Do you spend time listening to nature? Longtime listeners will know that Katy does on a regular basis, and even in crowded Rome, Tiffany notices the parrots, blackbirds, and starlings in her neighborhood. (Rome is full of parrots!!)
Sometimes it’s simply a matter of noticing. Unlike a microphone, our ears have the capability of tuning in and tuning out certain types of noises. (Sound recordist Martyn Stewart—this week’s guest—confirms that on this episode.) So if we train our ears, we can tune out the constant traffic and tune into the chirping of birds, the buzzing of bees, or even just the purr of our own cat.
What nature sounds do you notice the most?
And don’t miss this extraordinary interview with Martyn Stewart, sound and nature recordist, as he talks about his passion for capturing the sounds of the world’s wildlife.
Find Episode 414 {The Listening Planet} here http://ow.ly/ZPPT30sabwG or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Cozy Sunday night at home. How was your weekend? Do you decorate for fall? 🍂
Episode 391: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Moving Abroad... (with Lori-Lee Elliott)
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 do when you arrive. Perhaps most valuably, she offers advice on what common mistakes to avoid when moving to a new place. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more. TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue. SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps. WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured! NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon. TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!
Did you hear about the doctor who unknowingly bought an original Caravaggio painting at an estate sale? Yes. That happened. Today we talk not only about this unbelievable story, but also about the allure of estate sales. Katy adores them. Tiffany’s never been to one. What is it that intrigues Katy so much about them, and what was her one regret after buying a dead woman’s most beloved position, a necklace she wore daily until her death? Find out on this week’s episode.
Listen to Episode 380 {Finding Caravaggio at an Estate Sale} here http://ow.ly/JbnT30rP2O2 or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Inspired by a passage in the book Outline by Rachel Cusk, today we discuss the complexity of living life in two (or more!) languages, and if you can truly be yourself in every language you speak.
Are you a different person when you speak a second language? Does it depend on at what age you start to learn the second language, or how well you speak it? And, intriguingly, does the way a language sounds influence the personalities of the people who speak it? These are just some of the topics that come up in this thought-provoking discussion.
We also chat about writing in a foreign language. Can journal writing in a foreign language access a different part of your brain? Will you have different thoughts? If you write a book that takes place in a foreign country, would you ever attempt at writing the dialogue in that language and then translate it back to the language of the book?
Listen to Episode 379 {Can You Truly Be Bilingual?} here http://ow.ly/22qH30rOl8d or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Are you someone who has a hard time when things come to an end? Even when what’s coming next might be just as good, if not better? Or possibly even when what is ending was never very good in the first place?
Tiffany and Katy are both prone to nostalgia over endings, and as Aurelio finishes up Kindergarten or “Scuola Materna” as it’s called in Italy, Tiffany begins to feel a pervading sadness over the impending end of her son’s little-boyhood.
In this episode we chat about endings, new beginnings, change, and the nostalgia that can often pervade it. (Bonus: you might just hear Tiffany tear up for the first time on this podcast!)
Listen to Episode 378 {Nostalgic Endings} here http://ow.ly/m8ej30rNF0V or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Are you a person who always travels to a new place? Or do you prefer to revisit the same place over and over? Today we explore the value of going to the same place again and again. We discuss how going deeper into the culture of a place and getting to know its people on an intimate level can only come after prolonged or repeated visits, and we consider the impact this kind of travel can have on our lives and how we see the world.
Listen to Episode 377 {Returning Again and Again} here http://ow.ly/MCRM30rMVEa or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
What do you do when your partner of almost a decade—and husband of only a few short months—tells you he thinks you made a mistake in getting married?
Well, if you’re today’s guest, you pack your bags and start traveling the world. You might never even come back. Today we sit down with Asia Dawn Simonelli, whose unexpected heartbreak made her realize that life is too short and uncertain to do anything but what brings her joy. Her sudden divorce inspired her to spend a year traveling around South America, eventually settling in Mexico City, only to decide that Italy is where she truly belongs.
Hear how her love of travel led her to a life of her dreams, and how she turned what could have been a devastating crisis into a new career that brings her joy and purpose and helps other women who’ve been through similar trauma.
Listen to Episode 376 {From Heartbreak to Purpose} here http://ow.ly/h80f30rMbHy or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
A private yacht called the Sea Star, a handful of strangers who would soon be friends, the inland passage to Alaska, and a few whales that like to show off—these are the ingredients in Katy’s first post-pandemic trip.
Although observing humpback whales in the wild has long been a dream of hers, she had no idea how much she would enjoy the actual trip, sailing the tranquil inland waters that stretch the entire length of British Columbia and beyond, making friends with her fellow passengers and learning to live together in such close quarters, having a complete break from all forms of technology in order to truly commune with nature. Here all about it in her own words on this week’s episode.
Listen to Episode 375 {Sea Adventure to Alaska} here http://ow.ly/mG6w30rLu4G or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Make-up. Unpleasant social obligations. Commuting.
Lots of things fell by the wayside during the pandemic. Lots of things that seemed absolutely necessary parts of life “before Covid” suddenly were either impossible or simply irrelevant.
Now that life, for many people around the world, is starting to go back to normal, we can’t help but wonder: do we have to start doing these things again?
We put a call out on Instagram and got lots of responses of things our listeners would rather not go back to doing, now that the virus seems—at least in parts of the world—to be under control at last. We share some of them on this episode, as well as what the two of us hope we won’t have to start doing again.
Listen to Episode 374 {Keep This, Ditch That} here http://ow.ly/4gfk30rKJKi or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Last week we talked about the labels expat vs immigrant, and specifically, why Tiffany, after nearly 17 years in Italy, still considers herself more of an expat than an immigrant. Is it truly, as some people have suggested, only about race? Today, we replay an episode from 2015, the first time we debated the expat vs immigrant question. In addition to our own conversation, we are joined by longtime listener and former expat Keith Cooke. As a serial expat who has lived in numerous countries around the world—as well as a man of color—Keith has a unique perspective on this subject
Listen to Episode 373 {The Label Debate Continues} here http://ow.ly/4LV330rK3qL or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Tiffany moved to Italy as an expat in the fall 2004—nearly 17 years ago. Since then, she’s married an Italian and started a family, bought an apartment in Italy, and become an Italian citizen, so... is it time to change that label from expat to immigrant?
In response to a listener email, Tiffany and Katy chat about why Tiffany nevertheless still identifies as an expat, and how despite being a legal Italian citizen, she still doesn’t feel as Italian as the native-born.
Listen to Episode 372 {Expat or Immigrant?} here http://ow.ly/YmZw30rJqrc or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Can you talk about hard things? Can you negotiate your salary with a new boss? Can you tactfully comfort someone who’s just had a devastating loss? Can you be open about your sexual needs with your partner?
Anna Sale is the host of the Death, Sex, and Money, a podcast that “explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.” She sits down with us this week to talk about tactics to have those challenging talks.
Anna’s philosophy is: “hard conversations” are inevitable in life, so you might as well learn how to have them. In this interview, she talks about why the three topics of death, sex, and money (all unavoidable sooner or later) can make people so uncomfortable. We discuss how your upbringing and background influence your life choices, and what happens when you choose to go off-script, as well as how hard conversations with your family of origin can be—and why that’s completely normal. Anna also offers practical tips on how to start a conversation that might be awkward and uncomfortable, what to listen for in a difficult talk, and how to be direct, but at the same time kind.
Listen to Episode 370 {Anna Sale Talks About Hard Things, Part 1} here http://ow.ly/9Brw30rIK1O or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
One year ago, we asked our listeners, What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? Listeners from around the world sent us a peek into their lives in the form of voice memos, and we included our own auditory snapshots as well.
This year, we once again sent out a call for recorded snippet of our listeners daily lives to see what has changed in one year—and what has stayed the same.
Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a voice memo. We love hearing the voices of the people who listen to ours every week.
Listen to Episode 369 {A Day in the Life - One Year Later} here http://ow.ly/fCT630rI3Vm or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
The wait is over—at long last, you can finally go to Italy again! But is it a good idea?
According to a recent announcement, the Italian government is not waiting for the EU “green pass” to welcome travelers from outside the EU this summer, but are instead launching their own version a month earlier, that could see the country open up to tourists from around the world in less than a week.
It’s a huge relief to anyone in the tourist or tourist-adjacent sectors in Italy (and Italophiles around the world are thrilled), but is it too soon? Just a few weeks ago, Italians could’t even sit outside at a bar or restaurant, and just a few weeks before that, they could barely leave their homes or see their loved ones. The vaccine rollout in Italy has so far been very slow, and infection rate is still high. Could letting in tourists en masse (even vaccinated ones) create a new wave of illness?
This week, we discuss our conflicting feelings over Italy’s new plan, and Tiffany asks Katy when she plans to come visit.
Listen to Episode 368 {Italy Reopens to the World} here http://ow.ly/mMQ130rHiMT or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
This week we sit down with Riley Morton, a freelance documentary producer and cinematographer who kicked off his career two decades ago in the adventure sports space, producing documentaries and television about climbing, skiing, trail running, and adventure travel. Over the past decade, he has branched out, producing his own documentaries and collaborating on major projects. His newest creation is Endless Earth, a free app that features an ever-changing collection of professionally produced short travel films that capture some of the most fascinating, vibrant, and beautiful places on earth.
They discuss a wide range of topics including what travel was like pre-social media and pre-smartphone, and how dramatically it has changed. As someone who is passionate about documentation, and has literally made it his profession, Riley discusses the limits of documentation during travel, and when he feels it’s time to put down the camera and focus on the pure experience in and of itself. They also speculate on the future of travel in a post-Covid world, and wonder if access to travel should be guaranteed to all, or if it truly is only a privilege. Finally, he shares his tips on how to travel on a shoestring.
Listen to Episode 367 {Documenting Travel} here http://ow.ly/bhEd30rGACR or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Over in the US, Katy is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Hurrah! Tiffany in Italy, meanwhile, still has a long wait ahead of her. How long is anyone’s guess.
Today they discuss how Katy’s life will change now that she’s vaccinated—perhaps a lot, perhaps not much, it’s not easy to know just yet. As well as if she even wants to go back to life as it once was. And Tiffany shares her frustrations with Italy’s dismal vaccine roll-out.
Listen to Episode 366 {Vaccinated} here http://ow.ly/viLh30rFNuM or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
Inspired by our conversation with Elizabeth Miki Brina, author of the new memoir Speak, Okinawa, we turn again to cross-cultural relationships and families, and the challenges that they bring up for those involved, many of them unexpected.
We also consider how much those problems can change and worsen, depending on which country the immigrant spouse is from, and how that country is perceived in their new country. We end the episode by speculating about what it would be like in Tiffany’s marriage if the shoe were on the other foot, and Claudio were the expat in America.
Listen to Episode 364 {Cross-cultural Challenges} here http://ow.ly/ALg330rEgUd or simply by searching for #thebittersweetlife wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to subscribe!
