Holiday Season Update: Gift Guide, and What’s Ahead

Welcoming Feast Travel friends and long-time readers to a season of Italy tours, deep dives, and smarter trip planning.

It’s coming on Christmas… and I wanted to take a moment to reconnect and extend a warm welcome to everyone who’s recently joined me here from the Feast Travel mailing list. This space allows us to stay in much closer touch, so expect regular stories, tips, podcast episodes, deep dives into Italian destinations, and monthly Zoom “Ask Me Anything” calls for paid subscribers.

Upcoming Tours and Important Deadlines

My new “Five-Day” series of off-season Italian tour starts in January. If Florence or Naples are on your wish list, don’t forget: the deadline to sign up is December 15th. These are hybrid experiences where our small group meets daily for visits led by favorite local guides, and with four shared meals. You book your own hotel at whatever budget level works for you. I designed these for independent travelers who want access and expertise.

Rione Sanità, Naples from November 2025

Also, I am once again offering this dreamy art workshop with illustrator Jenny Kroik. Past installments have been full of creativity, delicious food, and immersion into a landscape so ravishing you can’t help but be inspired. If you’re even a little pulled to join us, do it. Trust me on this one. It’s very special.

My 2025 Italian Gift Guide

1. For food lovers, send figs from Santomiele, which are so meticulously cultivated and crafted that they’re more like jewelry than food. A cult classic for those in the know, and they sell out fast. Straight from my beloved Cilento via Gustiamo in the Bronx.

2. Speaking of the Bronx, give my new guidebook to Arthur Avenue, Little Italy in the Bronx.

3. And speaking of Cilento, give this puzzle by Jenny Kroik which features a painting from one of our past art workshops!

4. You will get a million compliments on this amphora pendant from Treasure of the Sirens, inspired by ancient shipwrecks in the Bay of Naples.

5. This goooorgeous edition of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, with all four stories in one book, is a work of art. I’m staring at it right now as it graces my coffee table, and I love it so much.

Podcast Highlights

In this break before the trip planning season kicks off, I always spend a little time on the year behind us. The stats tell me that 2025’s three most popular podcast episodes are:

• Ep. 15: The Ultimate Italy Travel FAQ – Packing, weather, when to go — all that stuff answered in one handy episode.

• Ep. 28: How to Renovate a Home in Italy – This conversation with a professional engineer who trained in Florence offers straightforward advice for those who want to make their Househunters International fantasy come true.

• Ep. 25: Murder, Music & the Madness Behind a Genius – the story of Carlo Gesualdo, a nobleman who murdered his first wife and her lover in their bed, then sequestered himself in his Southern Italian castle, where he composed some of history’s most groundbreaking and tortured music.

What’s Coming Up

For Paid subscribers, December brings a deep dive into Venice, and in January, we’ll explore the Amalfi Coast. I’ll give you a complete itinerary with sites, restaurants, and hotel recommendations and no TikTok nonsense.

On the podcast horizon: I’m working on stories from Sicily, Capri, Lake Garda, and a practical breakdown of which Italian region is right for you, depending on your interests and travel style.

If you’d like to watch the Naples or Rome Deep Dives, they are still available to paid subscribers. (Free subscribers, you all have one free “unlock” if you want to view one.) Florence is now behind the paywall, and the others will migrate there very soon. (Naples goes on Monday!)

Wishing you all a season full of inspiration and good food. You’ll be hearing from me next week with a new episode that takes us to Venice.