The Bittersweet Life

When Tiffany described her struggles and misadventures to recreate a traditional Thanksgiving meal in her adopted country (listen to that mini-episode here if you haven't already), Katy had lots of q…

Against all odds (including being a self-described unenthusiastic cook), Tiffany managed to pull off a full Thanksgiving meal this year, all by herself! And it was waaaaay more work than she expected…

Autumn isn't everyone's favorite season... but it should be. 

For no other reason than because we're in the middle of the best season of the year, today we put aside the "serious" topics to play a li…

This autumn we announced our best book giveaway ever: a chance to win a brand-new copy of Jane Austen's best-loved novel Pride and Prejudice in the stunning Penguin Clothbound Classics edition.

On th…

Are you tired of watching every one you know go to Italy? The writer of a recent Eater article was, and she penned a viral complaint about it for the popular online foodie publication, with the speci…

Katy recently threw her hat in the ring, and ended up on a stage in Richmond, Virginia, vying for a $10,000 podcast pilot contract. We listen in on the contest of a lifetime. You'll get to hear her l…

When you decide to try something new, you might as well go all the way. That's what Katy was thinking when she bought opera tickets for the first time ever, and that the opera was by Wagner. Tiffany …

If the current political situation in America or Britain or wherever you happen to live is not your cup of tea, you can always move abroad (easier said than done, of course)!

On this mini-episode, Ti…

What does it mean to belong—to a place, a family, a profession, a community?

They say that belonging is a universal need, but if that's true, why do expats willingly leave home,  family, friends, and…

What's it like to really live with a ghost, and why do so many people want to these days?

This mini-episode was inspired by a recent article in the New York Times that suggests some interesting reaso…

Everyone has one—a ghost story, that is. At least that's what our guests on this episode claim. And their podcast sets out to prove it.

Homespun Haints is a hilarious yet serious look at all things g…

On Monday's episode, our guest Monique Le described a simple but memorable moment—just after arriving in Seattle as an immigrant from Vietnam —as romantic. 

Inspired by this, on today's mini-episode,…

Monique Le fled Vietnam when she was 16 years old. After eight months in a refugee camp, she finally landed in the United States.

Thirty years later, Monique lives in Seattle and makes her living as …

When new listeners find our show, they often ask themselves (or us), where do I begin? And it's understandable: with an archive of over 450 episodes and pushing 200 mini-episodes, it can be hard to k…

Just in time for Halloween, we share grisly stories about the scariest, ickiest, and most unpleasant nights we ever spent on a trip—in a hotel, apartment, or other not ideal accomodation.

But what ma…

On the heels of the big parliamentary elections in Italy last month, and the upcoming 2022 midterm elections in the states, Tiffany talks about what it's like to vote in Italy. You'll probably be sur…

On a recent Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany remembered accidently smearing a bit of lipstick on the doorframe of one of the buildings she lived in her first months in Rome, and how that red streak is sti…

On Monday's episode we asked the question, where would you live if you could live anywhere? Today we think about what would you do if you could do anything? What would you want to learn? 

Katy once m…

It used to be that we moved to (and stayed in) whatever city we got a job in—whether we liked living there or not.

Luckily, thanks to the rise in remote work and freelancing, we have more freedom tha…

On the heels of Tiffany's 18th anniversary of moving to Rome, she remenisces about the miserable living situations she found herself in those very first weeks as an expat. Luckily, with the distance …