beall lives about an hour northeast of Venice in the Dolomites area — a very rural region of northern Italy. He works part-time at Aviano Air Base, ordering and receiving jet fuel and has done that for five years. Although he is a full-time resident in Italy, he retains his United States citizenship and also collects his retirement and social security income.
“Susan was born in Sidney, Australia,” Beall said. “But she moved back to her family’s home in Italy when she was 14.”
And that is where the couple eventually met, fell in love and decided to live full time together.
“I really love it here every single day,” Beall said. “There is a much slower pace to life — more like the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. No one is in a big hurry to do anything.”
Northern Italy differs from the south significantly, which is home to larger cities like Rome and Naples. Beall describes his small community as “all countryside, a lot of agriculture and a very slow pace of life.”
“We have a big German influence up here and it’s really like two different countries,” Beall said. “People here keep to themselves and are more reserved.”
Aviano Air Base is a large employer and there are many Americans stationed there, so the population is diverse. Beall knows some Italian (enough to get by) but relies on his wife to help him navigate the rest. And he said the secret to living in Italy successfully is to not have a debt, contrary to the American way of living.
The couple enjoys traveling around Europe since most everything is within an easy day’s drive.
“We spent Memorial Day weekend in Austria,” Beall said. “It’s cheap and the borders are open. You go where you want, and we often drive around without a plan. Type A people have a difficult time here because there really is no structure.”
Beall and his wife visit the US annually. His son has a home renovation business in Huber Heights and his daughter is in the Air Force stationed at Wright Patterson AFB. He has two grandchildren in the local area.
“There are certainly a lot of differences,” Beall said. “But the biggest difference is the food because it’s so fresh and pure.”
Beall said he notices the difference in the food quality shortly after returning to the US. The additives and preservatives affect his body, and he notices more fatigue and bloating.
“Here you pick up vegetables, fruits and meats all fresh,” Beall said. “We don’t have a lot of big supermarkets, especially here. It’s all mom-and-pop type places.”
Living in a foreign country has certainly required adjustment, but Beall said he loves what he is doing — working part time to keep his mind active with no stress.
“It’s really a simple life,” Beall said. “I’ve made mistakes in my life, but I have no regrets about moving here. We will just see where the meandering path takes us.”
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