New Year Q&A: Motivation, Anxiety, Renovation Updates, Travel, Inspiration

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Happy New Year I'm back I'm sorry I have

really been struggling I've started this

video so many times I've made it in so

many different places and then just had

to scrap it and and and and leave

everything and and either

breastfeed or just crash into bed I have

been quite sick nothing serious but you

know there's just that cold that was

going around and my throat I couldn't

swallow my nose was streaming my eyes

are streaming uh then John Franco got

sick as well uh and it's been a lot it's

officially three months now that I have

I will jump around who is three months

old and I've been breastfeeding and

sleeping probably I don't know two hours

a night for three months so you can

probably see it in my face let's put on

some cream so that I can feel a little

bit

more hydrated

um however I'll uh I really wanted to I

I know it's it's you can't do everything

and you have to take a

a pause and and just uh

do go as slow as you as you as your body

needs to go

uh but I just felt so depleted and then

I also felt very anxious because I was

opening all these beautiful packages

that you sent me handwritten letters and

wonderful thoughtful gifts for us and

John Franco for Christmas and I some of

them came a bit later but I'm some of

them are beautiful objects for Christmas

but don't worry I am so excited about

using them next year and I'm so grateful

uh but I just I kept thinking about all

these you know all of you and and

your support and I just I missed you I

missed being in contact with you and

being able to thank you and and being

able to have a little chat uh so yes

thank you for waiting I'm going to try

and do a little q a today

uh up until now it's just it's just felt

impossible I I think also because

everyone else got sick as well that uh

my my parents my sister my Guido and uh

so it's been a little a little bit

challenging but I'm sure so many of you

uh can commiserate I'm sure there seems

to be so many different viruses going

around at the moment at least in the

north and in the hemisphere where it's

winter uh but I think we can we can get

through this morning if I if I can

if I can just

wake up Kylie come on wake up as you

know I'm not uh drinking coffee I

haven't drunk coffee since I conceived

jumper so uh this is uh my only

way of waking up I just try and have a

cold shower and I get outside it's been

lovely weather in Tuscany uh and yeah I

I'll see how I go I don't know if this

video will get

finished filming today because I can't

I'm not coherent I can't construct full

sentences bear with me let's let's try

it's one of those perfect afternoons

where it's just so calm and warm

it's so peaceful at this time of day uh

everyone's having Winnipeg a little nap

and uh I just thought I'd come and have

a chat to you and answer some of those

those questions you sent me for the Q a

because as I said I received over 600

and I did the Q a I only answered a

handful of them so let's let's have a

chat and uh and I'll try and address

some of the other topics that you were

curious about speaking about travel

about mental and emotional health about

my marriage about uh about what else

about renting out the farm about

our new chapter into being being parents

and having a having a newborn baby

and let me just

change the angle of the camera so that I

can see if I'm in focus

understandably so many of you have been

asking what is happening with the

chicken coop Bella demanda good question

the chicken coop yes we are still going

ahead with that although okay let's go

over

to the

so yes the chicken coop project is still

going ahead I don't blame you for

thinking it's not because we have been

waiting for so long uh the war in

Ukraine uh the tax incentives that I've

spoken about quite a lot here in Italy

that through the whole building industry

into into disarray and and Chaos that

meant that the materials were delayed by

nine ten months so we have just had the

bricks

arrive can you see

uh and there they are

uh and it is still

uh well it's still pretty much as as we

left it

um but we are

hoping that the builders will be

available to come back uh because the

builders are the the ones who are doing

the chicken coop are the same ones we

got to do the building uh elements of

the pool and of our bathroom and uh yeah

they just

sure they they got booked out and even

though we started this project

over a year ago so what can I say it's a

very slow process uh and uh here we have

a church

so beautiful

um

but uh the

yeah the the chicken coop I don't think

we will rent it out online because we

decided it's just too uh dangerous to

put

uh our address online and to have people

coming

to our home where we live uh we just

decided we didn't want that and uh so

we'll we will probably just rent it out

to uh uh Italians that we know that or

friends uh someone that we know locally

I love your Italian language videos your

pronunciations are beautiful will you do

more language videos

I have to do these squats and let's get

on my way

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okay

so the language videos yes uh tell me in

the comments below what level you're at

so that I know uh whether to make sort

of beginner intermediate advanced

I I try to generally in one video cater

to all three levels but if you let me

know then I can cater specifically to

the majority

a lot of people asking uh if we ever

plan to rent out this main house or the

chicken coop when that will be ready we

had a think about it and we just don't

want to put

our main residence online and have

guests coming and going just with the

having a child I feel a little bit more

protective of his security and

unfortunately I don't want to have to

vet every single person that comes and

stays obviously the majority of you are

beautiful wonderful people with whom I

would love to sit down and have a cup of

tea and some of my freshly baked cake

with and hear your stories but I just

can't take that risk it's sort of a it

would be a full-time job and uh

we could make a lot of money because so

many people have been writing to me and

you wouldn't believe saying oh we'd love

to rent a place in Tuscany but they

completely there is uh one particular

person who is quite dangerous so

dangerous in fact that even this

person's family contacted me and told me

to be careful because that this person

is is

not not safe and and quite obsessed uh

so yeah not to

get too heavy on you but uh that these

thoughts uh just haunt me at night and I

get quite anxious and think that

I don't know I tried I've got to try and

find a compromise between doing this

work that I love uh and uh and trying to

retain a little bit of privacy and and

not invite uh or make it too easy for

just complete strangers with ill

intentions it's a shame when the

behavior of a few uh really compromises

or hinders the the potential pleasure

that uh really beautiful

people like you uh could get uh in US

sharing this this property and and

certainly it would be uh so easy however

we have to sort of think about

how to have a compromise and and uh and

it's just people that say these days

that oh you know it's just a negative

comment just don't don't uh don't read

it but it's it's not uh it's not just

online people uh leave things online and

I have proof that it is something that a

lot of uh strangers now take into the

real world and uh try to

have an effect on your life in the real

world so yeah it's a shame but it is

what it is oh my goodness Leslie Cox

said Kylie do you think that you would

ever consider a cookbook with all your

delicious recipes it would be fabulous

and 215 of you liked that question and

then there are so many lovely comments I

just want to thank you so much for your

support in the comments for something

that doesn't even exist uh yet a

cookbook I would love to do a cookbook

as many of you know uh it has been

almost a lifelong dream uh to do a

cookbook but have it be a narrative

cookbook so there are little stories uh

you know interspersed throughout the

recipes and lots of beautiful

photography obviously uh the the issue I

have is I just don't know how I would

have the time to do that and my YouTube

channel then what do I do do I take a

sort of eight months off doing YouTube

and then

I don't know how to do it perhaps I

could just reduce do one video a month

and then because it's a lot of work I

would want to do it really well like

test all the recipes and bring you new

recipes not ones that I've already shown

you in my videos so uh yeah thank you

for your faith in me I'll I'll try and

think how I can make it work

how are your New Year's resolutions

going uh mine are just a complete

failure because I was so sick so I

couldn't even have struggled to even set

up let alone uh get into a rigorous

exercise regime but I'm feeling good now

and I can't wait I I have to say I just

so missed running I haven't started

running yet because I just been going

for fast walks and walking uphill and

carrying down for Uncle it's just really

oh my goodness has anyone am I wearing

the carrier wrong we've tried adjusting

it I've tried different ones I tried

this sling but it just hurts my my back

my shoulders so much and it can't there

must be other babies that are his weight

so he's not particularly big for his age

so I don't know what I'm doing wrong or

does it just supposed to hurt because it

doesn't hurt in the beginning and then

after half an hour it just oh you just

even now

oh my gosh my whole body feels stiff uh

so yeah I um I've just been doing walks

I should have been doing yoga and

aerobics and all these things that there

are for uh the fourth trimester but I

haven't uh so I'm looking forward to

getting into that if you would like a

video uh if you're trying to motivate

yourself and you would like me to share

my

uh journey of trying to motivate myself

then let me know I could include some

lovely healthy recipes I've been eating

such delicious healthy food actually so

many wonderful every meal I'm trying to

nourish John Franco and fill it with

lots of nutrient dense

ingredients and uh yeah I just I just

love sweating I think also when you're a

little bit anxious as I have been uh

about some some issues going on in my

life uh then uh the just sweating it out

is a remedy it's so it works every time

for me it doesn't solve the problem but

it certainly is certainly just helps me

put things in perspective uh by the way

someone asked uh if I've ever had to

deal with any

uh what was the wording

if I've only ever had to deal with

feeling down or feeling

um discouraged or I'll put the exact

wording up on the screen now so you can

read it but uh of course I have I think

every every human being has and uh one

of the things that works for me is to

listen to a podcast that is about the

bigger issues it's about

um that something that concerns our

society or the our civilization Humanity

science particularly I think when I when

I get absorbed in learning in learning

about science then it actually helps me

take my mind off myself and I think

that's the not to say that sometimes you

we all have things that we have to deal

with and we have to confront in our

personal lives but in order to to

just ease the anxiety and and and put

and contextualize things and put things

in perspective uh I I find that it's

really great to listen to this in-depth

interview it's not that you want to

trivialize your fears or your troubles

but it does just you're suddenly just

zooming up and looking at humanity and

looking at the future and just looking

at things in a much on a much grander

scale and for me that always helps me

realize that I am here for just a second

in the grand scheme of things and uh uh

there was also a question about my

favorite podcast I've said this before

but I do listen to uh Sam Harris's

making sense podcast

quite frequently almost every night I

would say or when I go for long walks he

is a neuroscientist philosopher and

author American and

he ah it just never fails to inspire me

I don't always agree with everything

that he says but I don't think that

should be the prerequisite for choosing

a podcast or anyone that you that use

work you you view

um uh he the issues uh covering humanity

and I find that if I'm feeling

uh overwhelmed or anxious or anything uh

it is so important for me or at least

it's it it's very useful for me to just

take an hour and get deep into one of

these interviews where uh it's covering

issues that are not concerning me my

family my home uh my culture it's not

just reflecting my little world is

looking a bit bigger at issues that

pertain to all of us that concern

Humanity that concern our future uh and

I just find it so scintillating I am

completely thrilled by the places that

he takes my mind on on these interviews

and and I think it's you know because

that there is for example I was

listening to an interview with the Nobel

prize winning

psychologist Daniel Kahneman on

cognitive bias and and decision making

and things like this and then there is

like an astrophysicist meal uh deGrasse

Tyson and then he'll uh have for example

a anglo-irish poet David White speaking

about time and and values and and things

and then there's Richard Dawkins uh

who's uh uh um just an award-winning uh

evolutionary biologist and and and

they're talking about uh the future of

of AI of artificial intelligence uh then

sometimes there's someone I've never

heard of before like uh this woman

um Yasmin Mohammed who's an activist and

she escaped a uh forced uh marriage with

this radical Islamic member of the

al-Qaeda it's bigger issues and it's

reminding me not of that platitude okay

there are so many people worse off than

you which is true but it doesn't

necessarily just help in the way that uh

perspective perspective I think is what

uh is is the the key to easing anxiety

it's really about engaging your brain I

feel like at least for me I need to be

engaged in this debate or

engaged by a debate between two other

people who are far more articulate than

I am and I think that's the other thing

is the caliber of interviewees we have

now become so accustomed to these

overnight gurus who are life coaches or

someone who purports to be able to

change your life and is usually sort of

selling something and it's not that

academics don't have an agenda obviously

they do and the point is that you know

these these people are scientists and

and psychologists and uh and uh and

academics who have devoted decades to

cultivating or developing a theory and

it's not like these just overnight

people you see on Instagram who are just

uh I feel like maybe they have a genuine

passion for a subject but there's a

difference between having a passion and

really truly devoting decades and

research and and thought and and and and

and

and these are certified experts and I

think we need in this day and age to to

sort of retain a bit of reverence for

those who

have that traditional knowledge and that

traditional experience and opinion and

it's a it's a you know an opinion that

they can substantiate with more than

just some sort of emotional rash

ill-conceived idea that happens to have

the most likes of the day on on on

social media I I would love to see more

of a return to traditional experts in in

different fields at least not putting

anyone up on a pedestal and saying okay

you're a doctor you're a scientist so

your word is is God no but at least to

have someone who's who's has taken a

theory and an or an opinion and they've

they've invested time and and Research

into it and and uh and it's just not

such a superficial opinion that is just

between two people uh arguing like

children on uh on in the comments

section of a of a YouTube video If in a

day maybe you feel like you've

accomplished nothing or you feel like

things have gone downhill you've you've

not only accomplished nothing but you've

actually made things worse you've fought

with a family member or your spouse or

you've got troubles at work but or

you've whatever you've you've got

problems with your your body your health

but if you have expanded your mind uh in

a way if you've asked questions that

that you've you didn't ask yourself when

you hurt the day before I think that is

a good day and that is worthy and it's

something that can make you feel that

you are growing David and Renata asked

what is happening with the other

renovation uh the one with the The

restaurant Cafe attached thank you so

much for your patience I'm sorry I have

been pestering Guido about this for over

a year saying come on you have to get

back to people I'll let him explain

it's been a long time that people have

been writing to know if the

Villa that we made the video on is still

available to rent what happened with

that yeah last summer there was sort of

mismatch with the person that was using

it the years before so let's say it

wasn't on the market but this summer

this season if someone is interested in

in renting it we are

it's available and and that's now

without the restaurant because the the

restaurant also the restaurant is being

held up with a contractual uh matters

with tenants so that's why it went on a

stall and also the small house next to

the restaurant is still it's delayed

because the The Firm that has been doing

the works on the Villa is stuck with all

the works with that are going on in

Italy now building work so it's also

that is is stuck and so the only thing

that would be available would be the

Villa for this season for this season

what do you mean like spring is awesome

this year it's like this this solar year

but let's say not having heating it's

spring to September yeah but the roof is

completely finished yeah the roof has

been ready to finish it's not leaking

the house is furnished so everything

works and as I said there's no heating

so it's not usable during cold months

but from May to September I would say

and it has how many bedrooms I can't

remember I can't remember either maybe

eighty eight sometimes yeah

okay and so people should email you on

that yeah yeah

some uh know that some people wrote to

me on that email and I haven't answered

to anyone sorry so no one should feel

offended because actually I never

answered to anyone because of all these

matters that will were holding us back

on both the restaurant and the small cot

engine next to the restaurant yeah okay

and so what's the minimum that people

could rent it for depends what they want

to do with it

let's yeah let's see let's see what okay

but not for like a weekend that wouldn't

be worth it

I think it's something

we are not we are not let's say In This

Moment organized for doing short-term

rents yeah that's that's for sure

uh it would probably the best thing

would be someone that wants to come for

at least two weeks or or a month yeah or

actually all the season and then if they

want to sublet have friends or pull up

with other friends and have a house and

Tuscany for for the season that would be

probably the optimal option okay great

and it's in Tuscany we're not saying

exactly where it is just for security

reasons but once people email you you

yeah yeah then it's yeah yeah it's close

to everything so it's a strategic

position yeah but it's not actual quite

Central it's not like super close to

Florence yeah but it's it's 45 minutes

from Siena

45 an hour from Florence okay close

another 45 minutes to add it so

so yeah it's quite okay it's not far

okay okay

go out to hurry up and do this question

before the next feed uh for John Franco

so uh I remember one of the questions

was uh Kylie did you ever expect that

this is how your life would end up did

you have any idea that this is uh what

it would would be I feel incredibly

grateful and and uh and uh hyper aware

of all the good fortune I have however I

I this this is

where I always imagined myself being uh

emotionally and geographically and uh

and uh so and professionally I suppose

I've encountered people for whom success

or love or uh their this the country

they live in the city they live in uh

their lifestyle is is some just wild

fortuitous event it's something that has

happened to them and I've never really

felt like that for Better or For Worse

because sometimes it's felt like a hard

slog because I've just always felt that

everything I have uh

have in my life I've had to really work

hard at but I also feel that

on the other hand it it's quite

empowering because it makes you realize

if you if you feel that that a lot of

the things and people and and uh

opportunities that you have in your life

are come after a long wait and a lot of

a lot of work and a lot of pivoting and

and re-evaluating and and and

re-educating yourself then it it's sort

of uh it empowers you because you think

okay so then if I want something else or

if I want to get over here I know that I

just have to do that work and be as

patient as I was uh in in the past

because that precedence been set and and

sometimes I think if you were to have

some lucky thing happen to you that's

great but it doesn't really uh fill you

with the the uh the feeling that you

could replicate it that you could that

have another lucky thing happen to you

does that make sense it will probably

sound more exciting uh to say I never

dreamed I would be here I never dreamed

I would be living in in Tuscany and call

this place my home and and and have a

husband like Guido and but I but I did I

I always thought that was in reach and

and I just

I just knew that I

I couldn't be in control of the timeline

I couldn't be in control of when it

happened I just had to keep working and

not give up hope and try different

approaches with my career so that when

things were really

seeming to to collapse and and and go

nowhere uh I I just had to keep pivoting

and and Reinventing myself and trying

new ways to express my creativity and

many of you wrote to me about the very

difficult experience of waiting for love

and anytime I have felt impatient or

lonely or worried about my biological

clock I thought all I can do is use this

time to work on myself so that when the

right relationship comes along I have

maximum emotional intelligence and

financial Independence and healthy

self-esteem and confidence in knowing

how to make myself happy and Clarity

with my career so that I can give the

relationship the highest chance of

success it wasn't it was not like my My

Hope didn't waver I certainly had times

where I thought oh my gosh this is

taking so long and but I in terms of

knowing where I wanted to be and what I

wanted to be doing yeah I I had acute

Clarity on that from when I was very

young

my life here just in the countryside

working alone uh not being very well

known in my industry at all however uh

just being able to

make an income to support my family and

have enough uh flexibility and

Independence to be able to be creative

and do what I want it's it's that is

it's not this Grand success but for me

it's definitely what I that was the

dream for me the dream was to be

creatively independent and to be able to

support a family and to be able to work

at home and I remember being 18 and not

wanting to have children at that point

but knowing I thought I need to

create a a a work environment or a

career that enables me need to be at

home so that I can be present for my

children the way my mother was present

and my mother worked part-time as well

so she wasn't she was just a superwoman

I don't know how she did it but she was

always there in the afternoons uh baking

us biscuits and having delicious you

know afternoon teas and chats after

school and if we had trouble she was

just always there and making beautiful

birthday parties and spending weekends

with us my father spending every night

every night every dinner and every

weekend with us and and uh and I really

wanted to

create a life where I could be present

for children in that way and and even

though I was sort of 18 and full of just

Wanderlust and and excited to see the

world and by no means wanting to settle

down I I kept finding myself in my 20s

in relationships with uh men who were

just really wanting to settle down and

and I and I would have I think if it

were the right person but I just I

didn't feel that all all jobs these days

have risk honestly the YouTube algorithm

could decide that I'm just it's not

going to show you any of my content and

or something new might come along or you

might all get bored of of what I'm

showing you that could absolutely and

probably inevitably will happen at some

stage however uh comparatively when I

look at like working for a corporate uh

particularly when I was working in print

that was so tenuous just the

the future of print was was uh was not a

sure thing and so I I thought okay I

need to move into

into videos so that I can be at home and

and be able to be creative and be a

present parent and uh and then in in

terms of living in Italy I just I just

knew I I knew I was always I think I

always knew I was going to live in

Europe I hadn't sort of defined it

between France Spain and Italy and uh

and then I I mean

anyone would have been okay by me

because they will have that

Mediterranean lifestyle that really just

speaks to my soul uh however I I I I

sort of soon as I I set foot in Italy I

I just knew and you're such an

incredible traveler and Storyteller has

your wonderla subsided since settling

into this new phase of Life what are

some of your bucket list countries to

visit and 121 of you uh liked that

question and wanted it answered uh no my

wonderlust hasn't subsided uh but the

reason I haven't done as much content

overseas is that I met Guido at the

start of covid and we went into lockdown

together that was basically our first

sort of dating experience was in

lockdown together and initially it was

just really

strict as you probably know and then

even once the things lightened up and

you were allowed to travel so many of

our friends and family ended up being

caught in in places so they would go

just for a trip to London even or

somewhere in in Europe and then they

would get stuck in that country and it

was really difficult because you had to

find your own accommodation and you

weren't allowed to get to quarantine and

and I just thought gosh this is going to

be so difficult with my work if I you

know if I got stuck somewhere and was

stuck for a month or something it means

I'd have to take all my equipment and so

we just traveled domestically uh to you

know Portofino and Sicily and I filmed

all of there and Argentino in the in the

north of Italy then I got pregnant and

we didn't want to risk anything then

because just I had to be near like the

doctors in in Italy because I had

so I was sort of grounded in Italy for

that reason and uh yeah and so it's it

hasn't really been a choice it's sort of

just been the circumstances also do you

know what I tried last year uh just

doing those little short travel pieces

that were around Tuscany and

interviewing people because I much

prefer to interview someone and have be

both behind the camera and and I think

it's much more interesting than seeing

me talk and Waffle on just to to have a

conversation with the local and really

let them lead the discussion and let

them teach the audience something about

their way of life it's it's far more

captivating in my opinion than than me

and my life here but they didn't do as

well as the content that was filmed here

in my home or the thing is the response

to those videos was incredible the

people who did see it loved them and

said oh this is amazing and I you know

can't wait to see more but it didn't in

terms of on YouTube it didn't do so well

uh not nearly as well as the the

renovation uh ones I have noticed with

my content that for example I will go to

so much trouble to make what I feel is

quite a dynamic episode with interviews

and food and travel and and and less of

me and more of the people in the country

I'm I'm visiting they're not as popular

as if I'm just at home uh just having a

chat to camera or seeing aspects of my

life Renovations and relationships and

things like that it's it's a

it's something we all have in common

isn't it I mean anyone wherever you're

living you can do up whatever space

you're in if you're just renting a

single bedroom you can still make

something of it and I wonder whether

people find that quite uh quite

encouraging or quite uh engaging because

it means they can take it into their own

home whereas if I you know I did a uh

I've done road trips all throughout

different crazy countries or gone you

know two week hikes in in Peru and the

in the mountains and perhaps if someone

feels oh I would never do that although

you wonder because originally that was

what travel content was it was escapism

and you watch something

almost specifically because it's an

experience you may not be able to to

live it's a curious thing I mean I have

spent a lot of time and money and just

so many hours editing and finding music

that fits the right that fits the

culture and uh and that the travel

episodes are so so much more difficult

and expensive for me to make for example

I've I went to a lot of trouble for an

episode on Turkey which I think is is

quite good it's more looking at the food

and talking to the people and and

covering the country and and and uh and

and even you know also with Iran like

discussing some of the history of Persia

and and and just really

facing the camera out and looking out

and and exploring it's hard to film on

the road and I've done it for so many

years uh but doing it filming all alone

I mean Guido doesn't have the desire to

to be behind a camera at all uh which is

fine I really love being my maker I love

telling that story and being the and

then doing the editing I love I love

trying to encapsulate a whole city or

town or culture uh in in 20 20 or 30

minutes and I guess it's there's no need

to sort of choose I don't I I've always

endeavored to do both because I like

both I like I'm both uh an Explorer and

a a great lover of of foreign cultures

but I'm also a homebody and a home cook

oh wow

oh my goodness

it's so beautiful oh my gosh wow

I'm also very grateful to you in the

work that you do because you kept me

company during the darkest phase of my

life and I've been so very inspiring in

the most spectacular way your videos are

visual delight and I look forward to

them every weekend thank you to those

who have sent so many thoughtful

packages and letters and cards from

around the world this was from a viewer

in India others came from Hong Kong

California Hungary Washington Austria

Australia a little necklace with our

names Kylie Guido and John Franco

engraved on it uh this incredible book

sent from the author and my whole family

unwrapped them and we just admired every

detail

nice

therapy man so I'm the it's therapy for

me oh I am the therapy for other people

I filmed a very long answer to someone's

question on tips for becoming fluent in

a foreign language and then I decided

I'll make a whole video on that topic

because I have a lot to say on the

matter but thank you to everyone who has

sent questions thank you for watching

and I hope to see you next week

as I roll the names of these generous

viewers who donate to my channel on

patreon I want to share with you this

magnificent male choir that I heard in a

church in trentino I think that many of

you might get emotional like I was I

just stood there with John Franco

wrapped up in my arms and tears running

down my cheeks it is so moving and I

hope you'll stay to the end to listen

and perhaps you'll feel the same way I

did

come here

[Music]

it's time

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

ah

[Music]

a

[Applause]