Beneath the Italian Sky: Excavations, Studying Medicine, and Everyday Life. The Vagabunda: Journeys Without Borders, #3

Italy is more than a backdrop-it is a base, a crossroads, and a living classroom. Beneath the Italian Sky is a real-time chronicle of Elyssa Vagabunda's years studying archaeology and medicine while travelling across Europe and the Mediterranean. Written as events unfold, this volume blends ancient history, cultural observation, humour, and the occasional moment of danger into a vivid portrait of life abroad.
From excavations among Roman ruins to anatomy exams in southern Italy, from quiet mornings in historic neighbourhoods to chaotic encounters in unpredictable rentals, Elyssa navigates the layers of Italian life with the intuition of a highly sensitive traveller and the analytical eye of an archaeologist. Her stories move between the ancient and the modern, the personal and the universal-revealing how history, culture, and lived experience intertwine in unexpected ways.
This book continues The Vagabunda: Journeys Without Borders series, which traces a lifetime of travel across continents, cultures, and disciplines. Unlike earlier volumes that reflect on past journeys, this one is a living book: chapters and photographs will be added over time until the author declares it complete. It captures not only the beauty of Italy and Europe, but also the challenges of navigating systems, people, and places as a foreign woman living abroad.
Whether exploring archaeological sites, analysing cultural patterns, studying medicine in a foreign country, or escaping a dangerous situation with intuition as her guide, Elyssa offers a perspective shaped by seventeen countries lived in, sixty-five travelled through, and a lifetime of curiosity. Under the Italian Sky is for readers who love travel, history, culture, and the honest, unfiltered reality of life lived between worlds.