Tag: Travel

  • Craving the simple life: Sicily, a Home Away from Home

    No place I’ve lived in or visited has shaped me as profoundly as the Italian region where I was born, despite living on different continents for most of my life. Yet, every time I visit, I feel as if I’ve come home. Whether Sicilian-born or of Sicilian descent, we are forever tethered to our roots,…

  • Reunited in the Digital Age: Rediscovering old friendships through social media

    You’re probably wondering who these ladies are hiding behind their signs. They are Rose, Grace, Maria, Franca and yours truly, Josephine; We’re a bunch of baby boomers scattered across five different countries, and we’ve got this daily WhatsApp chat thing going on.

  • Remembering the drive-in theater: the best pajama fun

    Shenandoah Valley, VA 2002 When earlier this month I read Janet Dailey’s novel, Blue Moon Haven, I was transported back to my childhood. The book is a romance novel about a woman who moves to a small Alabama town with her two foster children, where she takes on the arduous job of reviving an old…

  • Hold on to your memories

    by Josephine Strand (first published in Memoirabilia Magazine in 2016) How I wish there were a recycle bin in our brain for old memories to be stored in. Then, when we’re unable to fully recall a life experience, all we’d need to do is look for the missing ‘file; and ‘restore’ it to its original…

  • Marzamemi: a hidden sliver of paradise

    If there’s one thing I love as much as writing, it’s discovering new places to visit. Although I don’t travel as much as I used to, even an impromptu road trip, maybe just to escape a dreary bout of bad weather, will charge my batteries, so to speak, and do wonders for my sluggish muse.

  • BOOK REVIEW

    TWO NICKELS by Michael F. DeConzo GENRE: Urban Fiction I don’t often post book reviews on my blog, but occasionally a book comes along that leaves a lasting impression on me, such that I feel I should share it with other readers. Two Nickels by Michael F. DeConzo was an unexpected gem. Although I haven’t…

  • Finding inspiration in the simple things

    About a year ago I posted about my own experience finding inspiration in the places I visit: Have travel, Will write. That was at the height of the pandemic, when traveling was still a distant vision. But by this spring, my wanderlust was suffering severe withdrawal symptoms. One trip to Italy last September hardly qualified…

  • A Writer’s Nostalgic Musings

    “Cape Town, 22nd June, 1974: My life changed the minute I boarded the M/V Europa on a cold Saturday in Cape Town Harbour, on my way back to Italy after thirteen years in South Africa. Laden with coats and bags, my family and I made our way through the crowds, followed by the group of…

  • Embrace the Stillness

    As a young girl I wanted to be a flight attendant so I could travel on the cheap. But I got as far as working briefly for a travel agency that, alas, offered no travel perks and paid badly. Perhaps the failure to fulfill my dream is the reason I’ve always loved writing about places…

  • Have Travel, Will Write

    Ever since I was a little girl I have loved traveling to new places. I believe traveling and living in different parts of the world has helped shape me and my writing and impacted the way I see the world. Family outings and vacations were always a source of inspiration for me. Even at school,…