Experiential Travel in Italy
The Greek/Roman Theater of Scolacium on the Ionian Coast in Calabria, just outside of the city of Catanzaro.
“Nothing can be compared to the new life that the discovery of another country provides for a thoughtful person. Although I am still the same, I believe to have changed to the bones.”
J. W. von Goethe, Italian Journey
The magic of Italy has been famous throughout the world for centuries. Whether you are wanting to explore its amazing art, exquisite cuisine, geographical beauty, or opportunities for quality time at the beach, I can help you plan a trip you will remember.
In 2026 I will be offering a few spots for personalized trips for individuals, couples and small groups of up to 5 people, for trips lasting up to 10 days.
I have decided to expand my Calabria offering to include excursions to the great art and cultural centers of Central and Northern Italy, to those who would like to experience those areas in a very personalized way.
We will make a plan based on your specific needs and desires, to assure your experience in Italy is uniquely tailored to you.
After living in Italy for 24 years, during which time I studied and traveled extensively and had the opportunity to get to know much about its history and many of its variegated landscapes and cultural realities, and obtaining a Bachelors of Arts degree in Italian Studies at the University here in the USA, I can offer an experience of this magical country that is quite different from mass tourism.
My goal is to promote not only cultural consumption, but intercultural understanding and appreciation. I engage small local services to assure the most personalized kinds of interactions, and, by keeping the number of people I escort to a minimum, I can tailor even some of the planned daily activities to accomodate the needs of any given moment.
I plan on offering two spots during the spring months (April-June), and another spot during the autumn (September-October) in 2026. If you are interested in another period during the year don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can see what we can do to accomodate your needs.
Get in touch with me at martha@centerperson.org for more information.
I am particularly keen on inviting people to come to Calabria, which is a less explored area, and which contains some of the most incredible treasures, all the more beautiful because largely unknown throughout the rest of the country and the world.
Your journey to the other areas of the country can end in Calabria for a more peaceful time outside of the crowded touristy areas, or, you may even desire to focus your journey there.
Below I offer a description of Calabria and how I like to share its incredible richness of history, cuisine, striking geography and warm humanity with those who, like me, want to delve below the surface and explore the deeper realities of people and places.
A Full Immersion Intercultural Experience
Personal growth and evolution through the encounter with another cultural reality
Calabria is the most southern region in Italy – the very toe of the Italian “boot”.
Once home to wise kings such as the legendary King Italus, who developed one of the earliest forms of democracy, and famous Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras, today Calabria is a magical land, full of a kind of beauty that is less polished and obvious than the more famous areas in Italy, but is nonetheless just as inspiring.
By a strange series of events – which eventually revealed themselves as being serendipitous – I ended up in Calabria for the first time in the summer of 1982. I was teaching in Milan, in the north, and the schools closed for the summers, so I began spending summers there, enjoying the beaches and the blossoming friendships while playing music in the clubs along the Ionian coast of the Gulf of Squillace, near Catanzaro.
In 1986 I moved there to live permanently, and I made it my home for the next 20 years. I married, had children, developed a teaching and music career, and eventually went back to school to become a counseling psychologist and Existential Personalistic Anthropologist. (Click here for more info about me).
During my time there I had the great fortune to connect with a variety of people who, over time, became some of my most treasured friends and colleagues, and remain so to this day. I eventually gained citizenship, and it became my second homeland.
I was – and still am – fascinated by the incredible complexity of this region’s culture, and its vast history, traces of which remain scattered throughout the variegated natural landscape and within the towns perched defensively on the tops of the hillsides. It is all so profoundly different from my own Northern European heritage and my upbringing in the Great Lakes region in the United States, and yet, I have always felt deeply at home there. I sense a profound spiritual resonance that is difficult to understand, or to describe in words, even after all these years.
I am constantly drawn to spend time there, and this fascination has fueled countless hours of study (which culminated, in 2020, in a Bachelor’s degree in Italian Studies), as well as many wonderful days spent exploring the towns and hamlets and natural wonders that abound. To say nothing, of course, of the delicious food and the gorgeous beaches, both of which are also abundant and varied, all throughout the region.
I have always enjoyed sharing my deep love for and intimate knowledge of this beautiful place with friends and family. It may not be as well known as the more northern areas of Italy but, but for precisely that reason it holds an even more special kind of beauty. It is not as tamed as the wealthier, more industrialized northern regions of Italy, which means it is also not as organized and polished. But although the areas inhabited by humans can often be scruffy and unkempt, there is an authenticity one senses that is often lost in areas more heavily developed by industrial society and by tourism.
If you are interested in coming to Calabria and having a unique, highly personalized intercultural experience, while exploring the territory and the many wonders it offers, I can help you organize a vacation in this special place, tailored to your specific needs.
Contact me at martha@centerperson.org for more information regarding the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and come back here to check for details as they develop.
