About this writer’s journey

Tales from Tavanti  is the story of my “gap year” at mid-life, which I spent in Florence, Italy. I had been a single mom for 10 years and was eager to embrace my independence after my only child went off to college. In a bold move, I sold my home in southern California and headed to Italy with three duffel bags and a few boxes of books.

Pursuing a dream has its hazards, I quickly learned. But romance, serendipity and colorful characters awaited me. I have never felt so much pleasure as I writer, as I was living this story and writing about it. I couldn’t have imagined at the beginning of this journey the joy and freedom I would experience by reassessing my priorities and allowing myself to wander from a place that I knew to be safe and familiar. The process of letting go opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for me.

On this blog, I’ll be writing about what happened the year before my son left for college—as I slowly let go of my old life and made the choices that ultimately led me to Italy. It was a difficult transition, fraught with uncertainty and, at times, a profound feeling of loss. But in the end, I felt that destiny was at play in the path that beckoned me.

This is a story that sparks conversation—about doubts, fears and obstacles we sometimes put in our own way that keep us from pursuing our interests and dreams.

I began my writing career as a magazine journalist and was a features writer and entertainment columnist for People magazine. In that job, I was on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was a frequent guest on People’s talk radio show in New York. In recent years, I’ve written several screenplays that have been recognized in major screenwriting competitions and have published three children’s books, as well as photo journals of my travels.

Thanks for stopping by…I hope you’ll visit here often and join in the discussion, as we take encouragement and inspiration from each other.

~Rebecca