La Dolce Vita.

These words were what I dreamed of living on a more permanent basis when I was a kid. If you’ve read some of my other blog posts you’ll know my love for Italy began as a child from annual holidays to Italy.

It was the days before technology took over our worlds for good, so without a smartphone or iPad in sight I’d entertain myself as a teenager, mainly by staring out to the glittering blue Mediterranean Sea dreaming of what I wanted my Dolce Vita life to be.

Bucket lists would contain things like 1. Learn to sail a boat 2. Live in Italy. 3 Travel the world 4. Speak Italian fluently 5 ….

It’s amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. I’m a believer in writing your goals down helps you to achieve them, as I can say I ticked off a lot of my 13 year old somethings bucket list!

My real Dolce Vita moment was when I lived out my dream in Sardinia for a summer. As a holiday rep I whizzed around the island in my car going from hotel to hotel visiting guests, exploring the island and soaking up the sun on my favourite beaches. I built relationships with the people around me and I created myself a little life in the town of Pula, it was a temporary fix but it was part way to completing my dream.

I always vowed I’d return, and I have on numerous holidays but never to live again. Not yet.

Now although it might not be my end goal of La Dolce Vita (which I hope to see out when I’m nearing my retirement years with a B&B or more permanent holiday home in Italy), my Dolce Vita is in fact in my little town of Buntingford in my forever home with my partner, Mark.

In between work I create my own corner of Italy, at home and through my blog. I immerse myself in Italian food, whether it’s making pasta from scratch, cooking up a quick Spaghetti Carbonara or finding new Italian products. Couple this with Italian wines, finding the latest Italian restaurant I want to visit, and scouring recipe books from my favourite bloggers, I’m dreaming and tasting Italy all the time.

It’s amazing how many people there are to connect with that share the same love and passion for a place that you do, we’re all connected by Italy’s spell it has put on us!

I love reaching out to people I meet through my blog and hearing their stories. I stumbled across Letitia Clark on Instagram and now I’m the proud owner of this original watercolour of Sardinia decorated with the produce, the food, the history of the island which will hang pride of place in my kitchen.

Letitia is a chef and artist and starting out on her own Sardinian adventure, creating what I can only imagine will be her Dolce Vita too. If you’re a lover of Italian food and quirky illustrations with witty captions you need to follow her!

So you see, wherever you may be, once Italy has taken a hold of you, you will create your own Dolce Vita wherever you land.

This post is part of the Dolce Vita Bloggers link up and is the topic for July, read more about people's own Dolce Vita on their site.