It’s been a year and a half since the time I traveled to Carrara, Italy to film the episode, “The Climb.” I’m really lucky to be able to take my brother and his new bride to experience a truly unique part of Tuscany – scaling cliffs of marble and water through one of the largest rock faces located in this region of Italy! 

Last time I was here we had two (very tight) days to film in weather that was two months (plus) past-season. Since it was well into the fall/winter seasons, we contended with high, fast and freezing water most of those days. Because of the conditions, we weren’t able to slide down the last “gem” of the run: a naturally-forming 40-foot, completely vertical rock slide that emptied out into a crystal – clear blue pool at the bottom (note to self: careful to not get sucked back under the waterfall, it’s pretty powerful) – and for this I have to admit, I was most grateful! The “chute” looked too daunting and certainly out of what I thought I could ever be mentally prepared for!

Fast-forward to NOW: my brother and his wife ask if I would call my (now) friends and see if we could spend one day canyoning in Tuscany. Almost too easily, Simone (my Italian guide friend) obliged and before I knew it, I was back in his truck on the same winding roads leading up to the white-marbled Carrara rock faces that I had traveled less than two years before. When I agreed to call Simone, it never occurred to me that the last “leg” of this experience — THE “chute” — would actually be traversable. 

Returning to the canyon, I remembered that very specific bend in the river – the kind of bend that almost says, “Careful, you’ve completed all that you are comfortable with – when you round the corner, a new challenge awaits…”. Sure enough, the chute was ready to take on four new canyoners – and certainly ONE who was very afraid!

Well, there’s no way but DOWN from here, so away we went! My brother’s wife and I insisted that he – being the man – needed to go first! So, arms crossed and legs straight, he disappeared down the rock face in a swirling wash of white water and was thrilled when he got to the bottom: “That was AWESOME!” came a shout from below the all-vertical 40-foot drop! 

I was next. 

I’m pretty sure something along the lines of, “Simone, I didn’t sign a release,” was about all I could push out of my mouth. Before I knew it, I was plunged into the water at the end of the slide, coming up for air in the freezing water below. The ride was over before I knew it started! Was I glad I did it? YES. Would I do it again? DEBATABLE…but I had a great day!

Today was spent in a very rainy, damp and foggy valley not far from Lucca, a beautiful walled-in town located in Tuscany. I was told by friends that I needed to visit Devil’s Bridge, and if I were lucky enough to capture it with fog, it would be a great way to experience the eerie architectural wonder. Apparently the architect made a pact with the devil when the bridge was built in 1046 to give his soul, provided the bridge was a successful architectural feat. When the bridge was inaugurated, three animals were sent over first just to make sure nobody would disappear by the hand of the devil!

No animals today…just a beautifully moody canyon with a river running through it

This is a shot I took over this past weekend when I popped over to Venice to enjoy a few days with friends and rowing lessons on a gondola down the Grand Canal. All weekend was spent rowing through little canals passing through neighborhoods where locals were enjoying the afternoon sun, an apperitif and live music on the “barge”/boat on which I was lucky to be invited to sit!

This year I’ve decided to finally do what I’ve been dreaming about since I was fourteen: live part-time in Italy. After several recent years of consideration and searching for the best destination for this time in my life, I chose an apartment just outside of Florence in the Tuscan hills of Chianti, Italy. Two words: LOVING IT!! This picture was taken on one of my daily walks down the road from home (not quite the Upper East Side!).

One of the many perks traveling to fun places is participating in some extraordinary things! Hang glider: $4,500. Helmet, skiis and a clean pair of shorts: $625. Leaving my sanity on the ground and letting my spirit take wing: priceless.

Just when I thought we were finished with production…

Since I can’t change the industry, I might as well change my product! I’ve decided to produce not four – but thirteen episodes – and have them finished in the next few months. For those of you who are not in the television industry (myself included!), networks will license content in quantities of thirteen or twenty-six since a full season is twenty-six weeks long, and re-run thirteen if it’s the bare-minimum of what one has. So…we’re back on the road!

To give you a quick insight, we’re filming a story about a rider who participates in Switzerland’s annual White Turf horserace that takes place the first, second and third Sundays in February on the frozen lake of St. Moritz since 1909. Franco Moro, our guest passion-seeker of this episode, races on skiis behind his horse for a finish that you will only see when you tune in! (sorry, we’ve some post-production to do!)

Our experience has really been exciting here! Aside from the races themselves, we’ve been bobsledding on the Olympic track, skiing in the Alps and hang gliding from the mountain peaks! What a spectacular trip that I’ve been lucky enough to share with my Dad as well! (ok, so more production has it’s perks!) Here’s a sneak peak at one of the pre-race days in the stables with one of the racehorses. Hint: he came in dead last, more of a lover and not a competitor!

I believe in my last blog I alluded to the multiple challenges on the road to launching this series…UGH! That was an understatement! While I don’t want to bore any of you actually reading this with details, suffice it to say from the development, funding, production, post-production, distribution, website initiatives, revenue models, etc. etc…I’ve needed to go back to the drawing board once, twice, three times… The good news is that I’m still alive and my heart is still ticking!

While this year has been a challenge, I’m reminded all things worthwhile take a lot of time, dedication and discipline and I truly believe the closer one gets to something wonderful, the more adversity one faces… So with that said, onward and upward to new content, new experiences and new friends!

When I was young my grandpa used to say to me, “Fire in the belly, kid!” I was the youngest of eleven grandkids until I was seven years old, and my grandpa would always play around with me. I’d run past him seated in “his chair”: an oversized, winged-back chair in the corner of the living room. He would grab me by the arm, pull me over and say, “What was your name again?” I’d get so irritated because I was usually running to keep up with my cousins, and I’d look at my gram as if to say, “Seriously, Gram…where did you find this one?”

It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how important his messages were. The one thing I will never forget about time with my grandpa and his “fire in the belly” saying was simply this: live life to pursue your dreams and keep that fire in your belly alive. I can remember many times in my life when that very fire had gone out, and how uninspiring day-to-day life can be when you lose your “center,” or allow life to get in the way of a true focus that is spirit-driven.

This is one of the great reasons why I decided to take up my own pursuit in getting the, “In Pursuit of Passion” series off the ground. Travel and people have always been two of my many loves. I was lucky to travel overseas since the age of 14, and meeting people from all walks of life, cultures, languages etc is something that I cherish. What I realized in all of my travels (especially until this day) is that no matter where you come from, what religion you practice, what color your skin is or what language you speak, everyone has a story; everyone has a passion and everyone has untapped beauty just waiting to be manifested in the most uniquely amazing ways.

Developing this series has proven to be a very difficult challenge each step of its way to becoming what it is today. But that is my story: to listen to a living, breathing passion for something that keeps me awake at night; that gets me out of bed in the morning excited that today is a new day, and today I am one step closer to ultimately manifesting my dreams.

Thank you for joining my on this exciting, evolving journey in bringing you stories from all over the globe where people have succeeded in living out their dreams! It is my hope for this series to be an ongoing inspiration for audiences around the world. Enjoy and never let that fire in your belly burn out!