{"id":12577,"date":"2025-03-21T09:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=12577"},"modified":"2025-03-21T09:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:02:11","slug":"inspiring-stories-of-life-in-the-italian-countryside","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/episodes\/inspiring-stories-of-life-in-the-italian-countryside\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Stories of Life in the Italian Countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Oh, life in the Italian countryside!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Welcome to a fantastic new episode of Travel Connections! In today&#8217;s episode, we will cover many of the things that I love most! What are they, you ask? Let me give you a small list. Learning about a delightful new book, traveling to Italy, memorable Italian food and wine, discovering and exploring new destinations, and living a life devoted to less stress and more calming views of Italy. How does that sound?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In today&#8217;s episode, I talk with Barbara Boyle. Barbara enjoyed a colorful worldwide career as a creative director at Saatchi &amp; Saatchi, Grey, Lowe, and other advertising agencies, creating commercials and stories for Procter &amp; Gamble, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Mars Inc., and dozens of other marketers. Always a writer, this is the first time she has had the time required to author a book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12584 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-518x800.jpg\" alt=\"life in the Italian countryside\" width=\"518\" height=\"800\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-518x800.jpg 518w, https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-663x1024.jpg 663w, https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-768x1187.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-994x1536.jpg 994w, https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-1325x2048.jpg 1325w, https:\/\/www.adventuresofemptynesters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Book-Cover_Pinch-Me_1-scaled.jpg 776w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 518px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 518\/800;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Her inspirational new memoir, <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;Pinch Me: Waking Up in a 300-Year-Old Italian Farmhouse<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,&#8221; is an evocative account of leaving the frenetic life of an advertising creative director to create a dream life in the faraway hills of Northern Italy. This book tells the story of how she leaves her life behind in San Francisco and takes apart a 300-year-old stone barn to build a new home, a new life, in Italy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Newly retired and traveling through Europe, Barbara stumbles upon the ancient Italian hill town of Monforte.\u00a0 She is enchanted by the castles and the sweeping vistas reaching out to the Alps, captivated by the region&#8217;s cuisine and confounded by its extraordinary culture of kindness. And then, one morning, she awakes and looks out over the valley, and she realizes that she longs to be there in her <\/span><strong><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">own<\/span><\/em><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> home, drinking her coffee and watching the sunrise. To live a life in the Italian countryside.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Highlights in this episode:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Imagine trading the hustle and bustle of a corporate career for the gentle rhythms of an enchanting Italian town<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Barbara&#8217;s leap into retirement was not just a change of scenery but a plunge into a deeper, richer existence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What is it like to wake up in a fully renovated 300-year-old Italian farmhouse?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Details of a memoir filled with food, friendships, and scenes of Italy<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">How can we learn from Barbara&#8217;s bold life change?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12585,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"episodes":[4322,4305,4303,4300,4380,4304,4299,4317],"class_list":["post-12577","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","episodes-author","episodes-books","episodes-food","episodes-italy","episodes-nature","episodes-reading","episodes-travel","episodes-wine","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inspiring Stories of Life in the Italian Countryside<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever wonder what it was like to move across the world &amp; live in the Italian countryside? 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