We didn’t know it yet at the beginning of 2025, but this would be our last year of full-time RV living. (Read to the end to find out why!) Looking back at everything we did, though, we definitely didn’t slack
Our 2025 Year in Review
Como, Cernobbio and Brunate
The city of Como, on the southwestern tip of Lake Como, was the third stop (after Bergamo and Lecco) that we had planned on our tour of places to live in Italy. By this time, though, we were already so
Falling in Love with Lecco
Lecco was the second town on our “where shall we live?” tour of northern Lombardy. Before our trip, we made a list of the qualities of our ideal location, and Lecco seemed to check all the boxes. But the natural beauty of the area, the food, and the warmth of the people all exceeded our expectations.
Bergamo, a City of Contrasts
Our week in Bergamo marked the start of the second half of our autumn 2025 trip, during which we planned to visit several cities in northern Lombardy to “try them on for size” as possible places to live when we move to Italy next year.
A Walk from Santa Margherita Ligure to Portofino
On our last Saturday in Sestri Levante, the day after our classes ended, our language school offered an excursion to walk along the Ligurian coast from Santa Margherita Ligure to the famous resort town of Portofino. It promised to be
Exploring Cinque Terre, Italy’s Coastal Gem
The Cinque Terre (literally, the “five lands”) are a string of five centuries-old fishing villages perched on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera between Genoa and Pisa in northwest Italy. The villages—Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore—were
Learning Italian in Beautiful Sestri Levante
After visiting Genoa for a few days, we took the train along the Ligurian coast to the beach town of Sestri Levante, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the east. The ABC School of Italian Language and Culture, which we
From RV Life to Italian Dreams: Our Next Adventure
About 12 years ago, I asked Cheryl, “what would you think if I retired early and we sold our home and most of our stuff, moved into an RV, and traveled around the country?” That question was the start of
Genoa, Italy
Our first stop in Italy was in Genoa, in the region of Liguria. Earlier this summer, we had been considering the Ligurian coast as a possible place to call home, but since then, we decided that we were more interested in mountains than beaches. We left a few days in Genoa on the itinerary, though, just for sightseeing and to give us a chance to recover from the jet lag before we started language school.
Crater Lake National Park
This was my third and Cheryl’s second visit to Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park. I had been there in 1986 on my six-week trip after taking the bar exam, and had been amazed by the intense blue color of the