Italy is often looked at for a very surface-level understanding of what it is actually like to live in Italy. It's true most people around the world only have an interest in knowing as much as what will be relevant for their Italy trip. But Italy has so much more than just the food, wine and travel that it's popular for. Recently, while thinking about this subject and realizing that many of the greatest "Italian" accomplishments and contributions to the world are mostly from before Italy was what we know today. This leads me back to questions I've been thinking about for years... What is Italian? What does it mean to be Italian? As well as the discussion around what it means to be Italian American vs Italian. If so many "Italian" accomplishments occurred before Italy was "Italy"... then what is the definition? In this expat podcast episode of Not Your Average Globetrotter, I get into some Italian history and accomplishments that Italy and the Italians are proud of and some of the other aspects of what should be known about Italy beyond just Italy travel tips and dolce vita from my perspective as an Italian American living in Italy.