Postcard tales

Despite a successful career as a journalist and PR executive in Sydney, she chose to trade it all in to chase a dream, buying a one-way ticket to Italy. This was despite speaking absolutely no Italian and having no job, no friends and nowhere to live when she arrived.

That was six years ago. Her adventure spawned her first book, When in Rome, which became the highest-selling travel book in 2005 and won the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize. She now lives on the Italian island of Procida, where she is working on her third travel memoir. A new version of her second book, See Naples and Die, has also just been released (Hachette, $24.99).

Green says she almost felt as though she had left it too late at 28 to pack her bags and head to Italy, but was inspired by seeing other women travellers, at least twice her age. She would do it again in a heartbeat. "I find I am more relaxed in Italy compared to at home and that was my long-term goal," Green says.
Green is currently living it up in Procida, a small island about an hour off the coast of Naples. While the nearby islands of Ischia and Capri draw many tourists, Procida's inhabitants haven't tried so hard to market the island, but this is what Green says makes it so special. "It is a very close community, one which is at first a little wary of an outsider, who chooses to call Procida home, but that is eventually accepting as soon as one becomes a part of the furniture," Green says.

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Still, she does plan to return home - some day. "While I love Italy and can't imagine not living here, the day will come when I return home."

Love may keep her there a little longer though. "I can confirm I am still very happy with my Neapolitan partner, Alfonso, who features in See Naples and Die, and also my next book about Procida."


Bella Vendramini
Ever since Sarah Jessica Parker's character in Sex and the City tottered down Fifth Avenue in her Manolos, women have been enchanted with the idea of living in New York.

Bella Vendramini, who was born in New Zealand, has got to experience it first-hand, penning the travel memoir, Biting the Big Apple (Hachette, $32.99, out October 30) on her time treading the acting boards in the city that never sleeps.

Despite her mother being an author, writing herself was something she fell upon. "I did an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on my acting career and it mentioned that I'd been accepted into the Lee Strasberg Institute of Film and Theatre in New York," Vendramini says. "Bernadette Foley, a publisher at Hachette, read the article and thought I sounded like a bit of a livewire, so asked me if I'd like to write a book about my experiences over there. It was a real dream come true, as I'd always wanted to write, but never had enough guts to actually do it. So, I went over to New York and kept a journal about my experiences. I followed my mother's advice: be honest, be real. I have to say it was pretty hard-going at times, talking intimately about my fears, thoughts, mishaps, depressions and loves. But people always get a giggle out of somebody else's misfortunes, so at least something good can come out of it!"

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