A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

"Sometimes you just have to move forward and lead the way" - Michelle Johnston

Welcome to Episode #112,

From the Campo Sofia between the gondole and the Strada Nova while sipping a macchiato I share some travel stories and adventures of my days in Italy, it’s full vibrant cafe life and feeling that Venetian light soaking into my skin while musing over events, places, journeys.

Enjoy x

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"Now & again I am able to live expansively, to feel expansive, with nothing & no one to do it for. Then I am happy, or happier than otherwise" 

April 18, 1951 Patricia Highsmith, Her Diaries and Notebooks

Welcome to Episode #111:

This episode comes after a week of travelling solo in Italy reflecting on events and pivotal moments that led me to taking time in Italy to restore balance and beauty in life, to let Italy and Paris work its magic. It’s not exactly a perfect introduction, there is grief and emotional baggage but life and blessed time in Italy is a guaranteed source to move me forward into writing and reading. 

The simple pleasures of time alone and enjoying cafe life in Paris and Italy do work their magic. The gifts of travel, to old and new places help integrate and challenge me to move forward, to honour myself and make peace with a challenging time in life.

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

My book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for  MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

Support the show

"We travel not to escape life, but for life to not escape us"

Welcome to Episode #110:

Italy beckons... 

Today Nadia and I talk travel moments and her soulful Tuscany Cooking Retreat in Tuscany this year, see links below to book yourself something special in Italy this coming November-December….

Tuscan Escape with Nadia Fragnito

Hortulanus Villa in Tuscany

Support the show

"Does the ever- evolving desire for beauty at home derive from a super sense of conviviality?" - Frances Mayes, A Place in the World

Welcome to Episode #109:

Some of the most delicious parts of this journey over the many years of loving Italy is the way it slowly became a part of my every day life.  At home I see the art, the ceramics, the candle holders, the table ware, the cookbooks, the coffee table and Italian design books and my favourite coffee mugs that I enjoy using daily (let’s not forget the true force in my life - the 10 cup Bialetti Moka Pot) and everything else I have collected along the way have played a beautiful role on this Italian journey.  

There is magic in the every day domestic and mundane details of our lives and the joy we feel when we see these beautiful momentos from the travels and the inspiration we have felt to acquire such an object. 

Today’s share is a revel in how Italy has been just as important at home for me as it is as a place in the world.  

Enjoy listening, 

Michelle x

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for  MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"It's about the treasure beneath our feet, it's about the land..." - Bailey Alexander

Welcome to Episode #108:

Bailey Alexander lived in the region of Piemonte Italy in the small village of Loazzolo for seven years with her husband Francis. Over time the place, the land, the people, the traditions, the lifestyle, and the wonderful campilismo began to shape her life in new and creative ways. 

After many years circumnavigating the globe, this time living in Piemonte searching for the “authentic life” ignited a curiosity that led Bailey to go on a journey of sorts, a personal pilgrimage to understand more. Bailey had so many questions and soon this curiosity became a collection of stories that evolved into her second book - ‘Personal Legends of Piemonte’.

Bailey and I discuss the many life lessons and the beautiful meandering journey of this time in her life to later come out the other side with a book that shares these intimate and magical stories of twelve Piemontese. This is a grand conversation and one that illuminates the many cycles in life, the power of change and the resiliency we discover when we follow the call to live authentically and with grace.

Personal Legends of Piemonte by Bailey Alexander

Instagram: Bailey Alexander

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"The only joy in the world is to begin" - Cesare Pavese, This Business of Living

Welcome to Episode #107:

The writing life is full of possibilities and paradoxes, yet some times you need some tips and tricks on how to move forward, how to make time, how to get past the resistance and the limitations, and just write. Living a creative life takes a little audacity, a dose of commitment and a tonne of self care, it’s about nurturing your creativity and your projects until they are ready to bloom.  

Today I share some of the tools, the tricks, some tips and the books on writing and creativity that have helped me complete my books, or more so, just get started. It is all about beginners mind and the art of small compounding victories that lead you to build momentum and structure over time. Anyway, this is what I have discovered over thirty years of being curious and absolutely determined to keep creating and making things along the way!

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Music Available on Spotify & Apple Music, today I featured Richard's 'The Ghan' on the Show!! 

Enjoy xo

Support the show

"It was always in my heart" - Pinch Me, Waking up in a 300-Year-Old Italian Farmhouse by Barbara Boyle

Welcome to Episode #106,

Barbara shares her book ‘Pinch Me - Waking up in a 300-Year-Old Italian Farmhouse’ and the tale of traveling from France to Piemonte to discover the region of the Langhe, the place she would fall in love with, buy an old farmhouse and begin a grand restoration process. Barbara and her husband Kim made a life in Italy, following the pull, the irrational desire to create something special for them to enjoy in their retirement and live for an extended time in Italy.  

I love these stories about people making the leap into new territory, buying a home, learning the language, living another kind of life. It is very possible to do that and it speaks to living the Italian dream and giving it a go. 

Pinch Me - Waking up in a 300-Year-Old Italian Farmhouse by Barbara Boyle

Visit Barbara’s Substack - Letters from a 300 year old farmhouse

Barbara’s Website for More!

Barbara’s Instagram

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"You actually have permission to orient your life according to your nature rather than according to your culture and what you were taught was expected of you" - Elizabeth Gilbert, Living an Imperfectly Perfect Life - In Conversation with Sarah Grynberg 

Welcome to Episode #105:

After three days in Sydney pondering a workshop with Elizabeth Gilbert I come away with this share. It was a gift to myself to just get away for a few days, number one there was that. Number two, I could have just gone there to see the tsunami of women of all ages ready, pens and journals in hand waiting. There were people of all ages, including some men, one beside me scrawling notes, trying to catch what poet she quoted, all listening, waiting, watching, talking and mostly just feeling her words ricocheting off the podium where she stood. 

In such an experience there is before, there is then and then there is after. …. it’s the holy trinity… And so it has been many years of knowing her work from afar, reading her books, loving her books and Liz sharing the art of creative living. For most of us it did start with the iconic ‘Eat Pray Love’ - for some it was the love story, for some the epic travel journey, for some the long pasta lunches in Italy, for some it was the spiritual seeking and the searching for herself. For me, it was everything. Livy was in my belly when I first read ‘Eat Pray Love’, and she is now sixteen years old. I have had three kids, and managed to live a creative life and stay married, in my mind it is quite the endurance test. 

It is lovely to see her and listen to her to talk, but it is bigger than that, Liz Gilbert does the work. She questions and she calls it out, and she is willing to ride the wave and get dumped a few times. And if you see her live, you are with her walking into the fire, you are warmed and you are transformed, rising from the flames, anew and alive to whatever you are calling in next!

This share I go all the way in the deep end of living my own personal journey and feeling the rumble of change and growth and my own potential hovering in the wings as I share this podcast. It is creative living and I wouldn’t change any of it - it’s a grand adventure and a joy to share along the way…..

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"There's an immense amount of love in Italian food, and I believe this is the key ingredient that makes it stand out from the rest: a love of good food, love for those  at your table, and a love for your territory and its produce. In Italy, food is never just food. Nowadays in particular, it's so important to know what we eat and where it comes from. I found this communal passion in Italy" - Alison Ranwell, Appetito: The life, Soul and Tastes of Italian Home Cooking 

Welcome to Episode #104,

Today I have Cookbook Author Alison Ranwell sharing her Italian journey, from moving from London to Italy on a whim, to making a life in the Veneto with her family, and discovering the essence and art of the Italian cuisine and culture. 

Alison shares her story of discovering the diverse regional heritage of Italian food, sharing her explorations and the wonderful stories behind the recipes in her new book Appetito: The Life, Soul and Tastes of Italian Home Cooking.

These days Alison has one foot in Italy and one foot in the United Kingdom. You can her visit her website for travel advice, fabulous food adventures and her beautiful evocative cookbook that you must see if you love the visual beauty of Italy, the sublime ingredients and the magic of the Italian table.

Book Share:  Appetito: The Life, Soul and Tastes of Italian Home Cooking by Alison Ranwell

On Instagram:  Mangia Mangia  &  Alison Ranwell 

Visit Alison:  Blog - Mangia Mangia

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"My motive was simple and hedonistic: I was looking for beauty" - Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel

Welcome to Episode #103

I have mused over limoncello, Liguria, Milano and Roma, the streets of Genova and once wrote a love letter to Padova. I have revered Giotto and Botticelli and cried over Santa Chiara in Assisi. I have interviewed many beautiful women about their lives in Italy, their stories, their cookbooks and their passions for a bountiful table and the beauty of the artist’s life. I have researched Sardegna and even had a good laugh with the one and only Luca Spaghetti. I went deep down the rabbit hole on the iconic Peggy Guggenheim and I dreamt about returning to Italy to do it all over again. I inspired women to go solo traveling in Italy and I insisted my husband take me again for my 50th birthday. And finally I published my travel memoir - In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure. 

And so over 103 episodes I have mused and I have definitely felt the call, that magnetic lure of Italy, it has been a beautiful life expanding journey and a wonderful daring chapter of my life - Enjoy my next share In Bocca al lupo - a few of the many stories that happened along the way ❤️

The Italian affair continues through travel, books, art and lifestyle. In truth, there are many portals to enjoy Italy and many ways to connect the dots of living a beautiful life. They all make for a sumptuous connection to Italy and one that has given so much beauty and magic.  

Thank you for joining me and making this journey what it is for without the beautiful listeners and you whom I have connected with along the way in conversation and in spirit, it has made it just so much fun!!

Michelle xo

"In bocca al lupo (pronounced [im ˈbokka al ˈlupo]; lit. "into the wolf's mouth") is an Italian Idiom originally used in opera and theatre to wish a performer good luck prior to a performance.

The standard response is crepi il lupo!  - "may the wolf die" or, more commonly, simply crepi! ("may it die").

Equivalent to the English actor's idiom "break a leg", the expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. The expression is commonly used in Italy off stage, as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use, and it can sometimes be heard outside of Italy".  (Wikipedia 2024)

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for my MichelleJohnston.life

© 2024  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2024

Support the show