We read with interest a recent article in WaPo that highlights the effect of so-called “influencers” in one of the most heavily touristed areas in Italy. It's a starkly realistic picture of the tourist scene on the Amalfi Coast – a picture that is, by the way, decidedly NOT what visitors are hoping to find after watching "The Talented Mr Ripley" or clicking through Tik-Tok travel videos. 

The article prompted us as Little Roads Europe to codify our own thoughts, as travel planners about tourism (and over-tourism), and about the reasons travelers want to do the things they do – and how “influencers” encourage tourism that’s detrimental to the places they purport to promote.

A lot of travelers contact us who say they want us to plan an itinerary for them to go to both Ireland and Scotland. The fact is, the two are not necessarily interchangeable – there are differences in the logistics and in the experiences; and to traverse from one to the other could easily eat up an entire travel day.

We are really happy to see this piece that came out recently on CNN (link below this article), covering our story of getting work visas and moving to Italy in 2019. It's not a How-To article exactly, but it has some good info about the process (at least as it stood in 2019).

While we were working up in Chianti a few weeks ago, we were happy to be interviewed by "Flavor of Italy" to tell a bit of our story about our move to Italy in the Fall of 2019. (It's nearly 5 years ago now!)

[Thanks Wendy Holloway - it was great chatting with you!]

You can find Wendy’s article and podcast interview audio platform here:

Travel Itineraries Italy: From Musicians to Travel Guides

We’re excited to note that our memoir, published last year, has recently been recognized as a finalist for awards from Foreword Reviews and the National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA).

In past years, our Little Roads guidebooks were also winners and finalists with these organizations, each of which highlight independently published books like ours.