A few weeks ago I wrote about the non-tangible things travelers should carry with them when traveling to southern Italy. But sometimes travelers are in a hurry to pack and just need to know the nitty gritty. So, here you go. Here is a list of travel gear I find essential for traveling in southern...Read More
Travel and writing go together like fava beans a good Chianti and for today’s Travel Tip Tuesday I’m combining two of my favorite things. I’m talking about travel and writing, we’ll get back to beans and wine soon enough. Last week I received an email from a good friend of mine and a loyal reader...Read More
Last week I wrote five reasons travelers should consider visiting southern Italy. I mentioned the hospitality and lack of English-speakers as major incentives, as well as the laid-back, old Italy experience. Yet, as many of you pointed out, the benefits of a vacation in southern Italy greatly outnumber my measly five and there were some...Read More
Rome. Florence. Venice. Tuscany. The Riviera … maybe even Milan. That’s what most people list off when they think of Italy and where many travelers focus their time in the bel paese. But are they missing out by not heading south?Read More
There’s been a trend in the last few years for travelers to hyper-focus on their travel plans and devour the Internet in search of destination spotlights and-luckily for me-travel tips. They want to know, and we, the online travel bloggers of today, deliver.Read More
The world is full of well-meaning travelers and professionals dishing out travel tips and advice to would-be vacationers. But it’s not always useful. In fact, I often hear less-than-helpful advice being passed on to Italy-bound travelers, advice I know will put a dent in their trip if they follow through with it. I hesitated to...Read More
Southern Italy has it all. There are ancient Medieval towns, peaceful fishermen villages, stretching beaches and swooping mountains. There are even Roman and Greek ruins. We learned about some of the most famous places in southern Italy as children and some of us grew up dreaming of the day we’d visit our grandparents’ homeland. But...Read More
Last week Andrew Whittaker of Speak the Culture wrote a post about coping with culture shock. It was interesting because Whittaker didn’t take the stance of an expat or long-term traveler trying to adjust to a new culture but rather that of an average traveler. Although I’m slightly obsessed with culture shock and the stages...Read More
A few days ago I received an email from a guy who is planning his first trip to southern Italy. He’ll be visiting his grandfather’s homeland in Calabria-just about 50 minutes north of me in Catanzaro-and like any would-be international traveler worth his passport, he’s researching the area. He bought my Calabria travel tips ebook-thanks,...Read More
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a producer at KPAM Portland Radio. He wanted to know more about my favorite little region in Italy and asked if I’d be interested in talking to them about Calabria. Me? Talk about Calabria? Now, that’s not fun at all. photo credit: Dave Kleinschmidt Due to...Read More
