Amy Bizzarri: Travel Journalist and Author of Iconic Hollywood Dishes, Desserts and Drinks, 111 Places Chicago, and The Best Hits on Route 66

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Everyone has a story to tell. We connect and relate to one another when we share our stories. My name is Amelia Owen, and I'm your host of Voices of Inspiration. Join me as I share stories of friends, family, and strangers through my everyday life and travels. We will laugh, possibly cry, but walk away feeling connected more than ever to those around you and ready to be the change our world needs. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?

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Today's guest, Amy Bazari, lives in a circa 1900 home in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. When she isn't at home indulging in her passion for baking, you'll find her wandering the world. Amy has come face to face with gorillas in the Wendy Impenetrable Forest, helped to build a school in Mali, drove the length of Route 66 in a minivan with her two kids in the backseat, and is a mermaid having trained with the legendary mermaids of WikiWachi, Florida. Thank you so much for joining me today, Amy. Thank you. Your adventure is by far one of the most fascinating. And we became connected through a really awesome organization that we're both part of, the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association. And I really just couldn't wait to speak to you. Oh, it's I I'm more than happy to share my adventures to anyone who will listen. Now you're a single mama too, and I am a teacher, correct? I am. I'm a Chicago public high school teacher too. In your 24th year. It is hard to believe, but yes, it is my 24th year in education. We actually have about 150 students a year. So 150 times 24. I have met so many children and seen them grow up now. It is good that I can see the big picture now, as this is my 24th year, and I see my students around Chicago working as police officers and working at the hospital everywhere. I have always been a language teacher. I have taught French, Italian, and I've also taught social studies. So I'm a multi-purpose teacher. And then travel writing just has been a supplement to your income over the years. You kind of brought that in as well. How did that come about? Was this something that was always a dream? Did you always want to be a travel journalist, a writer, or did it just kind of fall into place? So I have always wanted to be a writer, but uh not really knowing how to become published, I had to have a plan B, and that was to be a teacher. And I I did discover that I love teaching, I love working with my students. They keep me young, but it's very challenging. I teach in a uh what would be considered by many a tough Chicago public high school on the northwest side of the city. And writing has been my outlet. Uh, you could call it a moonlighting career, uh, but for me, it's a way of just taking a break from my day job, which can be very challenging and just totally having fun. Writing is a pleasure for me, traveling is a pleasure for me. And I saw it as I could sort of forge my own path here and forge my own little side career that would just be perfect for me. And I started small, I started with a little travel blog and I documented my adventures in Chicago. This was when blogging was a very new thing. My son is 22, and I remember when I started my blog, he was about four years old. So that's how long ago that was. And from there, once I started publishing my blog, I did have a lot of readers, a lot of people looking to do fun things with their kids. And I was contacted by a one news media outlet. Would you cover this story for us? Uh and then another and another, and it just sort of snowballed from there. From there. Yes. Yeah. Well, uh, some years back, you had a pretty major challenge that you were faced with. And and I really want to go into that. You know, I know it's a sensitive topic, but you, you know, I'd like for you to share with our listeners what you faced and how you got through that and how that led to you becoming a real mermaid. Okay. So in 2017, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And as anybody who knows anybody who has encountered cancer in their life, whether their own personal journey with cancer or a family member, it is extremely challenging. I had surgery, I had daily radiation for a month. And one of the ways that I tried to get through my daily radiation, which involved me laying prone on a hospital, special hospital bed, not moving, being blasted with radiation. One of the ways that I survived that and made the best of it was I would focus on my travel bucket list during that time. I would sort of do an assessment. What are the things I really want to do in this life? Um, what are those destinations that I've always wanted to see? What are those adventures I've always wanted to try? And I realize the time is now. It sometimes takes a cancer diagnosis, banish that fear so you can any fear or uncertainty about taking on an adventure. Um, and it just led me to banish fear and refocus on myself. What do I want to do with my life? Uh, and what travel adventures are still on my bucket list that I need to really focus on now and come up with a plan. Um, you know, we all have those dreams. I'd like to do this, I'd like to see that. Well, I will tell you there is no better time than now to start planning and at least come up with your plan, come up with a timeline and then figure out how you'll you'll save up the money, how you'll find the time. Um, and that's what I did while I was undergoing radiation. I would focus on my plan. How when when could I uh carve out the time to focus on this dream and that dream? And it really changed my life having that time that forced me to reassess what I want. I have spent so much time, as so many women, focused on work, focused on raising my children, everything else except myself and my dreams. And having that time led me to refocus what do I want to do? And one of my first ideas that popped into my mind was to visit WikiWatchie Spring State Park. My father had talked a lot about this when he was younger. He had visited WikiWatchy. It is a state park in northwestern Florida on the panhandle. Um, well, it's about an hour north of Tampa. He had visited WikiWachi when it was in its heyday, and that was in the 1950s. It is a crystal blue swimming hole, and it is uh filled with water from a first magnitude spring. That means about 64 million gallons of water are recirculating through this beautiful crystal blue swimming hole, and it's populated by mermaids. Once I started researching WikiWachi, how can I get there? When can I get there? I I discovered that they host a camp where you can be learned to be a mermaid. And I thought, what a better challenge for myself after surgery, after wrapping up radiation, I will become a mermaid. I will re-invent myself as a mermaid, and we watching made it possible. So I rented an Airbnb. I traveled to WikiWachi with my friends from Orlando. They met us in our Airbnb. So I had a little support there, and my two kids as well, and I set off every day to mermaid school with the WikiWatchi mermaids. And I am now a mermaid. I now consider myself an official mermaid. I completed the two-day raid camp. And as I always say, that's the gift of breast cancer. It sounds like such a cliche, but you really realize there isn't any time to you need to pursue your adventures, pursue your dreams all the time. At least be in planning mode if you're not actively pursuing them. I think that's great advice. In fact, my mother-in-law, she's visiting um from England right now, and we just had this conversation earlier today about creating a bucket list. And um, I told her I have a notebook on my nightstand and I write things down in it. It doesn't matter how silly it may sound, but you know, uh the most random things of oh, that that might be fun, or I might like to do that one day, but at least writing it down and then over time, you know, checking that off. Um, because in what started that conversation is she's here and we went to a soccer game, and for the very first time at the age of 75, she had her face painted. And over here, oh we do that, you know, we well, we have these big major festivals of the kids all have their face painted. And she was like, This is the first time I've ever had my face painted. And so that, you know, sparked this conversation of how important these lists are. So I think your advice is really important, great advice. And you're the author of four Chicago history focused books. Can you talk about that? Sure. So, as I said, when I was a younger mom, uh, when my son was little, I started a blog. I like I love taking my son on adventures in our city of Chicago. And I started sharing those adventures online. We would go to Chinatown, check out dim sum, and I'd write about that. And I would take him to a new park. And once I started uh coming up with all of these cool things to do in our own backyard here in Chicago, I was approached by a publisher who asked, would you write a book about sharing all of your secrets to the city of Chicago? And so I do have two books. One is 101 Flaces in Chicago That You Must Not Miss. And I also have a kids edition. So 101 Flaces in Chicago that you must not miss with kids. And that is the official collection of some of the most incredible adventures I've had with my kids and on my own, in my own backyard uh of Chicago. So yeah, check those out. We call that series the 101 Flaces series, a guidebook for locals, because these are things that go beyond the tourist, well-worn tourist path, really cool things to do in the city of Chicago. And I've also published a book on vintage Chicago. So sharing a little bit about history, uh some places that are still in business and have been in business for over 100 years. That book is called Discovering Vintage Chicago. And I've also written a book um on Chicago food history and Los Angeles food history, Hollywood food history. Now, in any of these books, have you written about your great-great-grandparents and their baby? Yes. I always include that in the intro, but yes, my I come from a long line of Chicago firefighters. My son is 22 years old and he is currently in college pursuing a degree in finance, but I kind of hoped we he would have kept the tradition alive and become a firefighter, even though it's very dangerous. But my great-great-grandparents met on the night of the Chicago fire, and my great-great-great-grandfather Walter Daker, he saw my great-great-great-grandmother. Her hair was on fire, allegedly. Well, really, she just had brilliant reddish blonde hair that looked like it was on fire. He swooped her up and saved her, and they never left each other's side. They had 14 children after that. I love that script. Yeah, I've read that. I loved that. Yeah, it's really sweet. I like to think about that when I pass that, pass by that neighborhood in Chicago. And we just completed one of my bucket list trips. Um, a track to find gorillas. And I want to hear all about it. That is at the top. Yeah. So I have always wanted to go guerrilla trucking. I would say my top three most wanted adventures that I dreamed up while I was undergoing radiation, because that again, that is what I would do to get through that hour-long process that was dismal for me. Um, number one was become a mermaid. I did it. I went to WikiWatchy, I did it. Route 66, I did it. I drove, packed up my two kids in a minivan. We drove from Chicago to LA along Route 66, and I wrote a book about it. The best hits on Route 66. My third most wanted adventure of all time was to go gorilla trekking. I love, I've always loved gorillas. I have always been fascinated by gorillas. And when I discovered that you could actually travel, see them in their natural habitat in the wild, I started once again coming up with my plan. When can I make this trip happen? How can I make this trip happen? I started setting aside money, um, doing taking all those steps to make it happen. And earlier this month, I traveled to Uganda and I hiked the windy, impenetrable forest. And after about four hours of trucking through the forest, I was attacked by fire ants. Oh no! It was just a half hour of discomfort. After four hours of hiking and my half-hour run-in with the fire ants, I came across along with um the other women in my group. It I came across the gorilla family, and it was one of the most incredible moments in my life. It just felt absolutely magic. I had penetrated the impenetrable forest. Here was a family of 13 gorillas. Wow. Right in front of me, just very gentle, gentle giant. I have goosebumps. They are actually very, well, I wouldn't say friendly, but they're tolerant of who hikes through the forests. And I had a local guide. I traveled with Intrepid Travel, which is a travel outfitter uh based in Australia and the US. But Intrepid Travel offers uh specialized group trips. And so I signed up for Intrepid's Uganda and Lulana tour, and I was matched with three other solo women travelers, which is great. Uh, it was multi-generational, another woman my age, two women in their 20s, and we set off on that pipe together. And for all of us, it was just an incredibly magical experience to see the gorillas in the wild. But I will tell you, gorillas are a lot like us. As I saw the Samuel in the wild, I couldn't help but to think, oh, that silverback reminds me of my dad. And those two little boy gorillas playing on the tree look like my son and his cousin. And I really was able to feel our connection with these incredible animals. It was one of the most magical and challenging adventures of my life. So it worked out very well because I was on a tight timeline. As I said, I am a teacher. I did have to go back to school in September, and this was a six-day adventure on the ground, which worked out perfectly for me. I flew from Chicago to Paris to um in Tebay, um in Uganda, and from there drove to the impenetrable forest, and every day I would take a challenging hike from the impenetrable forest, and we saw gorillas on two occasions. Shoot hikes, we we did encounter them. So six days on the ground, and I just Uganda was absolutely magical. I can't, I cannot say enough wonderful things about Uganda. If you have the opportunity to travel to Uganda, figure it out, again, start saving your money, come up with a plan, make the plan happen because Uganda is one of the most magical countries I've seen in my life. And I I'm very I'm pretty well traveled. Well, aside from um your most recent trip and and become a mermaid, what has been your favorite adventure? Oh my gosh, my favorite adventure. Well, I would have to say that my most recent trip to Uganda and Rwanda. I also spent a day in Rwanda, was one of the most incredible trips of my life. I just could not believe the stunning, natural beauty of Uganda and Rwanda. The mouth, the endless landscapes, sea fields, coffee fields, beautiful, warm, welcoming people. I felt so I felt so just blown away by the magical beauty of unspoiled nature and warm welcoming people. Probably my second craziest and most memorable adventure that I'll never forget is my Route 66 adventure with my kids. And I will not lie, I white-knuckled many of the roadways, the segments of Route 6. Uh, very difficult driving. I tell everybody that I have my PhD in driving now because I made it. I I remember one past was incredibly difficult in Oklahoma. And I just whitened on it. And my daughter was very little at the time. And she said, Mom, look, there's a car at the bottom in the in the in the valley below. And I I looked down and I saw a vehicle overturned, and I thought, oh my god. So despite the incredible challenges of driving, the landscape, again, the beautiful people, the landscape that are that you can find along Route Six and Six are so incredible. I feel like Route Six and Six is one of those adventures that one of those routes that every American should try to drive, even a segment of it in their lifetime. It's so so much history, so much natural beauty, and it it's a must do, in my opinion. Do you have a favorite quote or any words of wisdom that you would like to share with our listeners?

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Anything that you would like to leave with them?

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Oh my. Well, I was I will tell you something that I a quote that I tell myself often. And I learned it actually from Gretchen Rubin. She wrote a guide called Happier um about how to be a happier person and how to lifestyle changes you can make to be a happier person. And one of her words of advice is to choose the bigger one. And whenever I'm feeling like, for example, going to Uganda in Rwanda, I thought, okay, this is going to be 48 hours of travel to get. From Chicago to Uganda. Oh my gosh. You know, that is I I that really I thought, oh, but I tell myself, Amy, live the bigger life. The small life would be to say, no, that that it's too tough to get there. Not gonna happen. Living the bigger life for me is to say yeah. Yes to challenges, less to adventures, and living a bigger life. Don't think small, think things. So I say that's that's the one little mantra that I always remind myself when I'm never whenever I'm doubting myself or wondering, should I do this? I love that. And where's your next adventure? Oh my gosh, my next adventure. Well, it's it's an adventure, but um a little bit closer to home. My daughter is a huge Elvis fan. I have a 12-year-old daughter, she is turning 13 this year. She is a huge Elvis fan, and surprise, surprise, I'm a huge Elvis fan. So I know considering we share that joy of the love of Elvis in common. I am planning a Christmas weekend adventure for my daughter and I in Memphis. I love it. Yes, I I'm looking forward to seeing Graceland at Christmas time and to taking my daughter to all of the places in town where Elvis was inspired with me before. Just in seeing the Peabody ducks. That's that incredible Peabody in Memphis. And just and where can our listeners find you and follow all of your exciting adventures? Probably the best place to find me will be on Instagram. You can follow my adventures there, and that is just at my name Amy Vizari, A M Y D S N Boy, I double R I at Instagram, Amy Vizari, all on word. And I will make sure that I link to your Instagram on this episode at Voicesofinspiration Podcast.com. Thank you so much for joining me today and being willing to share so much. It's a pleasure. I hope I hope I inspire some people to again choose the bigger life. Step outside of your box and take some time to think about what are your dreams that you want to make happen in this lifetime. And once you determine those dreams, start planning. And you never know, you might become a vermaid. Exactly. Thank you, Tower Listeners. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, and I'm so grateful you've chosen to be with me today. My name is Amelia, and I'm the host of Voices of Inspiration. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?