The Bittersweet Life

Where do you find your ideas? Do they come to you in a dream? Do you find them by reading, traveling, researching? Do you get them in the shower? By listening in on strangers' conversations? Or do they just come to you from out of nowhere? Do you have so many ideas you can't begin to use them all, or are ideas hard for you to find? And—perhaps more importantly—when you get these ideas, what do you...

What does it take to write a book from beginning to end? The novel-writing process probably looks very different from writer to writer, but on this mini-episode, Tiffany describes her writing process from the first seed of an idea, all the way to a completed book. The writing tools she mentions in this mini-episode are Scivener , a word-processing program designed specifically for novels and other...

Today we present a special radio drama, The Three , created by our friends over at AudioImagination77. After the listener response of their earlier show, After Midnight , which we aired back on Episode 346, we have decided to air their most recent production, a chilling true crime drama. Even more intriguing? The script of The Three comes from the pen of our very own Katy Sewall, written back in h...

How often do you stop and listen to the world? Just stop and listen. How often do you take the time to notice the sounds around you, birds, wind blowing in the trees, people's conversation, or even your own footsteps as you walk through your neighborhood. If you're like Katy, not only do you listen to the world around you on a daily basis, but often you record it as well. Over the last nearly two...

Lots of people pack up the ghostly decor come November, but in truth, November is the real month of the dead, starting with All Saints' Day on the first and All Souls on the second. (Halloween is really only the preview.) On this ghostly episode, we chat about the origins of halloween and how they are connected to more religions than you might expect. We also share a few ghost stories that were sh...

How's first grade in Italy going? Does Aurelio love it or hate it, what's his favorite subject, and does his English teacher actually speak English? We find out on this week's mini-episode, a short (and very giggly) interview with our resident six-year-old redhead. Also, Halloween is around the corner? What's Aurelio's favorite thing about Halloween, has he ever seen a ghost, and what is he going...

As the author of 21 books and a career that has spanned multiple decades, how to you stay curious about the world around you? This is just one of the things we discover on this week's episode, a deep and intimate conversation with author Robert Fulghum, who just happens to be a personal friend of Katy. Katy's also explores Fulghum's uncanny ability to attain resilience in the face of what some wou...

One of the most interesting thing about our show is that people are listening at all over the place—and no, we don't mean from all over the globe, although that is also true—but that some of our listeners have been with us from the very beginning and hear each episode as it comes out, some joined late and are binge listening to catch up, some have just joined us and are currently on season one (we...

Today we dig into our overflowing mail bag and pull out a few listener letters that have particularly struck us lately. We always appreciate hearing from our listeners, whether with a questions, a comment, or a criticism, so if you are so inclined, drop us a line, you might just have your letter read on air—and discussed at length! ***Save the date!  We are hosting our first ever live virtual meet...

What's it like to return to the city where you studied abroad? What's it like return 50 years later... and in the company of your former classmates, many you haven't seen for half a century? Today's guests can tell you. For this mini-episode, we're joined by a number of former students who studied abroad in Rome in 1970 and 1971, and have come back for a reunion fifty years later. They talk about...

You did it! You've landed that amazing job, or maybe you're successfully living abroad in the country you've always dreamed of, or you've published your book, bought your dream home, won a major award in your industry (you fill in the blank). The question is: can you chalk it all up to hard work? Or was there some luck involved? And how much of what you've achieved can be attributed to privilege?...

Last week we heard from Tiffany about her very first days living as an expat in Rome 17 years ago. Today, it's Katy's turn. She digs into the daily journal she kept back in the fall of 2013, when she moved to Rome with not only no ability to speak the language, but also no clear idea of what she would do there, or even who she would be. In this intimate mini-episode, hear from Katy's own experienc...

The COVID pandemic has separated many families around the world, including that of today's guest, Diana Opong. Normally, her parents travel to Ghana, their home country, several months of every year. But during the pandemic, they got trapped there, and could not return to the United States. That caused some major problems and a lot of worry for Diana and her siblings—but there was one silver linin...

What was Rome like when Tiffany first moved there? On this mini-episode, Tiffany reminisces about what it was like to find an apartment, look for a job, use a cell phone, keep in touch with family, and make friends way back in 2004. (Spoiler alert: it's all way easier now.) ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send...

Tiffany and Katy dig into their mail bag and pull out a letter from Tyler, who had been just about to move abroad when the pandemic hit. As he waits and waits (and waits) for things to go back to "normal," he feels time (and perhaps his expat dreams as well) slipping away. He writes to ask what we think he should do—should he throw caution to the wind and go ahead with his plans, or continue to ke...

How has one of our listeners adjusted to moving back to the States after years as an expat in Europe? We find out on this mini-episode. In a follow-up to Monday's show on reverse culture shock, Katy reads an email from long-time listener Sonali, who shares some of the things that shocked her most—from expensive food staples to excessive patriotism—about living in the US again after so much time ab...

When you've lived abroad for 17 years, going "back home" can sometimes feel like going to a completely foreign country. Things that were once normal feel odd. You find you're no longer used to the way things are done in your former home. And sometimes, you realize that things have changed so much since you last visited, that it doesn't even seem like the country where you grew up anymore. On the h...

This week, Tiffany's son Aurelio starts first grade! What is Italian elementary school like and how is it different from elementary school in the US? Will native English-speaking Aurelio have to study English as a second language? What about religion? How much homework is assigned? Do they have to go to school on Saturday? And what's up with those blue smocks all the kids wear? Tiffany explains it...

After her month-long mega-trip to the States in August, Tiffany regales our listeners with the adventures (and many mis-adventures) of the international travel aspect of the trip. What kind of documentation do you need to get on an international flight? How difficult is it for a non-American citizen to get into the US under the current Covid regulations? What are the crowds like, and what's it lik...

When you move abroad, chances are you'll spend at least a certain amount of time living in a space that doesn't feel like your own: temporary lodgings, a rented room in someone else's flat, or perhaps your dream apartment—that just happens to be filled with furniture and art you abhor. Today's guest, interior designer Rebecca West, shares some ideas on how to make anywhere feel like home. Be sure...

Planning (or hoping) to move abroad? We're guessing you have a lot of questions. Well today, we try to answer them. We rebroadcast one of our most helpful episodes, an interview with serial expat Lori-Lee Elliott (formerly Lori-Lee Emshey), who is currently on her 17th expat assignment. She shares her expert tips on how to successfully prepare for a move abroad, as well as strategies for what to d...

In the wake of menacing Hurricane Ida, Katy relives her own experiences with hurricanes in the Big Easy. When she was living in New Orleans several years ago, Hurricane Nate mercifully missed the city, but being in its path brought about both fear and cultural revelation for one temporary resident, your intrepid host Katy Sewall. It also brought about an unexpected interview with BBC radio. *** Th...

Katy interviews Antonio Sersale, son of the founder of the legendary Le Sirenuse hotel in Postiano. From a young age, Antonio was groomed to take over the family business, but resisted for years, convinced the life of a hotelier wasn't for him. Then, one day he changed his mind. During a recent stay at this exquisite hotel, Katy interviewed Sersale about what changed his mind and—more importantly—...

American Sunny Strong studied abroad in Florence in 1963, leaving her boyfriend Mike at home. Amazing (especially for us), Sunny captured some of her memories at the time on reel-to-reel tapes, a true time capsule that includes her reaction to the news that Kennedy had been assassinated, and what it was like to live through that time as an American in Florence. Now, after 52 years of marriage, Sun...

A short memoir by Beth Ann Fennelly, from her book Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro Memoirs , inspires a discussion on what makes something glamorous rather than trashy, and why tiny insignificant moments, witnessed unexpectedly, can sometimes stay with us for a lifetime. *** This episode was sponsored by LUGZ, offering comfortable, versatile and affordable footwear, from stylish boots to canvas shoes....