About The Italian Way

Italy is one of the most visited places on earth—but there’s still so much of it that most people completely miss.

The Italian Way was created to change that.

From Devon to the Eternal City

I grew up in North Devon and didn’t travel much when I was young. In fact, the first time I ever left the UK was in 2013 for a trip to Rome. My partner Sara suggested it, knowing I’d always been fascinated by Roman history and drawn to Italian food and culture. That one trip sparked something permanent. Over the next few years, it became obvious that Italy was going to play a much bigger role in our lives.

At the time, I was living in Bristol and running a personal project called Bristol #PROSPECTUS. The goal was simple: spotlight the best independent businesses in the city through reviews, recommendations, and collaborative content. That project introduced me to a lot of local organisations who cared deeply about thoughtful, community-focused engagement.

Meanwhile, my curiosity about Italy kept growing. Sara and I found ourselves going back as often as we could, moving past Rome to explore Campania, Sicily, and Sardinia.

Moving to Italy

In 2014, I landed my first Rome-based client – a partnership that’s still going strong today – and I started casually learning Italian the following year. Around that same time, I left my office job to build a career in digital strategy. I joined a small agency in Bristol to develop my web design skills while learning new specialisms like email marketing and automation.

By the summer of 2018, I left the agency world to go freelance, which gave me the time to focus on projects centered around Italian travel, history, and culture.

That same year, I co-founded a small team to work with the Monumental Garden of Valsanzibio in the Veneto region. We refreshed their digital presence and built a custom ecommerce system so visitors could buy tickets online. In 2019, we proposed to the owner of Valsanzibio that Sara open a visitor kiosk inside the garden – he quickly accepted, and we decided it was time to officially move to Italy.

Living in a Historic Garden

From 2019 to 2021, the Monumental Garden of Valsanzibio wasn’t just where we worked; it was where we lived. Sara ran the coffee and snack kiosk for visitors (and I helped between freelance work), and when the pandemic hit, we lived through Italy’s strict lockdowns entirely within the gates of the estate.

It was a strange, dual experience – going from busy visitor seasons to periods of total isolation. But it showed us completely different sides of Italian life. It forced us to adapt, accelerated our Italian language skills, and gave us a real education in slow, sustainable travel.

Living there opened our eyes to the beauty of Italy’s lesser-known spots, like nearby Padua and the Euganean Hills. It proved to us that the real heart of the country is often found far from the standard tourist trail.

We didn’t leave the UK because we were unhappy. We came to Italy because we loved it: the culture, the history, the food, the wine, and the nature. Valsanzibio showed us we could build a life here that was creative, purposeful, and connected to local heritage.

Since then, we’ve lived in both northern Italy and Rome (our home since 2021), and we’ve travelled through all 20 of Italy’s regions. Speaking the language has allowed me to build real relationships with local businesses, especially in Rome, Naples, and Sorrento, where many of my collaborators have become close friends.

With The Italian Way, I wanted to bring all of this experience into one place. This site is for travellers who care about how they travel, who want to actually understand the places they visit, and who value local culture and everyday life.

My Approach (& Why This Site is Different)

This project is a direct response to the effects of overtourism in Italy. Travel can – and should – be more respectful, sustainable, and enriching for everyone involved.

The seed for this was planted in Sorrento while I was researching for Napleswise (more about this below). Speaking with locals, they shared the massive challenges they face from the huge waves of tour buses and cruise ships – crowds that overwhelm the town but contribute very little to the independent businesses keeping the community alive. It felt broken.

After launching Napleswise in the summer of 2024, I wanted to create a space to talk about a better way to travel on a national scale. The idea finally clicked in April 2025 during a trip to Lampedusa, Italy’s most southern point.

I realized how little helpful information existed online for what turned out to be an incredibly special place. It was totally removed from the usual tourist conveyor belt, and the authentic, raw character of the island just shone through. That contrast – the reality of overtourism in Sorrento versus the lack of visitors in Lampedusa – encouraged me to build The Italian Way.

Because of that, this site works a bit differently. With very few exceptions, I don’t write articles trying to convince you why you should visit somewhere. I don’t see it as my job to promote destinations or act as a tourist board.

Instead, I rely on your own curiosity and existing desire to go off the well-worn path. My goal is to be a resource for people who already want to know more, sharing the history, the culture, and the practical local information that unlocks a place once you’ve decided to go.

Everything I write is built on simple values: respect for local communities, genuine authenticity, honesty, and actual usefulness.