Three weeks after we launched our podcast "Little Roads Unfiltered" in early September, we reached the “500 downloads” benchmark.

Here are just a few of the episodes we’ve posted so far – and we’ll release a new episode every Tuesday.

In each episode we chat about different aspect of our lives here in Italy - working here as musicians, living here as residents - as well as lots of travel tips and planning strategies, visiting some of our favorite places to visit in Italy and beyond - from Chianti to County Cork.

We record live on our balcony in Soriano nel Cimino, so you’ll hear the sounds of our neighborhood and our town - trains, dogs barking, church bells, scooters, tractors, neighbors chatting - as well as our own cats occasionally dinging around.

After many readers’ suggestions that we do so, we’ve launched a Little Roads podcast!

We talk about what it’s like to live and work in Italy; and we discuss myriad travel tips, destinations (in Italy, Ireland, and elsewhere), and slice-of-life stories.

We record straight from our balcony in Soriano nel Cimino. Our chats are “unfiltered”, with the sounds of our little town always in the background.

Our “theme music” is Matt’s own swing arrangement of Puccini’s “O Babbino Caro”, which we recorded in one take right here in our house.

This Ferragosto, we’re releasing here the corresponding chapter of our memoir, “I Can’ t Believe We Live Here: The Wild But True Story of How We Dropped Everything in the States and Moved to Italy, Right Before the End of the World”.

Chapter 5, “Mission Impossible: The stufa and the nulla osta - August 2019”, recounts our misadventures in navigating the Italian government systems, and a the same time setting up our little apartment to be livable in advance of our move here – all in a two week period in August, starting on Ferragosto, when much of Italy closes down.

Our focus on small-town travel doesn’t always mean off-the-beaten-track. We spent this past 10 days in Chianti - not exactly an unknown area. But in high-tourist areas like that, we think it's even more important to search out special places - less-known eateries, artisanal gelaterie, and extraordinary activities - to create a memorable and authentic trip experience.

We are itinerary planners, having crafted small-town trips for travelers for over 10 years now. But we are here in Italy principally as classical muscians and organizers of cultural events.

Here’s just a little snapshot of what our lives are like in the latter identity - our alter-egos, so to speak.

We don’t have unlimited funds, so we’ve designed our business and our itinerary service around finding ways to experience luxurious travel experiences without the cost of luxury travel.

Note: This article is an update from our article from 2017, in which we outline the typical cost for a Little Roads-style trip to Europe. In five years, naturally, costs of things are expected to rise; and especially in the age of the pandemic, lodgings and restaurant prices have risen somewhat.

Here are a few tips on what you can expect to spend, and how to budget so that you have a trip that is immersive, authentic, and affordable - and you won't even notice the “budget” aspect of it.