The Bittersweet Life

We all make goals—or, at least most of us do—but what happens when we decide to scratch a goal off the list without ever completing it? Whether because we're simply not interested in having a particular experience anymore, our passions have led us in another direction, or we have (sob!) "aged out" of the possibility of achieving a dream, it's ok to change our minds. What we are determined to do wh...

On this extra-short mini-episode, Katy and Tiffany express their thanks for things in their lives that they are unexpectedly treasuring this year. Sometimes it's the little things, sometimes it's the big things, but we can all find something to be grateful, even in the midst of the craziest year of our lives. ** This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing —partner and publisher for founder...

About five years ago, Clare Brown left a predictable life in the UK to move to Split, Croatia in search of writing, exploration, and adventure. A longtime listener of the show, she has been a regular guest over the years and has inspired the listeners of The Bittersweet Life with her daring yet highly relatable story. She first appeared on Episode 112 EXPLORE and, by popular demand, she returned i...

Italy is in the midst of a wicked second wave of Covid. In fact, it makes spring's wave seem like a bump by comparison. Instead of instituting a national lockdown, as they did last spring, Italy's leaders have opted for zoned restrictions, ranging from light restrictions in the yellow zones (Rome, for example), to a nearly complete lockdown in red zones (Milan and Florence, for example). In this m...

Do you have a hard time falling asleep at night? Or perhaps, like Katy, you sleep fitfully, waking multiple times a night and having trouble falling back to sleep again. Or maybe, like Tiffany, you're one of the lucky ones, and sleep comes quickly and easily. (But don't get too smug, you could end up with a baby who refuses to sleep, just like Aurelio did!) After several listener requests, this we...

Katy and Tiffany send voice memos back and forth across the Atlantic as one of the most consequential presidential elections in American history is finally called for Joe Biden. For Katy, it's early on a Saturday morning, for Tiffany, it's almost dinnertime, and once again they wonder if the time of day that something happens makes a difference in how you experience it. But most of all, they share...

Photographer and visual storyteller Cyndie Burkhardt was living in New York City feeling unsatisfied with her life. Rather than continue to struggle, she decided to leave. Her goal: to visit 12 countries in 12 months and rediscover herself along the way. Nine months in, the coronavirus stopped her in her tracks. On today's episode we sit down with Cyndie to explore the journey she took, what she f...

If you live abroad, sometimes you have to stay up all night in order to keep an eye on the fate of your home country. And then there are the rare occasions when you have to stay up all night even if you are in the states. No one said 2020 was going to be an easy year. On this week's mini-episode, Tiffany and Katy comunicate with each other via voice memo as the results of the 2020 US election come...

It's the eve of the US presidential election, what the vast majority of Americans consider to be the most important election of their lifetimes. But what happens when you're an expat, living across the world while something so important is happening? Even if you exercise your right to vote from abroad, it can still be challenging for expats to be so far away when something enormously consequential...

It's almost Halloween, and to assuage the fears of anyone who is afraid of rats (like Tiffany, see previous episode!) Katy shares a fascinating and little-known recording of rat laughter (yes, you read that right). On this mini-episode, she also shares a touching piece of short fiction she wrote during lockdown that most likely many of our listeners can relate to in some way. ** This episode was s...

Are you afraid of the dark? Spider or rats? Being buried alive or drowning? Encountering a wild ferocious beast? Are you afraid of ghosts? Someone lurking in the shadows who is about to jump out and attack? In honor of Halloween week, this episode is all about our fears, whether they be rational or irrational. And if they are rational, can they even be considered fears? Or is that just a natural f...

Considered for centuries to be the most mysterious sculpture in the world, The Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino (1753) is an astoundingly realistically marble creation of the crucified Christ covered with a nearly transparent veil. The depiction is so uncannily real that for nearly 200 years, it was believed by many to have been created with the use of magical means. On this Bittersweet Moment...

"All things cute and cuddly" was the surprising topic requested by listener Sara, who supports us at the $50 level on Patreon . Choosing the topic of an episode is just one of many bonuses we offer our Patreon supporters, and as this episode proves, we take that pledge seriously and hold no veto power. The sky is the limit! In delving into this unexpected topic, we attempt to answer many questions...

What are book tours like in the time of Covid? For this week's mini-episode, Katy sits down with bestselling author Jess Walter to discuss what it's like to do book events in his office while staring into a computer screen or to sign 6000 books in one go. They also consider that, even in a post-Covid world, true book tours might become a thing of the past, and why maybe that won't be such a bad th...

This week we give all our listeners a peek into some of the extra bonus content that our Patreon donors are receiving. Every month we offer one or more bonus episodes exclusively for our Patreon supporters, and today we are sharing one of those with our entire audience. Way back in 2015, we taped a final episode just before Tiffany took a break to have her baby and begin learning the ropes of moth...

Moving abroad is already a daunting experience at the best of times. Imagine doing it during a deadly pandemic. For this mini-interview we are joined by listener Gabriela Proietti who took the leap and moved to Rome this past January, only to be forced back home to the States when Coronavirus exploded in Italy in early March. But was she daunted?  No! Hear her tell her story in her own words of ho...

As devastating as this pandemic has been, to our lives, our loved ones, and our livelihoods, is there a silver lining? In the midst of the suffering and the uncertainty, sometimes you have to let yourself see the good too. Regular listeners will know that Tiffany is an eternal optimist. Today, she and Katy discuss the positive changes they have noticed in the world and their own lives in the past...

It's a much-told legend that Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci used to rob graves in order to dissect bodies in secret so they could achieve anatomical accuracy in their art. But is it actually true? On this mini-episode, we are joined again by curator Jennifer Dasal of the Art Curious podcast , and author of the brand new book, Art Curious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely...

Is the Mona Lisa in the Louvre fake? Was impressionist painter Claude Monet a radical? And was Caravaggio—our show's muse—murdered? Art history holds as many mysteries and baffling stories as it does masterpieces, and Jennifer Dasal, museum curator and host of the wildly popular ArtCurious podcast knows all the best ones. In this week's episode we sit down with Jennifer to chat about her brand-new...

It's that time of year again, but this year everything is different. In Italy, kids are now back in the classroom full-time but the rules are complicated and very strict. In this mini-episode, Tiffany gives the low-down on what Italian schools are doing to keep kids (and their loved ones) safe in the time of corona, as well as her worries for the year ahead. Aurelio pops in to give his take too. -...

Ready or not, election season is upon us! And it's never been easier for Americans living abroad to vote—well, in some states. Tiffany is lucky as Arizona (where she's registered to vote) allows online voting through a secure portal. Other states have more complex and lengthy processes, but bottom line: no matter where you are registered to vote and no matter where you live now, all US expats can...

Katy, and all of our fellow-West Coast listeners, are seeing massive tracts of their states destroyed, smoke blotting out the sun, and highly hazardous breathing conditions. If they couldn't go out to dinner or to a pub during lockdown, now they can't even take a walk around their block or sit in their backyard. But after filling listeners in on what's going on in her world, Katy is thrilled to di...

From lucky and unlucky numbers to numbers that make almost magical equations, from significant date to the "perfect" numbers, this week's episode is all about, well, numbers. And the fact that this is Episode Number 333 may—or may not—have anything to do with this week's choice of topic. Perhaps most intriguing of all: did you know that numbers can have color? To Tiffany they do. -----------------...

Pompeii, an entire ancient city preserved exactly as it was when it was covered in lava and ash during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Even for a seasoned traveler like Tiffany, the site inspires awe, wonder, and fascination. Come along as Tiffany visits this ancient city for the first time. --------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers al...

Daily life during a devastating pandemic—something nearly no one alive has ever experienced before—is captured poignantly and artistically by Bill Hayes in his new book, How We Live Now: Scenes from the Pandemic . Today we catch up with the author and street photographer to learn about how the book was conceived, what inspired it, and how it was able to be published in record time. He and Katy dis...