A New Chapter for The Amateurs Abroad

Welcome to the new The Amateurs Abroad website! We’re excited to share what this next chapter looks like: I’m living in Sicily full time, and Lisa finally gets to vacation here.

Lisa still comes for about six weeks each summer, but these days she isn’t spending her visit building furniture and waiting for deliveries. She gets to go out and enjoy Sicily. Imagine that!

As for me, I’ve never been happier living here. That doesn’t mean every day is rainbows and unicorns. Some days I cry out of sheer frustration. I don’t always understand enough Italian to figure things out on my own, and I’m still learning how the systems here work. After a lifetime of being fiercely independent, relying on other people has been one of the hardest adjustments.

The biggest surprise of all? I got married. That was definitely not in my life plan. Been there, done that. But people say you find love when you least expect it, and in my case, they were right. In the past, relying on someone often meant being let down. With my husband, I feel like I have a real partner. That made saying yes an easy answer. He’s also been wonderful about helping me navigate Italian bureaucracy and customs—which, believe me, is a full-time job of its own.

Here on the blog, I’ll share what life in Sicily actually looks like: the renovations, the everyday moments, the travel, and the occasional “How on earth do I do this?” I’m planning to visit at least one new city each month and share places to stay, things to do, and restaurants I discover along the way.

If you’d like to follow along, sign up for the newsletter to hear when a new post is up.

And if you’d like something you can hold in your hands, I also offer a monthly mail club. Each issue includes a letter, a postcard featuring one of my destination photos, a photo of artwork I’ve made in my studio, a recipe card for something I can actually make myself, stickers, a journal prompt, and a few extras that change each month. You can find the mail club Stone Palace Post — Monthly Sicily Snail Mail Club – Stone Palace Studio.

We’re glad you’re here for this next chapter.

Lorrah