The Bittersweet Life

Last week we were off, so this week, we're putting out two shows for the price of one! (That price being FREE—as always! :-)

Make sure you listen to Episode 266 {MEDIUM, Part 1} first, to follow Katy and our longtime listener Lynn into a live psychic session!

Visit the site of Felix Lee Lerma, the psychic medium who assists Lynn in this episode.

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

And for this week, something completely new!

Katy meets up with one of The Bittersweet Life's longtime listeners, San Francisco resident Lynn Fortunato. Lynn is standing on the precipice of change. She's bored of her job, she's not overly attached to San Francisco, her lease is up in September, and she's yearning for something new. But how do you know where you should go—or even if you should go?

One way to get some direction is to go to a psychic or a medium, someone who has a vision that goes beyond the everyday, perhaps even beyond the realm of the living. Katy and Lynn take the show into the studio of a psychic medium to get his insight on the direction Lynn should take next.

Stay tuned for the second part of this episode, released just thirty minutes after this one!

Visit the site of Felix Lee Lerma, the San Francisco-based psychic medium who assists Lynn in this episode.

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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 a much-deserved break this week, but we do stop by, if just to say hi.

If you feel a twitch of disappointment that you don't get to hear the show this week, consider supporting us! If we bring value to your life every week, help keep the show alive by pledging monthly support on our new Patreon page! We are offering fun and valuable prizes for patrons at any tier. Every single dollar pledged helps keep this show going.

Talking about money is awkward, but putting on a weekly (now bi-weekly) podcast takes major amounts of time, work, and money—and we literally can't do it without you! Visit our Patreon page and check out the awesome prizes for our patrons. We are so grateful for whatever you can pledge!

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

On this extra-mini Bittersweet Moment, Katy and Tiffany take a break from their mid-week mini-episode formula to ask YOU a question: what do you think of the mini-episodes? Do you love them or skip them? If you love them, what do you love most about them? If not, what could we do better? Do you have any ideas for mini-episode topics or formulas?

This week we are asking for your feedback so we can bring you content that serves and entertains the most important people in our world—our amazing, wonderful listeners. So tell us what you think!

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

Do you love to travel but get inordinately stressed out when it comes time to book your reservations? Are you a typically chill person who wakes up in cold sweats because you're afraid the tickets you were looking at have doubled in price—or worse—sold out? Do you find it nearly impossible to decide where and when to travel, and sometimes even how you want to get there? Do you long to take off on a new adventure but inexplicably wait until the last minute to book?

Or is Tiffany the only one?

This week Tiffany opens up about her recently self-diagnosed case of travel anxiety. As a generally serene and laid-back person, she realized while planning her summer travels that something about the trip-planning process paralyzes her with anxiety and consumes her with procrastination...even when (especially when?) it's a trip she desperately wants to go on. On this episode, Katy helps Tiffany try to figure out why this is happening, and what she can do to avoid travel anxiety in future.

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If you're looking for ways to cope with anxiety and improve your wellness, or better plan for you're upcoming trip, here are some resources:

How to Survive August in Rome by Tiffany Parks

Learn how CBD oil reduces anxiety

Visiting Florence? Here are 23 anxiety reducing tips (Girl in Florence)

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

It takes more than one mini-episode to go behind the scenes at The Bittersweet Life! We're joined again this week by Sara Johnson who turns the tables on Katy to interview her about everything that goes into producing this show every week. Specifically, Katy reveals valuable insight for anyone hoping to start their own podcast one day. From basic advice like what equipment you need, to more probing questions, like, how do you know your idea would make a good podcast?

Katy shares her expert advice and answers more questions about the podcast on this week's midweek mini-episode.

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

This week we discuss the new strict laws that have recently been signed into law by Rome's mayor, Virginia Raggi. Feel like enjoying a gelato on the Spanish Steps à la Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday? Think twice! Want to climb on the back of one of the lion statues in Piazza del Popolo to snap that perfect Instagram-worthy shot? Better not. Tempted to strip off and dive into the Trevi Fountain? Only do it if you're willing to pay a hefty fine and risk being exiled from Rome!

Maybe you're thinking, "But Rome wouldn't be Rome without an impromptu picnic on the steps of a monument?" Or perhaps your thoughts run more along the lines of: "About time this city started to be treated with respect!"

Whichever is your view, tune in to this week's episode to hear our take.

Here are a few articles about these new rules:

Travel + Leisure

The Local

News.com.au

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

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

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.

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!

On this week's Bittersweet Moment, we offer a peek behind the curtain as Katy's sister Sara—one of our most ardent fans—interviews Katy about everything that goes into the podcast that listeners don't see (or hear).

Learn how the name was chosen, how long it takes Katy to edit a single episode, the most challenging episode she ever taped and much more.

Bonus: Katy offers some valuable words of advice for all the neophyte podcasters out there.

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

This week, we sit down with a BBC Europe producer Natalie Higgins to discuss the ins and outs of the journalist game, as well as her experiences living abroad in Rome over a decade ago, and her current expat experience in Belgium.

Natalie shares her story of starting out as a university student studying languages, how she came about to decide on journalism as a career, and how her year abroad in Rome (where she just happened to be Tiffany's roommate!) informed and influenced that decision.

She also reveals what it takes to to go after a highly desirable career like journalism, and shares the strategies she used to get her foot in the door and set herself apart from the crowd.

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected]. 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

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.

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!

On this week's Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany and Aurelio chat about their recent visit to one of Rome's most secret and best-hidden gems: the Tempietto of Bramante.

Find out what makes this minuscule "temple" so utterly sublime, which ancient temple it was inspired by, and which domes around the world have been inspired by it.

Aurelio also chimes in about his favorite thing about visiting the Tempietto. (Hint: it rhymes with Tempietto but begins with C-O-R-N.)

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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.

DONATE: Prefer a one-time donation? 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.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

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

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.

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!