Episode Title: Episode 30: How Do We Do Worldschooling in Italy?
Hosts: Astrid & Clint, creators of The Wandering Daughter
(Intro clip sourced from 12:38 — Astrid and Clint describing the 600-year-old farmhouse near Parma, complete with a pizza oven, champagne grapes, and a stone cottage kitchen)
Italy might just be the most approachable European destination for worldschooling families — and in this episode, Astrid and Clint make the case for why. They answer the question: how do I world school in Italy?
They start with the logistics. Italy is larger and more geographically diverse than most people expect: the Italian Alps in the north are a different world from the Mediterranean south. Astrid and Clint flew into Rome and traveled north, spending the heart of their trip in the Parma countryside. They cover Schengen zone rules (90 days in, 90 out), the ease of entry for US and Canadian passport holders, how much English is spoken, and why a little Spanish can go a long way. On getting around: they praise driving in Italy — same side of the road as the US, beautiful scenery, very similar traffic laws — while flagging the need to watch speed limits and pedestrian-only zones. Trains and discount buses are options, though Astrid shares a hard-won lesson about a seven-hour highway layover on a budget coach.
The centerpiece of the episode is their time in the Parma region — and it's a compelling argument for basing a family outside the major tourist cities. They rented a 600-year-old stone farmhouse with vineyards, a pizza oven, and champagne grapes growing in the pergola, for roughly $1,100 USD per month. From there, they explored a remarkable series of small food museums — dedicated to ham, cheese, sausage, tomatoes, wine, and more — each in a different village within about 20 miles. The cheese museum led them to visit a working Parmigiano-Reggiano dairy, where they watched the full cheese-making process from milk to massive aging wheels. Astrid notes they prepped the kids by watching a TED-Ed video on cheese-making beforehand, giving them context that made the visit land.
History and art are woven throughout the episode. Clint, a former art major, describes the Sistine Chapel and the Hall of Statues in Rome with genuine awe. They recommend the double-decker bus tour as an underrated way to get oriented in a new city — low-key, relaxing, and great for kids. In Venice, they used Macco Tours for a kid-friendly scavenger hunt centered on the Doge's Palace, a format that kept the kids engaged while still delivering real historical content. And Milan earns its own mention as an architectural beauty — though Clint admits with some regret that Florence, just a short drive from where they were staying, didn't make the itinerary this trip.
The episode also touches on a few harder moments. Italy was the first country in their travels where Astrid experienced overt racial hostility — men making mocking remarks on the street directed at her as an Indonesian woman. Clint and Astrid address it honestly: it was jarring, it was real, and it would not have happened to a white traveler. They note that immigration politics in certain parts of Italy — particularly attitudes toward Filipino and Southeast Asian communities — provided some context, though it doesn't overshadow what was otherwise an extraordinary trip.
🎧 Ready to dive in?
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📋 Episode Chapters:
00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:21 – Welcome to Worldschooling Q&A
00:01:15 – Today's Question: How Do I World School in Italy?
00:01:38 – Italy Overview: Size, Geography & Diversity
00:03:46 – Logistics: Visas, Language & Getting Around
00:08:55 – Lodging: Farmhouses, Airbnbs & Agriturismo
00:12:38 – ↩ Source of Intro Clip: The 600-Year-Old Farmhouse Near Parma
00:14:38 – Food Culture: Parma Region, Museums & Making Pasta
00:19:48 – History & Art: Rome, the Sistine Chapel & Venice
00:22:48 – Museums, Milan & Volandia
00:24:37 – The Italian Alps & Trento
00:26:24 – Outro & How to Support the Show
👉 For full show notes, resource links, and a complete episode guide, visit: https://thewanderingdaughter.com/episode-30-worldschooling-in-italy