• I moved to Italy from NYC with no plan, job, or friends in the country.
• It was exciting, and a little overwhelming.
• It also ended up being the best decision I've ever made. 

When I was 24 years old, I spontaneously decided to move to Italy from my hometown of New York City. I was tired of life in the city and wanted to slow down and experience something different.

I was studying to be an opera singer and even had a big break when I was invited to sing as a soloist at a concert for one of the then-leading tenors of the Metropolitan Opera. I was also working as a private chef with a catering business. But I had no time for meaningful relationships and felt like something was missing. I knew I wasn't happy and didn't want to do what I was doing anymore; I wanted to find a new way to live.

So, at 24 years old, I left behind my old life and bought a house in a small town in the south of Italy called Guardia Sanframondi, just an hour outside Naples. I moved completely without a plant. But it was the best decision I ever made and led me to the life I have now, where I am happily married with two beautiful children and work as a public relations consultant and writer. I've created my own version of happiness and have never looked back.

I didn't have a job

When I moved to Italy, I wasn't sure what I would be doing. I had stopped singing, and though I still loved cooking, I knew I didn't want to work in a restaurant. I wanted to find a way to create a flexible career on my own terms that would allow me to live my life in Italy.

For a few years before I became a mom, I ran a home restaurant from my terrace. I cooked four-course meals that I served on my terrace with sweeping views of the mountains. When I became pregnant with my first child, I went back to my original passion: writing. Since then, I've been working as a freelance writer and a public relations consultant for women-owned businesses and businesses with an Italian focus.

I didn't speak the language

Thanks to years of studying opera, I had a very basic grasp of the Italian language. But knowing a few words here and there is one thing, and being conversationally fluent is a whole other thing. It was overwhelming not to be able to speak the language when I first moved.

There were times I wondered if I would ever become completely fluent. I didn't want to be one of those expats who didn't make an effort and did the bare minimum. After about a year and a half of completely immersing myself in Italian culture, I picked up with language, and now, after being here for nearly 10 years, I'm 85% fluent.

I didn't know anyone

To be quite frank, I have always been a bit of a loner, and when I left NYC, I left behind the close friends I did have. I didn't know anyone when I moved to Guardia Sanframondi, and I was concerned about making connections, especially due to the language barrier.

However, I quickly became friends with many members of the expat community and some Italians I met. The first summer after I moved, I really pushed myself to socialize more. I went to local cafés just to sit and talk with people. Getting outside my comfort zone not only helped with my language skills but also helped me meet people and make friends.

It was overwhelming but also so worth it

Yes, moving to a new country can be overwhelming, especially if you come without a plan like I did. I came with an open heart and mind, prepared for whatever Italy might have planned for me. One thing led to another, and everything that happened led me to the life I now live here.

I am happily married to my Italian husband and we have two beautiful children together. I am doing what I love through writing and public relations and living my life on my own terms. I have become a part of a community I love where people look out for one another. While I came to Italy without an idea of what my life would be like, I am so happy with how it has turned out.

• Three high-earners quit six-figure jobs to prioritize their mental health.
• They struggled to manage high-pressure workdays and lack of support.
• They found new careers that offer flexibility and better work-life balance.

Six-figure salaries can come with extremely demanding workloads and higher stakes. This can feel unmanageable without a supportive work environment, and in some cases, employees are left to choose between their paycheck or their mental health.

Business Insider spoke with three high-earners who left their six-figure jobs to save their mental health. They each started their careers eager to make a splash in their industry, but were quickly disillusioned by the high pressure, exhaustive workdays, and tough feedback.

When their mental health plummeted, they were forced to quit.

Jean Kang was overwhelmed by her company's 'hustle -culture'

Thirty-one-year-old Jean Kang initially loved the perks that came with her six-figure salaries at her different jobs in Big Tech.

"I was spoiled with tech benefits in every role — great pay, free food, remote work, gym memberships, massages, and more," Kang told BI.

Despite the unique perks, Kang said that she felt immense pressure to overdeliver and outperform competitors — a virtue of the 'hustle culture' that dominated her workplace. Kang said she struggled at the realization that she'd given her life for a job that was ultimately just making big companies more money.

After a mass layoff in 2023 forced her to acknowledge the fragility of her job, Kang saw an opportunity to leave Big Tech for good. She said she'd been juggling a few side hustles after work and finally took a risk on herself by leaving her $300,000 paycheck to become a full-time content creator and career coach.

"My biggest fear was failing, but I knew I'd regret not betting on myself and could always land another job after I tried this," Kang said.

She was happy to share that her anxiety and 'Sunday scaries' disappeared once she became her own boss. She felt liberated to work a flexible, remote job.

"I now choose what projects make me happy and don't give myself too much pressure to succeed. I work 30 to 40 hours and some weekends now, but not because I have to — I want to."

Eric Yu suffered from panic attacks at work for six months

Twenty-eight-year-old Eric Yu told BI that he spent his first two years working at Facebook as a starry-eyed recent grad excited to be pursuing a career in tech. But, as the novelty faded, anxiety took its place.

Long work days of intense coding turned into long nights of worrying about what needed to get done. He stayed late to finish tasks but still faced tough criticism from engineers. He told BI that his overwhelm manifested into panic attacks — which continued for six debilitating months.

"I was at the lowest point in my life. Every day felt like a grind: I didn't know what I was doing or why I was still working," Yu said.

It wasn't until his boss seriously questioned his work output that Yu made a pledge to himself to quit tech. Yu quit his job after brainstorming alternative income streams with his then-girlfriend (who became his fiancé), Wanda, and settling on house hacking.

"I know it sounds crazy to leave a $370,000 job, and staying at Meta for the rest of my life would have ensured financial security, but I knew it wasn't right for me."

He's now making passive income from real estate and using his extra time to explore what he really wants in life.

A former McKinsey employee had to go on mental-health disability leave

A former McKinsey employee, who chose to be anonymous due to privacy concerns, told BI that he knew his associate role would be tough. Still, he was willing to stick it out to sharpen his analytical skills. He didn't expect, however, the all-consuming nature of his work.

He told BI that there was a lack of mentorship, exceptionally high standards, and mean coworkers, all wrapped up into gruesome, 16-hour shifts.

"And it was pedal to the metal — I didn't leave my desk, forgot to eat, and dropped tons of weight," he admitted. "I barely remembered to go to the bathroom. I only remembered to get up when I noticed my dog looking at me sadly."

After a year, he reached his breaking point.

"It was literally driving me to the edge. I just couldn't do it anymore. I was crying more and taking anxiety medication at a higher dosage than I had ever needed before joining."

Despite his $200,000 salary, he decided to take a three-month mental health disability leave.

His time away from work only confirmed the severity of his condition when he found it difficult to take care of himself or even leave his home. He decided to quit McKinsey to focus on his mental health.

A year after quitting, he shared that his mental health improved, and he was ready to reenter the workforce.

"As I look for a new job, I'm looking for companies that care about their employees, value inclusivity, and treat everyone with respect."

If you quit your job due to mental health concerns and would like to tell your story, email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.

• Mark Zuckerberg isn't style icon by any means, but he's working on it.
• After spending years wearing the same thing, the billionaire is changing up his fashion.
• The internet is clearly loving Zuckerberg's new expression of himself through clothes.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is known more for his accomplishments in the tech industry than his personal style, but it looks like the billionaire is finally taking steps (albeit small ones) toward becoming a fashion icon.

Zuckerberg — who's now worth $177 billion, per Forbes — burst onto the tech scene as a young coding prodigy responsible for the popular social media platform Facebook. All eyes were on him even in his early 20s, and the public quickly noted his laid-back style that consisted mostly of gray t-shirts.

Today, as a 40-year-old father and the head of a tech company that has expanded far beyond friend requests and pokes, Zuckerberg's look is again a topic of conversation.

In April, he debuted a chain necklace with his outfits, and the internet ate it up. Zuckerberg got the meme treatment and comments from his nearly 14 million followers complimenting him on his "drip," or style.

From lavish weddings and a big birthday bash in May to sitting ringside at UFC fights, his Instagram photos seem a little like those of an influencer.

Here's a look at Zuckerberg's style over the years.

Zuckerberg's style as Facebook took off was pretty normal for a twenty-something in the early aughts.

He dropped out of Harvard University to work on Facebook full-time in 2005, and his look at the time was that of a college student heading to class.

In the picture above, he paired his quarter-zip pullover with a pair of blue jeans — jeans which would become a recurring theme in Zuckerberg's life as a public figure.

The subdued outfit didn't really match the feisty attitude Zuckerberg had during the early days of Facebook. He infamously carried business cards that read, "I'm CEO, Bitch."

He's one of the tech execs who influenced the casual dress code of the industry.

Eventually, Zuckerberg became known for his gray t-shirts and hoodies.

The jeans might have ranged from light to dark washes, but he almost always paired them with a hoodie and a comfortable pair of sneakers—he's wearing Brooks tennis shoes in the photo above.

"I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community," Zuckerberg said in a 2014 Q&A. "I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life."

Zuckerberg spent years wearing essentially the same outfit everyday.

The photos above were taken four years apart, but it might not be easy to tell. For over a decade, Zuckerberg wore the same thing over and over.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said during an appearance on "The Colin and Samir Show" that Zuckerberg spent many years "not wasting any energy on deciding what to wear."

Instead, he just wore "the same thing every day for a long time as a lot of tech execs have done," according to Mosseri.

"First day back after paternity leave. What should I wear?" he captioned a Facebook post that showed a rack full of the same gray shirts and dark gray hoodies in 2016.

As the years passed, Zuck found ways to elevate the "tech bro" uniform.

Around 2018, Zuckerberg's style shifted, perhaps with his fashion meant to reflect his increasing wealth. According to Forbes, he was worth about $71 billion that year.

Instead of a basic shirt and hoodie, the Meta CEO started wearing expensive-looking cashmere sweaters and paired them with better-fitting jeans.

More recently, it appears he's gotten more comfortable with switching up his clothing choices.

The pandemic blurred the lines of what exactly makes an outfit appropriate for work.

Returning to the office post-lockdown has spurred a new conversation about dress code, but when you're the boss, those rules are likely a bit looser.

Zuckerberg is pictured above with Facebook's then-chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and the former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor Kevin Sabet in 2021.

The trio had just left a session at the Sun Valley Conference, but Zuck looked especially casual next to his peers. He ditched the blue jeans for shorts and completed the outfit with slip-on sandals.

He appears to take more style risks when he's traveling abroad.

Zuckerberg and Chan took a trip to Japan in February, and his vacation attire made major waves.

Months before his chain went viral, the shearling jacket he wore while in Japan caught the public's attention. When he was out and about, his Instagram followers saw more of his off-duty style.

Again, it included a neutral top, fitted jeans, and a pair of sneakers — this time white Nike shoes.

The new jacket, a departure from his old hoodies, made for an iconic "jersey swap" picture, with Zuckerberg trading tops with another iconic figure in tech, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Occasionally, he swaps his casual clothes for a classic suit.

Some events call for more formal dress, and Zuckerberg isn't too proud to push back on that.

For court appearances, luxurious weddings, and fancy ceremonies, he typically pulls out a classic black suit.

But for the March pre-wedding celebrations for members of India's richest family, the Ambanis, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan wore all black, embellished with gold accents. He had a dragonfly on his lapel.

In 2024, Zuckerberg is going viral every few weeks for his new look.

The outfit he wore to his 40th birthday party in May cemented Zuckerberg's new era in fashion. He wore a gold chain and a black T-shirt, but unlike his past shirt choices, it had a message.

The top reads "Carthago delenda est," which translates to "Carthage must be destroyed," a phrase famously attributed to Roman historian Cato the Elder. As Business Insider previously reported, it was a rallying cry within Facebook in 2016 when it was competing with Google.

He also previously explained that the new chains are a part of his "process" of designing a "long-term" chain engraved with a prayer he reads to his daughters.

His motive is endearing, and the internet's obsession with the necklaces makes for a lot of viral content and positive attention.

"I love it so much," Mosseri said in June.

Zuckerberg was recently spotted wearing this $1,150 shirt while vacationing in Ibiza.

Zuckerberg continued his exploration into designer shirts going during his and Chan's vacation in Ibiza, Spain, People reported. He was spotted wearing this white knit Balmain shirt with the brand's logo highlighted on the chest.

In spite of the hefty price tag, the Meta CEO surprisingly manages to keep this hypebeast shirt in line with his usual simple style. He accessorized with a pair of reflective glasses but kept the luxurious outfit casual with white sneakers and blue shorts.

He made waves on Independence Day when he surfed on his hydrofoil while wearing a tuxedo.

The Meta CEO went viral once more on July 4, 2024, when he posted a video of himself hydrofoiling.

But unlike your average water sports lover, Zuckerberg decided to take things to the next level.

Besides wearing a tuxedo and pair of Meta Ray-Bans, the billionaire can be seen in the clip waving the American flag while taking sips from a can of beer.

And if that wasn't enough, Zuckerberg scored the entire video to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."

"Pure 8 month post-recovery surfing with a dry start right here," Zuckerberg said in a comment on his Instagram post.

• The UK has voted to put the Labour Party back in power, smashing the Tories' 14-year majority.
• The stunning fall of the right-wing in the country has defied a larger trend in Europe.
• Germany and France are on the brink of seeing the far-right gain critical mass. It's already won in countries like Italy.

As the dust settles from the UK's general election, it's clear the Tories have lost big.

The results from July 4 were a dramatic rebuke of an incumbent Conservative Party leadership that has governed for 14 years, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's faction losing more than 240 seats as the count wraps up.

Sunak, who conceded defeat on Friday morning UK time, will likely be replaced by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.

Starmer has spent over a decade trying to reshape his leftist party into a more centrist movement, ejecting its socialist elements, including stalwart Jeremy Corbyn.

Often seen as a straight-laced, methodical politician, he's pledged to shore up vulnerabilities in the healthcare system and to re-negotiate the UK's Brexit deal with the European Union — which he said had been "botched."

Labour's rise, largely telegraphed by pre-election polls, makes the UK a clear outlier in this year's political shifts in Western Europe.

The European Parliamentary elections in June have seen far-right factions gain critical mass among the continent's most prominent nations, and the results are cascading into an unraveling of power long-held by leftist governments there.

Germany's Scholz denies a snap election

Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD), led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, overtook Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party in the EU polls despite losing key candidates and fighting a series of scandals.

Now in second place with 16% of the German vote, the far-right party has taken the result as a sign of national support shifting in its favor and called for a snap election at home. Scholz, however, has rejected the idea.

France's Macron in peril

It's a different story for France and President Emmanuel Macron, whose Renaissance party won only 14.6% of the vote in the European election.

With the National Rally — a far-right faction led by Marine Le Pen — taking first place with 31.3% of the French vote, Macron called for a snap election of his country's national parliament.

As the first round of the French election closed on Sunday, results showed Le Pen's faction pulling far ahead of its leftist and centrist opponents.

A second round is to come on July 7, and the lead-up has evolved into a chaotic effort to keep the far right from power.

Hundreds of candidates have withdrawn, trying to avoid splitting the vote between those in the center and left.

Meanwhile, Macron, whose approval ratings have plummeted to their lowest in his seven-year tenure as president, is keeping a low profile.

The Brothers of Italy win a show of support

In Italy, the far right has already cemented its power in the form of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's ultra-conservative Brothers of Italy, which became the ruling party in 2022.

In a sign of sustaining support for her party, it won nearly 29% of the national vote in June's European Parliament elections, up from 6% in 2019.

The runner-up was the Democratic Party, with 24.1% of the Italian vote.

Elsewhere, much of Europe is leaning right. Spain's People's Party, a center-right faction, gained 34% of the country's vote in the European Parliament, beating the incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's socialist government.

Still, the far-right faction there, Vox, struggled to gain a foothold, with only 9.6% of the vote, down from 12.4% in 2019.

The Netherlands has also just formed a right-wing government, with its largest component being the anti-immigration and populist Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders.

To be sure, right-wing populism in the UK is seeing clearer beginnings. As of press time, Nigel Farage's Reform UK had taken 4 seats after winning nothing in 2019.

Farage, who led the Brexit movement, is now finally elected a member of the country's parliament with 46% of the vote in Clacton.

The dramatic changes in the polls come amid growing disdain toward the economic challenges faced in many parts of the continent, with a rising cost of living and inflation.

Some observers think the shifts are a sign of pure anti-establishment sentiment, with voters blaming whoever is in power regardless of whether they're on the left or right.

"There's a lot of dissatisfaction with the way democracy is working," Richard Wike, the director of global attitudes research at the Pew Research Center, said on an episode of FiveThirtyEight's politics podcast in June.

• Kevin Bacon disguised himself with prosthetics to experience being a regular person for a day.
• The Golden Globe-winning actor told Vanity Fair that it wasn't as fun as he thought it would be.
• "People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice," he said. " "I was like, This sucks."

Kevin Bacon wanted to be a regular guy for a day, and he didn't have a great time.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published on Wednesday, the actor said he had always wanted to experience being a non-famous person, so he decided to try out a disguise.

"I'm not complaining, but I have a face that's pretty recognizable," Bacon, 65, told Vanity Fair. "Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent."

To make his disguise as realistic as possible, the Golden Globe-winning actor visited a special effects makeup artist, who made him prosthetics.

With "fake teeth, a slightly different nose, and glasses," Bacon said he managed to walk down The Grove in Los Angeles without being recognized.

And the experience wasn't as pleasant as he thought it would be.

"People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, 'I love you.' I had to wait in line to, I don't know, buy a fucking coffee or whatever," Bacon said. "I was like, This sucks. I want to go back to being famous."

Considering how he's been active in Hollywood since 1978 — when he was 20 — it comes as no surprise that he's accustomed to living life as a celebrity.

According to IMDB, Bacon has 91 film and video acting credits as of 2024. His most iconic role is in 1984's "Footloose," where he plays the lead character Ren McCormack.

It's also not unusual for people to treat celebrities or other high-profile individuals differently, especially if they don't recognize the person. And Bacon isn't the only famous person who's set out to discover what life is like as a regular person — and who hasn't liked what they found.

Last year in San Francisco, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi moonlighted as a driver for the company for a few months in an attempt to figure out why recruitment was low. After creating an alias, he drove around picking up passengers in a Tesla Model Y.

What he found during the stint were rude riders. "I think that the industry as a whole, to some extent, has taken drivers for granted," Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal.

He also found one passenger who, after recognizing him, sought out startup advice.

A representative for Bacon did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

• Turns out John Oliver was on the money when he predicted a bloodbath for the Conservative Party.
• The comedian slammed the party in an episode of "Last Week Tonight" that aired in June.
• "To put it mildly, the Tories are in trouble," Oliver said then.

It's not quite the "extinction-level event for the Tories" that John Oliver predicted, but the Conservative Party did suffer a bitter defeat in Thursday's UK general election.

In June, the comedian weighed in on the UK election in an episode of "Last Week Tonight." And now it seems Oliver was certainly on the money when he joined political watchers in forecasting a Tory defeat.

"To put it mildly, the Tories are in trouble, which is a remarkable downfall for a party that's been in power for the last 14 straight years," Oliver said.

In his segment, Oliver listed a litany of problems that he thought the Conservatives could be blamed for, ranging from the economic fallout wrought by Brexit to the harsh austerity measures the party imposed on the UK.

Oliver also pointed out that the Conservatives have seen five prime ministers take office since 2010: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak.

"Look, it's objectively fun to look back at what a collection of weirdos ran Britain for years," Oliver said. "But it gets considerably less fun when you look at what they did to the country."

Oliver also took the opportunity to hold an early celebration of the Conservative Party's defeat on his show, holding out his arms as rain poured down on the "Last Week Tonight" stage.

"On July 4, Britain has a chance to wash itself clean of 14 miserable years of Conservative rule, and it is a chance it simply must take," Oliver said.

"If we do this, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as just an American holiday but also as the day when Britain looked at the Conservatives who've driven the entire country into a ditch, and said in one voice, loud and clear, 'Fuck off into the sun, you cunts, fuckpigs, and weirdos,'" Oliver added.

And it seems many UK voters agreed with Oliver's assessment that the Conservative leadership should be booted out.

At the July 4 polls, the Conservative Party suffered a massive defeat at the hands of its rivals, Labour. As of press time, the party had lost at least 240 seats.

UK Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Sunak conceded defeat to Labour leader Kier Starmer early Friday morning.

"The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight," Sunak told reporters. "There is much to learn and reflect on, and I take responsibility for the loss."

Representatives for Oliver did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• Russia faces intense pressure from sanctions targeting payment systems.
• A top Russian banker says the country should stop talking about payment mechanisms due to sensitivity.
• Russia is seeking alternatives to Western payment systems, acknowledging the challenge and time required.

Russia's top financial officials admitted the country is under huge pressure from sanctions as their methods for making trade payments keep getting shut down.

On Wednesday, a top Russian banker said the methods should be made a "state secret" due to their sensitivity, Reuters reported.

"I can see very well that right now somewhere at the US embassy, a second secretary is sitting and writing down every public statement of ours. Maybe he is even sitting here," said Andrei Kostin, the CEO of VTB Bank, Russia's second-largest lender.

"Whatever steps we take, we can see that the reaction is very quick," he said.

Kostin made the comment at a financial conference where he was on a panel with Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina.

Nabiullina agreed with Kostin that it's better to avoid specifics about payment mechanisms.

She also admitted that Russia's business partners overseas were under "tremendous pressure" from Western sanctions. But she also expressed hope that an alternative global payments system not involving Western institutions will emerge.

"Different alternatives are being discussed. Businesses have become very flexible, very enterprising. They find ways to solve this and often don't even share them with us," said Nabiullina, per Reuters.

Western-led sanctions against Russia are intensifying

Despite sweeping Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia's economy has managed to keep humming thanks to wartime activities.

Russia's war-driven economy is so hot that the World Bank recently upgraded it to a "high-income country."

The West blocked some Russian banks from the widely used SWIFT messaging system for payments early in the war, but Russia and its trade partners have been able to skirt sanctions by using smaller banks or other payment modes.

However, the US and its allies have been intensifying restrictions, particularly with the use of secondary sanctions against institutions in third-party countries.

Just last month, the US Treasury rolled out a new package of expansive US sanctions package against Russia, forcing the Moscow Exchange — Russia's key bourse — to halt dollar and euro trade.

Russia has said it's working with a group of countries to build a platform that doesn't need the dollar.

Nabiullina said discussions about the platform were ongoing but that they were difficult and would take time.