The Bittersweet Life

...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 accomplishing your goals.

Find Dr. Huston at her...

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 accents so irresistible, and how dating a local in a foreign country can ma...

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?

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 exist in Italy? Or at least, it's not included when yo...

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 help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every F...

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 Rome with us, on...

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 intriguing and adored artist, as well as what it's like to...

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! In order to help...

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 little as $5 per month—less than the price of a c...

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 insufferable teenage pasts...

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 on the air for...

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 outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relocating to San Francsico for he...

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 Tiffany's recent travel mistakes on this fun new episode.

***Katy's sister Dana has...

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 this episode from our archives...

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 that would never take place on the main show, you'll be p...

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 donating to her GoFundMe. Anything you can contribute will be extremely helpful. Thank you.***

-------------------------------------

COME...

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. We discuss our favorite moments of Italian magic on this episode from our archives.

...

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 the last conclave and this one (spoiler: a LOT has...

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 staggering medical costs—her sp...

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 gardens in the city, and why green spaces...

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 places—you will...

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 part inspired this episode.<...

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 inspired this masterpiece, and play some of that glorious music. So p...

*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 row, we are hosting an intimate gr...

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 founder of Girl in Florence Georgette Jupe to hear about the challenges of...

This special author interview pulled from our archives is Part 2 of our conversation with bestselling writer Anthony Doerr, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, as well as best-sellers Cloud Cuckoo Land and Four Seasons in Rome.

Be sure to listen to Part 1 if you haven't already!

As the conversation continues, Anthony tells the story of finding out he had won the prestigious Rome Prize literally the same day his twin sons were born, and what it took for he and his wife to make the monumental decision to pack up their...

There’s one museum in Rome that has it all—and it’s not the Vatican.

The Capitoline Museums are comprised of a collection of nearly everything you could hope for in a museum—sumptuous frescoed rooms, Caravaggio paintings, Bernini sculptures, ancient bronze and marble statuary, panoramic views of the Roman Forum, fascinating artifacts, and the ruins of Rome’s oldest and most important temple.

And believe it or not, it’s never crowded. Not even in high season. On this mini-episode, Tiffany talks about why she adores this museum, and believes it’s...

Did you know that ancient Roman statues used to smell like roses?

Or that ancient temples and palaces used to be painted with bright colors?

What other things from the deep, dark past are vastly different from how we imagine them today?

We discuss on this fun, eye-opening episode.

***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 dona...

In this very special episode from our archives, we are joined by the award-winning, best-selling writer, Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Four Seasons in Rome, among others.

Anthony shares his writing journey with Katy, from his earliest beginnings as an amateur writer to the challenges of writing from the perspective of a young blind girl in All the Light We Cannot See. He also shares how he got the idea for this book that would go on to become a world-wide sensation, and why it took him a de...

On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, Katy gives an update on her sister Dana's stage 4 agressive brain cancer.

This is just an excerpt, and if you 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 places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month. 

You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'll be part of our new chat community, you'll have access...

Are romance languages sexist? On this episode, we discuss the puzzling and seemingly discriminatory aspects of languages like Italian and French.

For example:

Why do inanimate objects have a gender?

Why, in Italian, must you refer to a group of people as entirely male even if there is only one man and 99 women?

Why, in French, are there only recently female versions of professional occupations?

Join us for this probing yet light-hearted discussion.

***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help...

When you come back after several years to a city where you used to live, what do you notice? What has change? What has stayed the same? What have you forgotten about in your time away?

In this episode from our archives, Katy arrives in Rome after four years away, and immediately  notices something that—once ubiquitous on the streets of Rome—is now missing: accordionists. This sparks a conversation about what we notice, what we take for granted as being an eternal aspect of the city, and how a city can change before your very eyes.

Where did Lord Byron and Percy Shelley come to sip coffee while they jotted down their verses? Where did Bizet and Berlioz go to discuss their work? Where could Casanova be found trying to pick up girls?

Caffè Greco, where else?

Having opened in 1760, Antico Caffè Greco is the oldest café in Rome and the second-oldest in all of Italy! And you can still go there and sit where Hawthorne, Ibsen, Gogol, Goethe, Canova, and many many other literary, art, and musical greats rubbed elbows and drank coffee.

On this episode, we visit the...

Need help falling asleep?

That's not usually our forte—at least we hope it isn't!—but this week the legendary sleep-podcaster Drew Ackerman, better known to his listeners as Dear Scooter, of the popular Sleep with Me podcast, has used not one but two of our past episodes as a script for his sleep-inducing show.

We are reposting his somnolent take on Episode 441 The Oldest Cafe in Rome and Episode 440 Where Are All the Accordions? right here (and we'll be posting the original versions of those episodes on Wednesday and Friday of thi...

This week, therapist and bestselling author Lori Gottlieb joins us to talk about change, loss, self-examination...and when you should really talk to someone. If you’ve ever wondered what your therapist was thinking, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.

Lori and Katy discuss everything from what you should look for in a therapist to what your therapist is listening for—and why it’s often not what you tell them the problem is. Lori explains how patients often try to impress their therapists (and even strive to become their favorite) and how this can lead...

For a leisurely stroll that is full of artistic gems and delightful curiosities hidden in plain —and somehow overlooked by tourists—join us for a walk down Via Giulia, one of the most historic and sumptuous streets in Rome.

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!

***As you know if you have listened to our recent episodes, Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help w...

The Bittersweet Life Podcast went on an unexpected and unprecedented month-long hiatus. As you can imagine, only something life-threatening could have caused us to take this break.

Katy sits down with her sisters Dana and Sara to have an honest and vulnerable conversation about the tragedy that has occurred in their family, and why it’s a journey that’s only beginning. And a journey with an unknown ending.

***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...

This week, we explore the underground world with Robert MacFarlane of Cambridge University in England. Robert is the best-selling author of Landmarks and The Old Ways, and was awarded the EM Forster Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book, UNDERLAND, is an “epic exploration of the Earth’s underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.” The book also details the three major things that humans do with or in the underground world. You’ll have to listen to the interview (or read the book!) to find out what the...

Did you know that your favorite podcast hosts are also writers?

On this week's bonus episode—available exclusively to our supporters on Patreon—we talk all about our various writing processes.

Katy reveals that she has been sobbing while writing lately as she comes to the end of her novel, and prepares to say goodbye to her characters.

And speaking of characters, Tiffany talks about what it's like to have a fully formed character pop up in a scene without any warning.

We chat all about our odd writing habits and quir...

Five years after the world came to a grinding halt—when Italy and shortly after much of the globe went into a full or partial lockdown—Katy and Tiffany have a conversation about that unique and momentous time. 

Do we really remember what it was like or are the memories vague and unreliable?

How did the pandemic and the lockdowns change our perception of time? 

And have we, as a society, changed since then? Did living through a global pandemic have lasting changes, and are they positive or negative changes?

We discus...