Life doesn't have a script. At least, it doesn't have to. Hosts Katy Sewall and Tiffany Parks explore the challenges and joys of moving abroad and moving home. Whether you’re living overseas, or not — or not yet — join us weekly for unadulterated conversation. Get to know Rome. Laugh at our embarrassments and insights. Most of all, imagine the possibilities for your own life (and meet some famous authors along the way).
…
continue reading
Expat, Repat, Travel, Rome, Seattle, Books, Art, Wonder Podcasts
What percentage of Italian men cheat? Is it really 100% like a family friend of Tiffany’s smugly insisted when she first moved to Italy? Or is that number closer to the rest of the world, only it’s more acknowledged over here? Did Tiffany take a terrible risk marrying an Italian, or is cultural background irrelevant to fidelity? And what about Ital…
…
continue reading
1
The BIttersweet Past: The Irresistible Call of Vietnam
33:25
33:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:25
Katy's father Dale and sister Sara join us on this episode from our archives to look back on their past family travels to Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam. Katy, who was not a travel-lover as a younger person, asks her dad if he invited her to join him on his frequent trips to Vietnam in order to expand her world through travel. His answer surp…
…
continue reading
It's a common security question: What is the name of your first pet? Tiffany and Katy reminisce about the pets that they adopted and loved throughout their childhood and what was special about them. Aurelio (Tiffany's son), would like his first pet now, please, and he really wants a dog. Should he get one? This is just a snippet of our most recent …
…
continue reading
Can you remember the first time you were truly frightened—by a movie, a ghost story, or even a real event that you witnessed? On this episode, Katy and Tiffany delve back into their earliest memories to come up with the first instances of true fear that they experienced—and most of the time they can laugh at them now. We also wonder: can one instan…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Florence, Memories, and A Room with a View
30:05
30:05
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:05
On this nostalgic episode from our archives, Tiffany regales Katy with the details of a recent trip to the cradle of the Renaissance, including specific stops she made to research her latest book, a YA historical fiction thriller set in Florence in 1600. Also, we talk about how memory-provoking it can be to travel to a place that you haven't been i…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 591: Where Would You Go if You Had Six Months to Travel? (with Katy's sisters Dana and Sara)
45:21
45:21
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
45:21
Where would you go if you only had about six months left before travel would be out of the question for health reasons? Most people will never be forced to answer this question, but today's guest was recently asked this question by her husband, as they prepare and plan for the end of her life, after a devastating termincal cancer diagnosis. In this…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Katy Explores the Rich Culture of Bali
44:47
44:47
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
44:47
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 surpris…
…
continue reading
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 ava…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 590: How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset
43:15
43:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
43:15
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 t…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Just Across the Border: Austria vs. Italy
36:51
36:51
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
36:51
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 differ…
…
continue reading
1
bittersweet Moment #226: Skip the Vatican (and Go Here Instead)
10:21
10:21
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
10:21
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 …
…
continue reading
...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…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Romance, for Expats
45:01
45:01
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
45:01
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 Tiffan…
…
continue reading
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 …
…
continue reading
1
Episode 588: Closets, and Other Things Italy Doesn't Have
32:34
32:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:34
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 awa…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] The Complications of an Expat Divorce (with Debra Bruno)
20:32
20:32
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:32
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…
…
continue reading
1
Bittersweet Moment #225: Baffling Italian Beach Culture
17:39
17:39
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
17:39
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 eve…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 587: Tears and Surprises at a Caravaggio Exhibit
42:45
42:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
42:45
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…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Should I Stay or Should I Go? (with Amy Knauff)
34:28
34:28
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
34:28
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,…
…
continue reading
1
[PATREON PREVIEW] What Were Katy and Tiffany Like as Kid Travelers?
4:35
4:35
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
4:35
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…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 586: A Sudden Lack of Interest: Traveling with Teens
30:24
30:24
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:24
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 locat…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] The Thrills and Pitfalls of Dating in a Foreign Country
27:17
27:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
27:17
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 ve…
…
continue reading
1
Bittersweet Moment #224: Italy's Republic Day vs. the Fourth of July
13:08
13:08
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
13:08
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…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 585: Paris Vacation or Comedy of Errors?
34:05
34:05
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
34:05
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 profes…
…
continue reading
1
[THE BITTERSWEET PAST] Rome's Best Restaurants, Gelato, and More
32:45
32:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:45
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 gel…
…
continue reading
