The Bittersweet Life

On our "super secret" Truth or Dare episode from a few years ago (available only to our Patreon patrons and long-time donors), Katy did something incredibly scary, heart-poundingly so: she called someone she'd had a brief but electrifying encounter with—completely out of the blue, 20 years later.

As a hint of what the bonus content that our patrons and regular donors receive every single month, we are broadcasting this very scary call in all its nail-biting glory.

If you'd like more bonus content like this, join us on Patreon, or donate via PayPal. Your support is so so appreciated.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Some psychologists say that anticipation of a desired event can often bring more happiness than experiencing the event itself. And if that's the case, can we conclude that planning a trip is even more fun that actually taking the trip?

Inspired by a recent article in the New York Times, Travel and the Art of Anticipation by Stephanie Rosenbloom, we muse about the so-called "happiness reset," the pleasure of anticipating travel, and the joys to be gleaned from reminiscing about past adventures.

The Italian language book collection Tiffany is highly anticipating arriving at her door can be found here.

If you want to receive letters destined for Sherlock Holmes, sign up here.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Every two weeks, an endangered language disappears from the planet, when the last person who speaks it dies. And one third of the world's languages are endangered.

On this mini-episode, we talk about the world's languages that are most at risk of disappearing, and why you might want to learn one of them.

If you're interested in learning an obscure or endangered language, check out these three articles.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

One of the greatest rewards of being an expat is mastering a foreign language. But what happens when you live in a foreign language so long, so cut off from your own culture, that you start to lose your fluency in your native tongue? Think it couldn't happen to you?

Join us for a chat that might change your mind, and learn some Italian words in the process—ones that you might think you know, but their true meaning just may surprise you.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Today we continue our virtual walk through Rome, were we just happen to run into a few more world-famous authors. What are the odds? Katy's brilliant sound-mixing skills, Tiffany's knowledge of the Eternal City, and the commentary of some of today's most brilliant authors come together in one of our most delightful episodes of all time.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 of this episode, make sure you do that first!

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Katy and Tiffany take to the streets of Rome once again, and this time, they encounter a slew of fascinating and important people, all former guests of the show!

Through the magic of radio—a cache of Rome sounds, snippets from old interviews, and Katy's brilliant sound-mixing skills—this walking tour of Rome was taped NOT on the streets of Rome as it seems, but in Katy and Tiffany's own homes, across the ocean from each other.

Don't miss our previous virtual tour of Rome, created during Italy's super-strict lockdown in the spring of 2020.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

TripAdvisor might be some people's go-to app for planning their vacations, but Tiffany prefers to steer clear of the anonymous travel review site if possible.

We mentioned this on a previous episode, and a listener wrote in to ask why. Tiffany shares her opinions in this mini-episode.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Is there a specific thing you like to buy when you travel to a new place, like a magnet or a snow globe? Or do you seek out unique and locally made art and objects? Perhaps you prefer the type of souvenir that you can eat once you get back home. Maybe you wait to see what strikes your fancy or just pick something random off the street like Katy?

Today we play and comment on the favorite souvenirs of the listeners of The Bittersweet Life, and talk a little bit about the most treasured objects we've picked up on our travels.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

There's a new man in the White House this morning—and a new woman too!

Just like we did four years ago during Donald Trump's inauguration, we recorded our live reactions to Joe Biden's inauguration via voice memo to each other, a conversation in real time across the ocean.

It happened at 6pm in Rome, at 9am in Seattle, and at noon in Washington DC, but through the magic of radio (and Katy's brilliant editing skills), we're all able to experience it together. Listen in on our live reactions to this historic moment.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

A missing person, a grieving family, a curious clue: a half-finished manuscript set in Paris... these are just three of the intriguing ingredients of Liam Callanan's new novel, Paris by the Book. The author joins us today to chat about his latest book, and muses on what it's like to write a book that takes place in a city you've never lived in, and how cities like Paris sometimes exist in our imaginations; those versions often have little to do with reality, but that doesn't mean they aren't real to us.

Find Liam Callanan on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or on his website.

Order your copy of Paris by the Book at Amazon, or find it anywhere you buy books.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their upcoming release, I Had No Idea You Were Black, by Ronald Crutcher. Pre-order your copy here.

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

ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!