In a world that is becoming ever more homogenized, what sets places apart? What are the blaring indicators that communicate we are in a place vastly different from anywhere we've ever been before? In this episode from our archives, Katy recounts her magical and sometimes maddening week in Bali. She lays out the ways the island delighted and surprised her, the aspects that felt wholly different from what she is used to, and discusses with Tiffany how they compare with the cities of Rome and Seatt...
Jul 11, 2025•45 min
School is out in Italy, and the summer is LONG (not to mention, extremely HOT!) and a certain red-headed someone is refusing to go to summer camp. To fill the time (and keep his brain from atrophying), Tiffany has created a daily list of ten things her son Aurelio must do. Can you guess what's on there? This is jsut a preview of a bonus episode available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon ! For as ...
Jul 09, 2025•5 min
What is a growth mindset and why would you want one? And perhaps more importantly, how do you cultivate one? To answer these questions, we dive back into Dr. Therese Huston's fascinating book, Sharp: 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Live with Brain Science . We explore the idea of growth vs. fixed mindset in relation to our own lives, learning to do things that once seemed impossible, from becoming fluent in a foreign language to mastering the art of speaking live on radio, from learning to play t...
Jul 07, 2025•43 min•Season 12Ep. 590
Since July is a big month for travel, this month we are re-airing episodes from our archives every Friday that revisit trips we've taken in the past. After her recent two-week trip to Austria, Tiffany reflects on the differences between Italy and Austria. Despite the fact that the countries share a border, it turns out there are many glaring differences between the two. *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover som...
Jul 04, 2025•37 min
Rome is extremely hot and extremely crowded right now, and the Vatican Museums have become an almost unbearable place. Instead of spending a miserable (and potentially hazardous) day inside one of the most amazing but sadly most overcrowded and unpleasant museums in the world, we've come up with a list of places you can go in Rome to find the same kind of art you'd find in the Vatican—and you'll probably have a much better time doing it! You're welcome. And don’t miss your chance to visit Rome w...
Jul 02, 2025•10 min
...According to the latest brain science anyway. Katy discovered this provcative tidbit in Dr. Therese Huston's new book, Sharp: 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life with Brain Science . She asks Tiffany if she's ever had a vision board and proceeds to explain why the thinking behind this concept is faulty. But Tiffany has her own ideas on this topic, ideas that are more philosophy than science. Join us for this fun conversation that might just change your mind about how you go about accomplishin...
Jun 30, 2025•33 min•Season 12Ep. 589
How do you flirt in a foreign language? What if you barely speak the language in question? Is it easier to flirt with a foreigner than with someone from your own culture? What happens when cultural miscommunication crops up? And how do you manage to be witty and charming in a foreign language? On this episode from our archives, we delve into Tiffany’s (many) experiences dating and flirting with foreign men, her bad dates, misadventures, and embarrassments. She shares why she finds foreign accent...
Jun 27, 2025•45 min
A school initiative in Italy is bringing elementary school children and opera together in an ingenius way! On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our supporters on Patreon , we talk about the sheer delight this project has brought to hundreds of thousands of people on social media. Which brings up the question: what exactly makes something go viral? This is just a preivew of what we offer to our generous Patreon supporters. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life communit...
Jun 25, 2025•6 min
Have you ever noticed that Italian homes don't have closets? Bedroom closets, linen closets, broom closets, coat closets—they simply don't exist (unless you as a homeowner or renter decide to build one). Because of this lack of convenient storage space, Italians, twice a year, every year, have to swap out all their winter clothes (and pack them away) for their spring clothes, or vice versa. This got us thinking: what other things that an American might feel is indispensible in a home just dosn't...
Jun 23, 2025•33 min•Season 12Ep. 588
Do expat couples divorce more than couples who live in their home countries? They certainly face different challenges. On this episode from our archives, writer and former expat Debra Bruno joins us to talk about her article Divorce Global Style: For Expat Marriages, Breaking Up is Harder to Do which appeared on the Wall Street Journal 's Expat Blog. Find Debra Bruno on Instagram or at her website . *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to hel...
Jun 20, 2025•21 min
Tiffany does not get Italian beach culture. In this candid (and a bit heated) mini-episode, she wonders: what's the appeal of overcrowded beaches, endless rows of umbrellas and chaise longues as far as they eye can see, baking, inescapable heat, and dirty warm water that most people don't even swim in? Why are Italians so obsessed with spending every free moment of summer here? Tiffany doesn't have an answer. But maybe you do: write in to tell us your theory. And don’t miss your chance to visit ...
Jun 18, 2025•18 min
Tiffany finally made it to Rome's epic 2025 Caravaggio exhibit and it was well worth the wait! (The tickets were also nearly as hard to come by as seats at Taylor Swift concert!) Tiffany and Katy talk about the thoughts that came up during the exhibit, incluing possibly misplaced tears, an astonishing encounter with true Caravaggio expert, and what makes an exhibit a great one—beyond just the works of art on display. Tiffany also remarks on what it is that makes Caravaggio such a universally int...
Jun 16, 2025•43 min•Season 12Ep. 587
Expat Amy has lived abroad since college. First in Italy, then in Nicaragua, then back to Italy. In this interview from our archives, we sat down with her (over a decade ago!) to chat about her indecisiveness on whether to return to the US or not. All year she had been planning to return to move back and yet she never leaves. That got us wondering, do long-term expats lose their sense of truly belonging anywhere? *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! I...
Jun 13, 2025•34 min
After Monday's episode about traveling with teens, Tiffany and Katy continue the conversation on this bonus episode by turning the spotlight on themselves. What were we like as annoying teen travelers? Did we drive our parents crazy with our boredom and apathy like the "kids today"? (Spoiler: yes.) And what did our parents do about it? This is just a snippet of the full-length bonus episode. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon ! For as l...
Jun 11, 2025•5 min
Have you ever traveled with a teenager? Or maybe you have travel memories of your teenage self? Were you as insufferable a traveler as teens these days appear to be? Today we chat about what exactly turns off (is it an "interest switch"?) in the human brain around age 13 or 14 that makes incredible art, fascinating history, and amazing visual locations so very very dull. So how do you spark interest for a reluctant teen traveler, or should you not even bother? Katy and Tiffany dig into their own...
Jun 09, 2025•30 min•Season 12Ep. 586
Is dating harder when you're an expat? Is it easier? And does your gender make a difference? If an expat dates a local, does that improve their social standing? Do all cultures flirt in the same way? What's it like to flirt in a foreign language or date someone's who's language you don't speak? Today we dig into our archives to re-air one of our very first ever episodes (Episode 5 to be exact!) in which we discuss the thrills and pitfalls dating abroad. *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been ...
Jun 06, 2025•27 min
Americans show their patriotism on the 4th of July—Italians do it on the 2nd of June. But in very different ways! On this mini-episode, Tiffany talks about the history of the Italian Repulic (it's several centuries younger than the American republic, believe it or not!!), how it came about, and how Italians celebrate this important national holiday. *** Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is ...
Jun 04, 2025•13 min
Tiffany and her family recently spend ten days in and around Paris, a city Tiffany has visited many times. Somehow, though—and to be fair, it was a quickly thrown together trip—Tiffany seemed to get it all wrong, mistaking museum opening hours, booking wrong nights in hotels, and committing other potentially disastrous mishaps. You'd think a professional travel planner would know better! But somehow planning your OWN trip is a thousand times harder than planning someone else's. Hear all about Ti...
Jun 02, 2025•34 min•Season 12Ep. 585
As you know if you're a regular listener, our show goes a lot deeper than travel tips an "best of"s. Our weekly conversations explore many aspects of life (both abroad and at home), and we encourage our listeners to live more daring and authentic lives. But we've had so many requests for an episode about our favorite restaurants, wine bars, and gelato shops, that we finally gave in! Whether you're preparing for a trip to Rome, or just traveling via your earphones, join us for a casual chat on th...
May 30, 2025•33 min
On this snippet from a recent bonus episode—available only to our supporters on Patreon—Tiffany reveals why she decided to cancel her trip back to the States this year. To hear her full explanation, and lots of other answers to fun listener questions, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon ! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month. You'll hear conversations...
May 28, 2025•5 min
It's Memorial Day in the States, Aurelio's First Communion in Rome, and the occasion for a catch-up on the latest happenings in our lives on this casual, conversational episode. Happy Memorial Day to all who celebrate! *** Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for her treatments, please consider don...
May 26, 2025•31 min•Season 12Ep. 584
Is there anywhere else on earth that offers as much sheer beauty as Italy? (We'd wager there isn't.) But in addition to Italy's undeniable beauty, it offers a sense of magic that, once you've experienced it, never quite leaves you. With artistic masterpieces hidden in obscure churches, exquisite villages perched on remote mountaintops, and archetectural wonders tucked away in the middle of a forest, you never know when you'll turn a corner and encounter something that will dazzle and delight you...
May 23, 2025•27 min
Did Tiffany manage to witness the white smoke at conclave 2025 and see the first appearance of Pepe Leo XIV—as she did in 2013 for the election of Pope Francis? (Listen to this episode to hear that story!) Unless you have unlimited time to spend hanging around St. Peter's Square for days on end, it's really luck of the draw if you are able to witness this momentous and historical event! Listen to this mini-episode to hear Tiffany's experience at the 2025 conclave, and what was different between ...
May 21, 2025•21 min
Solo travel... it can be inspiring, healing, life-changing... ...except when it isn't. Except when all it makes you is lonely and sad. Today we sit down with writer Jennie Spohr to discuss what happens when a solo trip—which you were sure would be just the thing to reignite your curiosity and joy—actually turns out to be a bad idea... or is it? Find Jennie on Instagram or at her website . *** Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the sta...
May 19, 2025•41 min•Season 12Ep. 583
Little known fact: Rome is the city in Europe with the most green space per capita! It's true, Rome is not all crumbling ruins and crowded city streets. The city is bursting with parks and gardens, true urban oases that often have centuries-old histories. Katy and Tiffany visit one such garden on this episode from our archives, the Roseto Comunale, Rome's municipal rose garden, on a hot May day when the roses are in spectacular bloom. What follows is a chat about some of the most beautiful garde...
May 16, 2025•27 min
When Tiffany first moved to Rome, she made a grave mistake. She paid several months' rent in advance to a seemingly kind man who rented out rooms in his Trastevere apartment to brand new expats. He was not who he claimed to be. This is an excerpt of a bonus episode that aired this month exclusively to our generous supporters. Want to hear more? Become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon ! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some place...
May 14, 2025•4 min
When did traveling stop being about the place you are visiting and instead become about you in that place? And how much do shows like The White Lotus have to do with this mental shift? When ordinary travelers flock en masse to a tourist site made famous by a popular television show, pushing the location well past the limits of its capacity, what is the damage? Today we tackle this topic, inconvenient though it may be to travel-lovers. Read the thought-proviking article by Sarah Stodola that in p...
May 12, 2025•39 min•Season 12Ep. 582
Rome not only has more fountains than any city on earth, it also has the most beautiful ones, from the delicate Fountain of the Turtles (nispiration for Tiffany's book Midnight in the Piazza ), to the massive Fontanone on the Gianicolo Hill and so many others. In fact, the early 20th-century Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was so inspired by Rome's fountains (four in particular) that he wrote a symphonic poem about them. On this episode from our archives, we talk about the four fountains that...
May 09, 2025•24 min
*but didn't know who to ask. In today's mini-episode, Tiffany fills you in on the history of this fascinating election, unique in the wolrd, as well as all the rules and ceremonies involved, just in time for Conclave 2025, which starts today! Don’t miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip , coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here , or email us for more information! ------------------------------------- COME TO ROME WITH US: For the third year in a ...
May 07, 2025•17 min
What's it like to move abroad, all the way from Texas to Florence, Italy, learn the language to perfection, and establish yourself there so fully that you become known internationally simply as the " Girl in Florence ," only to find yourself moving to a new country where you're unfamiliar with the culture and don't speak the language—in the midst of a worldwide pandemic no less?! That's what today's guest did a number of years ago. We sit down with freelance writer, social media consultant, and ...
May 05, 2025•49 min•Season 12Ep. 581
