The Bittersweet Life

A little girl feeds crows and gets gifts in return. It's a wonderful true story that's gone viral again and again. But where did it come from? As it happens, it comes from this very podcast, when Katy discovered the "Nature Girl" and friend-of-crows herself, Gabi Mann. Katy snapped a photo of her collection of crow gifts—a photo that has now been seen by millions of people around the world. Hear t...

It's our annual New Year's Resoultion Recap! Did we do what we promised to do last year? This is always a cringe-worthy moment for us both as we go back and listen to our own hopeful voices promising what we will do... and often they are resolutions we don't even remember making—much less keeping! Listen in as we report how we did, and of course (because we can't resist), hear us make new resoluti...

Happy New Year from your friends at the Bittersweet Life podcast! We wish you and your loved ones a 2024 full of adventure, personal growth, and excitment! As a final gift from us, we are extending our $500 discount for our October 2024 Rome listener trip to Epiphany (6 January 2024). So if you're considering joining us on an unforgettable week in Rome next fall, take advantage of this offer befor...

As a special holiday treat, today we are airing a new original radio play by friend of the show, Matthew P. Woerner. In the tradition of the golden age of radio, Operator is inspired by H. G. Well's historic War of the Worlds , from the point of view of a newly minted telephone operator as she fields calls from panicked citizens, calling in for information about the "alien invasion." Once the hust...

We've all had it happen: you gushingly recommend your favorite cafe or restaurant or bar to a friend, only to have them go and report back something tepid like, "It was ok." How is it possible that my friend thinks my all-time favorite place is... just ok?? Which caused us to wonder: are our favorite places really that great in and of themselves, or is it our particular experience there (which can...

Have you ever wondered who you would be if you had made different life choices? Even making just one big decision differently, say, not moving abroad instead of moving abroad. Or not leaving that stable job. Where would you be in the world? What would you be doing? And most intriguingly, how would your personality and character be different?  Tiffany's most recent read, a ghost story by Henry Jame...

On our amazing listener trip to Rome this past October, we interviewed two of our guests, expats Vince and Lindy. These two native midwesterners talk about their backgrounds—traveling or not traveling as a child (depending on which member of the couple is talking), and how that has contributed to their life choices—and the challenges of being a twin (and being married to a twin). They recount how...

On this episode, we bring you along with us on the final tour of our amazing Rome Adventure last month! During breaks between the sites of this super-secret Rome walk, Katy pulls out her microphone and interviews a few of our guests. She asks them about their impressions of Rome, the city's soundscape, the art that inspires them, the subjects that they now plan to explore further, as well as their...

On the final morning of our amazing first-ever Bittersweet Life listener trip to Rome, we took a bit of time to tape an episode to capture what we were feeling and how the trip was going. What's it like to see Rome for the first time? And as a tour guide in Rome who has seen the sites hundreds if not thousands of times, is it possible to remember what it was like to see it all for the first time?...

Join us for a live episode with our listeners, the participants of the first-ever Bittersweet Life Roman Adventure! On Day Three of this amazing and magical trip, we stopped for an aperitivo in a sunny garden to tape this special show. Our topic: discovery. What are some of the greatest discoveries you've ever made, big or small? And what have you discovered about yourself? Our listeners weigh in...

In October we hosted the very first ever Bittersweet Life Rome Adventure with ten of our listeners! It was a blast, and we can't wait to share more about it over the coming episodes. But first! We taped this episode the evening before the trip kicked off, just a few hours before we met our guests on the rooftop terrace of Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli in Trastevere. We were nervous, excited, and—if...

The opening lines of David M. Eagleman's Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives  inspires this week's episode, just in time for Halloween. Eagleman's premise is that you aren't fully dead until your name is spoken for the last time. And although the thought of your name never being spoken again, never again being remembered by the living, is horrific, is it perhaps even more terrifying to imagine th...

Every time Tiffany hears the word "money," she pictures geese on the Capitoline Hill. If you're curious why (and have an interest in word origins and ancient history) this episode is for you. You'll be surprised by the number of words that come to us direct from Ancient Rome. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Sen...

It's the ingredients, stupid. Ask anyone who knows Italian food and the'll tell you that what makes it so delicious and so universally beloved are the ingredients. Viola Buitoni's new cookbook Italy By Ingredient: Artisanal Foods / Modern Recipes is a celebration of this concept. Italian-born, California-based cooking instructor and food writer, Buitoni was honored by the President of the Italian...

How often do actual Romans think about the Roman Empire? You probably saw the recent Tik Tok trend, in which women from around the world asked their male partners how often they thought about the Roman Empire. The results were surprising, with a lot more ancient Roman contemplation than the askers expected. We decided to ask Tiffany's husband Claudio, who has lived in Rome his entire life and work...

500 Episodes! Can you believe it? (We can't!) (And by complete coincidence, we taped this episode on the 19th anniversary of Tiffany's arrival in Rome!) Join us for this unbelievable milestone as we muse on what happens when we do something (a podcast, living abroad...) for a very, very long time. Longer than we could have ever imagined! ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Rea...

"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you…" A famous quote in Tiffany's current read sparks a lively conversation about the unglamorous side of the expat life. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started...

How long does it take, living out of your home country, to lose your cultural fluency? When you grow up and live in the same country for most of your life, you might take it for granted, but understanding a culture, its nuances and customs, both big and small, is a huge part of everyday life. And strangely enough, we've found, if you don't use it, you lose it. Today Katy talks about the things tha...

Where do you find inspiration—for your writing, your painting, or just the art of living? A listener question about the flowers of Italy, of all things, sparks a conversation about where we find our inspiration, and how to go about seeking it if the well is running dry. As always, we welcome listener questions. Write to us here (or better yet, send us a voice recording of you asking your questions...

With our August break officially over, we're back with all new episodes, and oh my goodness, I guess that means it's Season 11! (What??!!) On this spontanous episode, we get back into the swing of things nice and slow, with a recap on what we did during our August vacation. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send...

Palestinian American poet Hala Alyan and her family fled Kuwait when Saddam invaded. She joins us to explore storytelling, straddling cultures, loneliness, therapy, and what value belongings come to have when you move constantly. Alyan is also a clinical psychologist and author of  Salt Houses . Find Hala Alyan at her website . ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats,...

Why are colors brighter when you travel? Why do foreign doctors' offices seem sketchy sometimes? This has more to do with your brain than with reality. Science writer Erik Vance , author of Suggestible You , helps us examine the science behind our brain and its perceptions.   ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Sen...

Do I deserve to live a bigger life? Sarah McColl, author of the memoir Joy Enough , joins us to talk about the beautiful life she discovered while living alongside her dying mother. In this probing coversation, we also explore how fear, loss, and the expectations of others can limit our potentially terrific lives. Find Sarah at her website or on Instagram . ------------------------------------- AD...

Why does time fly sometimes? Why does it slow down when you travel? We explore the notion of time with Alan Burdick, author of Why Time Flies . Alan Burdick is an editor on the Health and Science desk at the New York Times . ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOM...

How long does the magic of Rome last to an expat? We recently received an email from a listener, an Australian who spent 5 years in Milan and has now been living in Rome for over a year. He wonders: when will the bubble burst? How long will he feel like his entire life is surreal, like he is living in a dream? Does the magic of living in Italy ever pass? Does it ever become mundane? Tiffany and Ka...