“What did you do on your summer vacation?” It’s a reliable, if predictable, essay topic to assign when you want to get to know a batch of new high school kids. But in all my many years of teaching English, I never assigned it. Here’s why. In her first week of her first year of … Read More
Yesterday I cried about Nova Scotia. Or rather, I cried about the very real prospect that this summer, like last summer, we won’t be allowed in to Nova Scotia. At this time of year, I would usually be humming a happy song while I plan the move to our cottage up there—which is not just … Read More
Despite being allergic to almost everything natural, I need trees and grass around me. Cities tend to overstimulate me. I get exhausted by the traffic, the noise, and the multitudes of people. Once, when I got going the wrong way on Storrow Drive in Boston and couldn’t find a place to turn off, I pulled … Read More
Yes, I do know how lucky I am (husband, house, reasonable and reliable income). Some days the ordinary round pleases me, some days I know intellectually that I’m grateful, and some days I actually feel my gratitude. But I’m a restless person, too. Novelty, change, and travel – they sharpen my mind, make me feel … Read More
In International Living, I’ve read about people who spend much of the year house-sitting. They rent a room or small apartment somewhere to store the stuff they can’t take with them, they often work online for their primary income, and they travel light. They move from Amsterdam to New York City to Granada with just … Read More
Who could not love Florence? Plenty of people, that’s who. As my husband and I wended our way through the city streets on our daily jaunts, we saw lots of bored, tired faces among the throngs. Some of were probably on this Italian trip to placate a spouse or parent; some had probably had fights … Read More
It began as a romantic dream. Maybe we would become expat writers in Italy, like the Brownings in the 1850s, Joyce in the 1920s, Mary McCarthy in the late 1950s, or (more recently) Anthony Doerr, who started All the Light We Cannot See while on a writing fellowship in Rome. “His latest novel was written … Read More
There’s a steep learning curve to staying in a long-term rental in Italy. A car. We eliminated one spike of the learning curve by staying close enough to the center that we don’t need a car. Instead, we walk into town on one side or another of the Arno – gorgeous – and get in … Read More
They’re not all urban folklore, either. A friend traveled to Florence a year ago. Two days into a three-week vacation, she fell and broke her shoulder. The hospital here in Florence took good care of her, and she hoped to be able to manage the rest of the trip. But then, off-balance because of the … Read More