This Editor’s Note originally appeared in the February/March 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. Members receive access to more than 180 back issues—if you’re not a member, join here.
While I clearly believe it is important to dream of Italy, I know it is just as important to try to make those dreams come true. For this issue, I profile those who made their own dream of Italy come true, whether that meant moving to Italy, living there part-time or bringing Italy home.
This is the overarching theme of my new PBS special, Dream of Italy: Travel, Transform and Thrive, which will be coming to American TV screens in June. I plan to bring you more of these profiles in coming issues and you will find many in the companion book that will be released along with the special.
First, my dear friend Becky Munson is a wonderful example that sometimes our big “dream” doesn’t hit us over the head until a little bit later in life. She has a life many might envy, but it is a result of meeting constant challenges and being fearless.
Ashley Bartner, and her husband Jason, have owned their agriturismo in Le Marche, La Tavola Marche, for 14 years, almost as long as I have been publishing Dream of Italy (18 years). I’ve always admired their commitment to their business and life in Italy. I’m hoping this is the year I finally meet them in person.
I keep saying we need more stories of men and Italy, and John Henderson fits the bill. He had a longtime dream to move to Italy and seems to be living his best life in bella Roma. I was anxious to ask him why he thinks more men don’t make the move on their own.
I hope you are as enchanted as I am by the serendipitous story of how Susan Gravely came to co-found VIETRI and bring her own dream of Italy home to the United States.
Have you made your dream of Italy come true? I’d love to hear about it. Email me at kathy@dreamofitaly.com
—Kathy McCabe