Josh & Sarah Brown & 9 Kids in Veneto, Italy
with House Hunters International
"Josh and Sarah Brown fell in love with Italy during their European honeymoon fifteen years ago. Now they've decided to leave behind their fast paced lifestyle in Indiana and return to the peaceful region of Veneto, Italy. Except this time, they're bringing along their nine children. Finding a home to accommodate eleven people in the small villages that dot the countryside is a huge challenge for real estate agent Sabine, and the family's tight budget might leave them bursting at the seams. See if the Browns can find their dream home on the biggest House Hunters International adventure yet." - HGTV
   |  Our Story It was Spring of 2012 when My husband and I gathered our eight kids together and announced that we were planning a trip to Italy to find a new place to live. I was expecting a new baby in December, so we had to get serious about moving. In September Josh and I brought the two oldest children with us to go “House Hunting” in Italy. While we were in the process of deciding to move to Italy we were contacted by one of the producers of the HGTV Show “House Hunters International”. The producers wanted to film our adventure for their show – I thought the offer was some kind of scam. It wasn’t a scam. They were serious. Friends and strangers have often asked us when our family of 11 would be on Reality TV. We used to laugh, but now we can tell you that the TV show is set to run Feb 26, 2014! |
- HGTV LINK: http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/italian-dream-for-party-of-eleven-in-veneto/index.html
- TUNE IN: February 26, 2014 - 10:30 PM e/p and February 26, 2014 - 1:30 AM e/p
In October of 2012, we sold the 15 passenger van, got visas, had a good bye party, rented out our house in Indiana, Packed up half a ton of luggage and boarded an Airplane. We crossed the ocean while we were sleeping. We arrived in Italy on November 1st. Baby Ember was born 6 weeks later. After living in the apartment in Montebelluna for a few months we were ready to go house hunting again.
House Hunters International met us at the Train Station in Montebelluna, Italy. They followed us around for FOUR days of filming. They filmed our family dragging "half a ton" of luggage out of the train station...
House Hunters International met us at the Train Station in Montebelluna, Italy. They followed us around for FOUR days of filming. They filmed our family dragging "half a ton" of luggage out of the train station...
| They filmed the kids eating gelato, that’s Italian ice-cream. They filmed the whole family going shopping at the Italian farmer’s market, signing up for library cards, and going out for Pizza. They caught up with us at a sidewalk café, they even got to see our new kittens. They introduced our family to a local realtor and then they followed us around while we looked at some really interesting homes. One of the houses was originally built in the year 500! All the houses had amazing views. One of the houses is the one we live in now. I won’t tell you which one – but maybe you can figure it out. The director of the show had about a hundred interview questions to catch on film. It was an experience that reminded us of all that had happened in our life to bring us to the point of boarding a plane and crossing the ocean with 9 kids. Faith. Risk. Adventure. Love. Courage. Destiny. We did most of the interviews outside, with beautiful Italian vistas all around. We had to stop the filming every time a dog barked, a car passed, a helicopter flew over, a tractor passed by. They asked us questions like “How did you and Josh meet?” and “Why Italy?” and “How do the kids feel about the move?” and “What are the most important features you are looking for in a home?” and “is there anything that you and Josh don’t agree on?” They filmed from morning to evening, they kept the kids happy by buying them ice-cream. They kept me happy by buying me cappuccinos and lattes. And then they asked more questions, so we told them our story, it was something like this… “Over a year ago Josh and I began to look at our life. We had been living in Fortville, Indiana for 13 years, we were focused on work, local politics, and we were too BUSY! Everyone around us was too busy. Our kids were growing up fast and we realized that we weren't really living the life we had dreamed of. We had both been on many mission trips and sightseeing adventures, and always felt more at home across the ocean than we did in the USA. We love our freedom and our country. We don't like the fast pace, the rat race, and the materialism that surrounds us here. We love exploring the hills, vineyards, mountains, ancient villages, gardens, and crumbling castles - we wanted our kids to grow up exploring these amazing places too. But round trip tickets are too expensive for a family of ten, so to save money we bought one way tickets instead. One way tickets to Italy.” “Last year we began letting go of all the things that tied us to the USA - My husband sold his computer business (money to live on for a while), and we began to work toward location independence. We started an internet based business called Dyslexia Games. In April of 2012 we realized that we had become free to move where ever we wanted. We both agreed that it was a good time to move to another country and do mission work. Josh now teaches at CCBC Italy.” The kids loved learning how reality shows are created. Since we homeschool this was a great chance for the kids to get some hands on experience in film making. Isaac, age 14, hung out with the film and sound crew and asked the guys at least a hundred questions about creating documentaries. Now Isaac is planning to create his own show about his little sisters and brother called “Will they eat it?” A cooking comedy show for kids and parents. At the end of our episode they will show clips of our life as we live it today… In a house on a hill, with no car, in a tiny village in Italy, full of music, laughter, and fun as we gather around our big table or play games in the living room. Some parts of the experience were “reality”, sometimes we were “retracing our steps” a lot of it was “realistic fiction”. All of it was fun! - Sarah J. Brown www.stillsmiling.net Where are the Browns now? After a year in Italy the Browns moved to Ukraine for the next adventure, a couple months after moving to Ukraine they right now they evacuated because of the revolution. They are traveling in Europe waiting for the situation in Ukraine to calm down so they can go back to their home in L'viv. Here is our Scrapbook from their year in Italy... |           |
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