|
MY BESTSELLERS
#1 Amazon Bestseller in Tourist Destinations, Travel Tips, Gastronomy Essays, and Senior Travel
Winner of the 2023 Firebird Book Award for Travel 
“A rollicking culinary adventure seasoned with a dash of history, a sprinkling of heart-warming characters, and a liberal shot of humor.” Jackie Smith, author of TravelnWrite
#1 Amazon bestseller in Kindle travel books on Spain
#1 Amazon bestseller in Kindle travel books
#1 Amazon bestseller in Kindle travel books
#1 Amazon bestseller in new Kindle travel books on Spain & Portugal
|
Convivial company and delectable food are among the top reasons I became a travel writer. How did I wind up living in Spain? The easy part was wandering through Seville by chance and falling in love with it. The transition to expat life was a bit more complicated; you'll find the details — the good, the bad, and the gobsmackingly ridiculous — in my book Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living Abroad. A few years later, after more or less coming to grips with the challenges of living in a foreign country, I took a three-month train trip through Eastern Europe. It was marvelous, and I wrote another book to share all the best bits: Adventures of a Railway Nomad.
Having lived in Seville, Spain for the better part of two decades now, I’ve learned to view eating as the Spanish do — not as squandering time but as making the most of it. Wondering if that attitude still held true in other Mediterranean countries, I decided to hit the road and find out. I spent 161 days sampling the most scrumptious fare of Greece, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, France, and Spain. To my astonishment, far from guarding their secret recipes, cooks everywhere opened their kitchen doors to me and shared every detail. Some dishes they served me might not appeal to everyone: Holy Thursday snails, for instance, and Italy’s beloved horsemeat. Most foods I tried were delectable, including ultra-creamy moussaka and various rich flaky pastries stuffed with cheese and spinach-like greens such as blitva and nettles. One Albanian eatery brought in my grilled fish on the back of a horse. Now that’s presentation with panache. Comfort recipes are carefully handed down so each generation can help the next endure the dark times, celebrate their joys, and give everyday solace to one another. Now more than ever we need the satisfaction of good food and congenial companionship around the table. That's what lies at the heart of my award-winning book, The Great Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour. My backstory: I am a fourth generation Californian, born in Palo Alto and educated at the University of California Berkeley. I have worked as a journalist, copywriter, editor, and marketing director in California, Cleveland, Boston, and Seville. So far my travels have taken me to more than 60 countries. I've done volunteer work assignments assisting struggling microenterprises in Europe, Africa, the Caucasus, and Central America. These days I divide my time between California and Seville, Spain — when I'm not on the road in pursuit of another great story or more comfort food. |