Welcome.
Thank you for visiting my site — I’m Tricia Mitchell.
Two decades ago, my life came full circle when I returned to my European birthplace to work as a training manager and director of an educational program. My ensuing travels both nourished and stimulated my sense of curiosity.
When my husband, Shawn, and I met a few years later, we embarked on a sabbatical in Asia and Europe. During the journey, I became more minimalist in the way I approached possessions. I also developed an appreciation for slow travel. Eventually, Shawn and I started creating content and freelance writing. Today we live in France’s Loire Valley.
I’m fortunate to have traveled to over 65 countries and to have met many incredible people throughout the world. Some of my highlights have included sharing meals with locals in Armenia, Tunisia, and Cambodia; sipping sparkling wine with French cousins in Alsace; milking goats in a sleepy Bulgarian village; and training with a Japanese mine-clearance team in Laos.
My goal in sharing my tales here is to inform and inspire. Whether you’re planning a trip, or looking for an armchair adventure over a cup of coffee, I hope you’ll enjoy my stories.
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You Say Tomato, They Say Tomate: A French Château Celebrates 785 Varieties
Imagine strolling the grounds of a French château, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of tomatoes in every color, shape, and size imaginable. This isn’t a fairy tale meets cooking show mashup. It’s the annual Tomato Festival at the Château de la Bourdaisière in France’s Loire Valley. Since Shawn and I moved to France two years ago,…
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Living “La Vie en Rose” in Amboise, France
The coiffeuse in our neighborhood hair salon softly sang “La Vie en Rose” as I darted past her open door. Though the hair stylist didn’t know it, her singing created the perfect soundtrack as I set off to admire a pair of nearby cherry trees’ blossoms before the sun set. France’s Loire Valley gets its…
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Photo du Jour: A Hot Air Balloon Soars Over Leonardo da Vinci’s Resting Place in Amboise, France
A hot air balloon glides by the chapel housing Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb in the French city of Amboise. During the warm-weather months, sightings of colorful balloons (known as Montgolfière in French) are common here in the Loire Valley. And if you live in Amboise’s centre-ville, as we do, they’re even likely to wake you…
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Feeling Festive in Amboise, France: Celebrating Noël in the Loire Valley
A rare, late-November snowfall unofficially ushered in the holiday season in Amboise, France this year. This delicate dusting of snow added flair to the town’s slate rooftops and cobblestone lanes for several brief, beautiful moments, and then it swiftly melted. Days later, Amboise hosted its annual winter parade—an imaginative affair with animated performers on stilts,…
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Spilimbergo: Italy’s Enchanting “City of Mosaics”
Spilimbergo, a charming medieval town nestled in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy, offers a lovely blend of art, history, and natural beauty. With its well-preserved historic center, world-famous mosaic school, and picturesque surroundings, Spilimbergo makes for a delightful day trip when you’re visiting Venice or the Friuli Venezia Guilia region. What are the…
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Photo du Jour: Cat on a Cool Slate Roof in Amboise, France
A ginger and white-colored cat peeks out the window of a top-floor apartment in the Loire Valley town of Amboise. In the background, the spire of the Saint Hubert Chapel (Chapelle-Saint-Hubert) punctures the sky. The chapel is located on the grounds of the Château Royal d’Amboise. It’s believed that Leonardo da Vinci’s remains are buried…
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Golden Moments in Burgundy, France
It is no wonder why one of the counties in France’s Burgundy region is known as the Côte d’Or. During our July sojourn in France’s ‘Golden Hills,’ the fields were ablaze with vibrant tournesols (sunflowers), freshly-groomed wheat, and vineyards — where still-maturing grapes glistened with dew. In the villages of Burgundy, sand-colored stone homes were accented with shutters painted…
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Lessons From Erna: Remembering a Talented Musician, Teacher, and Friend
In a black and white image, bordered by a simple silver frame on my piano, she is seated behind the wheel of a classic roadster. Coyly sporting a riding cap, cream-colored driving gloves, and her trademark smile is a woman who not only taught me about arpeggios, flats, and sharps, but also about life, its…
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Homeward Bound: A Homeless Ukrainian Kitten’s Incredible Journey
As the golden leaves of autumn danced from the branches above, a man walked past us, a black kitten in his hands. Since there was an open-air pet market selling puppies in vintage playpens and kittens in birdcages just around the corner, we thought the man had just purchased a kitten. I had cheery visions…
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An Apple for an Apple: An International Tale of Citizen Diplomacy
As the midnight train bound for St. Petersburg rumbled through the pitch-black Moldovan countryside, I tried valiantly to remain asleep, but my attempts were futile. The cabin was cozier than expected. We had plenty of room to stretch out and we were given care packages filled with comfortable bedding. However, the atmosphere was sweltering hot and unfamiliar. Romanian-Moldovan and Russian filled the air,…
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Gentle Giant: The Touching Tale of a Dog’s Eternal Devotion
If you were to stroll the atmospheric Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island, Illinois, you’d likely happen upon the weathered headstones of siblings Eddie and Josie Dimick, which are guarded by a life-sized statue of a dog. The children died on the same day in 1878, and their family’s descendants left Rock Island long ago. Still, strangers…
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Laos: Legacies of War Amid a Promising Future
Riding through the countryside of Laos’ remote Xieng Khouang province, we spied verdant rolling hills, villagers of all ages escorting livestock on the dusty roadside, and giant craters disfiguring the landscape. For an instant, these cavities in the red earth evoked images of sand traps on golf courses. However, with Laos’ tragic distinction of being the world’s most bombed country per capita, not…
