Imagine you hear a note—any note—from a ding in an elevator to the whistle of a bird, and somehow, without even having to thing about it, you just know what note it is. F-sharp. B-flat. Middle C. It's just there, as easy as it would be for the rest of us to recognize a color. This phenomenon is a gift shared by very few people on the earth, and one of them is Katy's nephew Evan. He didn't have to study. He didn't have to train his ear. He didn't acquire this ability after years of piano lessons....
Dec 02, 2021•15 min•Season 9Ep. 131
We spend a lot of time on this show encouraging our listeners—especially those who write in for advice—to throw caution to the wind and move abroad if that is their dream. But what about when the timing just doesn't seem right? Today we read a letter from a listener asking about a possible move to France, but this time we offer different advice. Listen in and decide if you agree. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the worl...
Nov 29, 2021•21 min•Season 9Ep. 404
For Adrianne Castro and her husband Joe, a move to Rome had been a very long time in the making. At first it started out as just an idea when they were on a trip with their young son. But then soon found themselves wondering: why not? Several years, a son settled at college, the recognition of Joe's Italian citizenship through ancestry, a pandemic, the sale of their home, and a lot of planning later, Adrianne has fulfilled this long-time dream and is living the life she imagined in Rome. She als...
Nov 25, 2021•14 min•Season 9Ep. 130
Do you suffer from anxiety? Is it a chronic problem, or something that only flairs up at certain times? Or are you one of the lucky ones, blessed with calm under pressure? Today we talk about anxiety from a few different angles, including the stress that comes along with moving outside of your comfort zone, whether it be moving to a foreign country, leaving a stable job, or simply trying a new hobby. We ask, why do some of us sometimes choose discomfort as opposed to doing what's easy? And what ...
Nov 22, 2021•35 min•Season 9Ep. 403
Can you produce an entire creative project in just 24 hours, from start to finish? This week, Katy attempted just that. She and her good friend and fellow radio producer Casey Martin decided to participate in the KCRW 24-hour Radio Race 2021. The challenge: produce an entire radio piece from scratch in no more than 24 hours. With the somewhat lack-luster theme of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?", these two audio professionals get to work, taking a radio project from zero to completely produced and in...
Nov 18, 2021•11 min•Season 9Ep. 129
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 do with them? Today Tiffany and Katy talk all about ideas, and the specific ways and places they fi...
Nov 15, 2021•28 min•Season 9Ep. 402
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 long texts, and Save the Cat Writes a Novel , a book that outlines an ingenious strategy for plotti...
Nov 11, 2021•23 min•Season 9Ep. 128
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 her early 20s, and edited by her old friend Matthew Woerner. So pour yourself a warm drink, get comfo...
Nov 08, 2021•41 min•Season 9Ep. 401
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 years, Katy has compiled a collection of sounds she has captured. On this mini-episode, she listens ...
Nov 04, 2021•10 min•Season 9Ep. 127
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 shared by some of our listeners during our recent live virtual meet-up event for our Patreon supporter...
Nov 01, 2021•41 min•Season 9Ep. 400
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 to dress up as this year? Enquiring minds want to know!! ------------------------------------- ADVER...
Oct 28, 2021•9 min•Season 9Ep. 126
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 would deem to be disaster, why Robert dismisses the "meaningless" idea of personal authenticity, how tr...
Oct 25, 2021•43 min•Season 9Ep. 399
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 always suggest new listeners start at the beginning), and some rebels like to hop around and pick e...
Oct 20, 2021•15 min•Season 9Ep. 125
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-up on 20 October 2021 at 9pm Central European Time (Rome), or 12 noon PST (Seattle). The meet-up is ...
Oct 18, 2021•33 min•Season 9Ep. 398
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 how the city has changed, how it has stayed the same, and most intriguingly, how their time abroad a...
Oct 14, 2021•13 min•Season 9Ep. 124
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? It's tempting to claim you did it alone, but is that even possible? Today we dig into the topic of l...
Oct 11, 2021•34 min•Season 9Ep. 397
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 experiences how moving abroad is not always rainbows and roses—especially not at first. The Artist's Way by J...
Oct 07, 2021•11 min•Season 9Ep. 123
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 lining. Diana, who is an audio producer and host, joins us to share what it was like to have her parents ...
Oct 04, 2021•32 min•Season 9Ep. 396
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 us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bit...
Sep 30, 2021•18 min•Season 9Ep. 122
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 keep his dreams on hold. As you might have guessed, Katy and Tiffany have VERY different opinions on w...
Sep 27, 2021•27 min•Season 9Ep. 395
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 abroad. Also, Katy explores the various stages of getting used to living in a new culture. -----------...
Sep 23, 2021•12 min•Season 9Ep. 121
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 heels of Tiffany's recent trip to the US—after over two years away—she comments on the things that su...
Sep 20, 2021•32 min•Season 9Ep. 394
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 all on this mini-episode. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, fu...
Sep 16, 2021•15 min•Season 9Ep. 120
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 like to have to wear a mask for an entire 14-hour flight? And what giant wrench was thrown into her pla...
Sep 13, 2021•36 min•Season 9Ep. 393
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 to check out Rebecca's book, Happy Starts at Home . ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE ...
Sep 09, 2021•27 min•Season 8Ep. 392
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 mo...
Sep 06, 2021•41 min•Season 8Ep. 391
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. *** This episode was sponsored by LUGZ, offering comfortable, versatile and affordable footwear, from styl...
Sep 02, 2021•28 min•Season 8Ep. 390
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—what it is about his job that he loves more than he could ever have dreamed of as a young man. *** T...
Aug 30, 2021•29 min•Season 8Ep. 389
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, Sunny and Mike recall how that time changed them (changed both of them, not just the student abroad, bu...
Aug 26, 2021•58 min•Season 8Ep. 388
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. Visit Lugz.com and enter our promo code BITTERSWEET for an extra 30% off. *** -----------------...
Aug 23, 2021•37 min•Season 8Ep. 387
