Writer. Creative Leader.
1. Food grows everywhere… from front lawn tomatoes and side-of-the-road blackberries… …to farm-fresh cantaloupe and olive tree-lined streets. 2. There’s no evidence of human tampering in whole fruits and vegetables. {Hey, fellow Americans! Remember when watermelon had seeds?} 3. We perfected the art of eating inexpensively in Italy, through… homemade meals… …and lots of picnics! {Table for two, please!} 4. …
A look at where we rested our heads at night–from Montecchio to Ancona. *** Home is…next to this tree down a dirt road that leads to a quarry in Montecchio. *** Home is…waking up in a foggy farm field near Nepi. *** Home is…cashing in Marriott points for a night of luxury and laundry in Rome. …
Last year I typed “Abruzzo” into Google for the first time after calling my grandmom to get her recipe for scrippelle soup. In 0.24 seconds, I was overwhelmed with 16 million results for the region my father’s family hailed from. Still, in my mind, Abruzzo existed in the same way the North Pole and the moon exists. You …
When Justin and I moved into our own house four and a half years ago, I turned a small patch of land next to the kitchen into my very first vegetable garden. I made starter pots out of newspaper, filled them with special soil, pressed tiny seeds into the dirt, watered regularly, held my breath and then tearfully …
“It’s beautiful to find a place that feels like home when you’re on the road. That’s why I host people. I know how it feels.” Our three-night stay with this wonderful family felt like home all right. If home were in Abruzzo, Italy… had a fleet of foreign-to-us bikes to test out… provided multiple-course meals, …
A couple weeks ago, I was e-mailing with a friend and mentioned we were trying to figure out what to do with our remaining time in Italy. Leading up to this point, we’d spent days riding ugly, busy highways in the rain. Each spray of filthy water from passing Mack trucks—or MAN trucks as they’re called here—was a …
Last week we found ourselves in Perugia for a few days. I’m sorry to say we didn’t even leave the hotel to take in Umbria’s capital city. Instead, despite painfully slow Internet (this seems to be a trend), we got loads of work done, and Justin met with a distributor. Though we didn’t get out …
Seeking shelter from the rain. Ravenna! Inside these monuments and churches are beautiful mosaics. The nicest-looking, side-of-the-road wild blackberries I’ve ever seen. Asleep on the job. Dinner with a view of the Adriatic Sea. We climbed to the very top of the Republic of San Marino, the fifth smallest country in the world. Founded …
From the moment we arrived on our bikes, this little firecracker stole our hearts–we colored, played “acqua” “fuoco,” sang English nursery rhymes and chased Micheaux the kitten around the backyard. In the middle of dinner, she even climbed into my lap and sat with me. Being unable to communicate with her was heart-wrenching. Frustrated that everyone …
I couldn’t decide: “You don’t need a lot of money. If you live with less, enjoy the day and think something good will happen tomorrow, something good will happen.” – or – “They say if you walk in your garden in bare feet, the ground can feel your energy and grows what you body needs,” …