When Mayes was writing Bella Tuscany, she was likely learning just as much about Italy and herself, and the nature of travel, as when she was actually experiencing the events. In Italy, Francine Mayes was seeking a different kind of life, and also a different kind of identity. Learning how to write about Italy offers the opportunity to understand both the country and the writer's own soul better, and to re-live the experience of travel with a more critical eye.
Learning something new can change your life and identity just as much as traveling -- to take an extreme example, someone who learns how to be a doctor is forever changed, not simply...
Learning how to do a new sport or yoga move can give people added confidence in the way that they move, and view their competency. And even not learning something, like Mayes' difficulty in learning Italian can teach humility. "Those of us who try to learn later must locate the new language in an entirely different territory" -- she mourns bemoaning her old brain. All learning experiences take us to new countries, not just on land, but also in our minds.
Frances Mayes, Bella Tuscany, (New York: Broadway, 2000), pp.177-178
Mayes, p.234
