How Zoe Shapiro accidentally moved to Rome

A Giveaway and an interview with founder of size-inclusive, feminist travel company, Stellavision

Zoe and I have been on each other’s radars for a while now but we only actually met in person for the first time recently over lunch at a new favourite spot in Florence, Dalla Lola, and I’m so excited that she not only said yes to being featured in an interview here but that she also suggested we run a generous giveaway (see those details below)!

In case you don’t know Stellavision, Zoe’s travel company, it is a boutique, immersive, highly-curated Italian travel service that she runs from her base in Rome. She specialises in feminist, all inclusive trips, making travel “not just comfortable but celebratory for those who may feel nervous venturing out; specifically women, nonbinary and transgender travelers.” I loved Zoe’s vision and her story, which I think is so unique and something that everyone might want to know more about, especially if you plan on coming to Italy soon.

ED: Thanks for agreeing to this interview Zoe, so happy to have you here. You, like me, have lived all over — what do you tell people when they ask where you are from?

I need to get better at editing it, but I tell them some version of the full story! I’m a third culture kid and claiming all the pieces of my identity feels important. My family are South African Jews, I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised in Canada (where I dropped my Scottish accent in Canadian kindergarten like a little conformist). I went back to the UK at 18 for university (Glasgow then Goldsmiths), returned to Toronto at 25 where I built my career and moved to Italy at 34. I guess my feet get itchy for something new once every decade.

ED: I can relate so much to those itchy feet! I thought mine was every 7 years but here I am, 18 years later! I really want you to tell us about the story of how you made Rome your home after this international upbringing.

From adolescence, Italy had always loomed large in my imagination. I never wanted to visit for a week - it was the one country I wanted to see top to tail. When things aligned for me professionally, I decided to spend a year working remotely, meeting clients on Skype (remember Skype?) with an intern based in EST. 

My plan was to spend 6 months traveling through the country, and then select a spot for the next 6 months. Rome was my last home base during my nomadic travels, and I decided to spend the rest of my year there. Then towards its end, on March 9, 2020, I got pickpocketed.  Italy went into lockdown the next day and I  was stuck, without ID and credit cards. 

I spent the lockdown in Rome, emerging in June 2020 to a helluva silver lining: the Eternal City empty. I have impossible photos where my dog and I are the only ones at the Trevi fountain, on Ponte Sant’ Angelo, in Piazza Navona, at the Pantheon. And now that I had been bumped off course, I began to think longer term. I realized 2020 was the last year to obtain European residency pre-Brexit, through my British passport. So I did that while simultaneously beginning to put into action a longtime goal - a female-centric, travel brand. It was a spontaneous decision about a long held dream. 

I started my company, Stellavision Travel which launched on my Italian anniversary. Then I shipped my belongings over and after 22 months (on what was originally a 4 week Airbnb booking), I got an apartment of my own!

And so - I say I ‘accidentally’ moved to Rome. But I could not be happier to have been fatefully nudged onto this path.

ED: It’s incredible — even the pickpocketing (sorry to say!) sounds like Italy was your destiny! I found the same incredible scenes in Venice and Florence in the first half of 2020, it was surreal and something I think now was actually a once in a lifetime (centuries long?) experience.

I absolutely love your female friendly and all-inclusive philosophy to travel. How and when did Stellavision Travel come about?

Stellavision is where my professional experience, personal passions and Italian journey coalesce. I’m a career marketer. I ran the marketing department for a chic hotel company as my first career role then freelanced for a number of lifestyle brands - I’ve always loved telling brand stories. I’ve also always been an avid traveler, quite often solo. I hoped one day to have a brand of my own and I knew it would be about women - those communities and relationships are the cornerstones of my life. And after doing 20,000 km in Italy  - da sola - I really realized that despite the plethora of tourists and amazing hotels, guides, companies in this country’s tourism industry… there was something missing. Where were the experiences that combined a little luxury with humble, authentic Italy? How could solo travelers navigate the small towns of Puglia without a car rental? Where was the experiential travel, in the style our generation of women adores? And so… Stellavision was born! 

ED: How do you find and narrow down the places and activities for the wonderful trips you offer — and do you have a favourite?

A lot of research, miles, introductions and… good taste?? But Emiko! I’d never ask you to choose a favorite child haha. I will say this. Our tour to Secret Southern Italy is our flagship route for a reason. It makes good on all of Stellavision’s promises: to take you to spots hard to reach, introduce you to the Italians you’d never meet, show you a different side of Rome & Italy. And we do a Size Inclusive version of this tour, a trip that is very special to me, and very personal. I’m so honored that Conde Nast Traveler and AFAR agree! But this season, I’m probably MOST excited about our newest option: the half week Rome Relax Remix - luxury glamping anyone? Tuscany is famous for good reason and we both know how Italians prize the Maremma but… it’s still a region that most international travelers overlook. I’m so excited to take them there!

ED: Oh absolutely, the Maremma is still a relatively “secret” spot in Tuscany. When I wrote Acquacotta, which is a cookbook of the food of the Maremma, in 2016, it was unheard of and the publishers didn’t even want to put the word Maremma on the front cover because they didn’t know what it was! How do you think food factors into travel — I mean, for me, I travel for the food and everything else revolves around that! Do you find food is something that your clients ask for specifically too? Or is this just me? :)

Without a shadow of a doubt. I build my personal travels around mealtimes - the breakfast / lunch / snack / cocktails / dinner list is often longer than the days I have to do it! When I work with private clients, we speak a lot about food - both eating and food experiences  and on our tours I place a lot of emphasis on a diversity of food experiences. We do 7-course tasting menus and stop at humble Italian street food spots. I’m super proud to have built the trust of my tour travelers. They know they’ll be eating well and apart from dietary needs (which we always accommodate) they don’t have specific requests. There have been literal food-inspired tears of joy though!

ED: Has living in Rome had an influence on your view of food or your lifestyle?

100%. I adore beautiful restaurants as well as time with loved ones over a meal… but I’m not an instinctive cook. In Toronto, Uber Eats played too big a role in my life and I loved (and sometimes still miss) my yuppie meal delivery service. But walking to my little mercato in the mornings has changed my life. Eating with the seasons, the cost of produce, noticing the little details like the way they use wax to seal the stem of a pear… I wouldn’t have recognized this version of myself 5 years ago. And it’s not just the outcome but the ritual. It is those little moments, like in the local mercato, that I recognize the quiet contentment that living in Rome has brought to my life. 

ED: What dish do you think everyone should try at least once when visiting Rome?

Undoubtedly one of the famed Roman pastas, in the city in which they were created. But I’ll cheat and list two: my favorite carbonara in Rome is Sarah Cicolini’s at Santo Palato. And when I ate the cacio e pepe at Roscioli for the first time? That was when I knew I had arrived. 

ED: People often want to know the realities of life in Italy (“there must be something not good about living in Tuscany!”) because we all know what some of the highlights of living in Italy are (the food! The beauty! The art!). But, keeping things real, are there any downsides to living in Rome for you?

I really work hard to not impose my North American experience on my Italian life. To do so would be downright rude, I will always be a guest in this country. But I am, by nature, a hugely impatient person and my theory is that Italians are the least laterally thinking people in the world. Some of the most hospitable, warm, talented humans I’ve encountered! But here the way things are done are the way things are done, full stop. It doesn’t matter if there’s a more efficient / strategic / cost-effective solution. It drives me a little nuts : ) Especially at the post office. I also deeply, painfully, dramatically miss having a bathtub.

ED: I avoid going to the post office at all costs. Now a random but fun question, I feel like you can tell a lot about a person based on what they deem essential in their kitchen: What pantry ingredients can you not live without?

Pine nuts. Chocolate. Cans of tuna, smoked salmon and alici. Peperoncino flakes and Maldon sea salt. Dog food for my sidekick. Tonic for my gin. I was sincere when I said I’m not an instinctive cook but I’d be selling myself short if I didn’t assert I’m not altogether useless!  I make a mean British Sunday lunch (roast chicken, potatoes, veg, crumble with custard… ). So right now the most treasured pantry ingredient is stem ginger in syrup, for the aforementioned crumble. (Mango x pear x ginger).

ED: Ok I need the recipe for this crumble (anyone else?)! Zoe, where are you traveling next?

Everywhere Stellavision is heading in 2023!  My personal Italian travel list includes Torino e Ventotene. I long to spend a solid month in Japan. I want to go back to Oaxaca and Jaipur. The Faroe Islands are on my wishlist… I could go on and on.

ED: Torino is so good, we were just there again in January (I wrote a mini guide here). Anything else you’d like people to know about?

Entrepreneurship and owning your own business is a grind. It’s really, really hard. But the women I’ve met through Stellavision, be they clients or connections like yourself - it’s more rewarding than anything I’ve done professionally, ever. I feel lucky. Thank you Emiko!

Thank YOU Zoe!

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*Now onto the Giveaway!*

Stellavision's Rome Relax Remix and the newly released edition of my cookbook Acquacotta have a region we adore in common: Maremma. To celebrate this fun overlap, Zoe and I have put together a prize that will allow you to sample this coastal Tuscan spot in Italy this summer - or in your own kitchen. 

Enter here to win a prize that includes:

• a signed copy of Acquacotta, mailed directly to you

• a $350 Stellavision Gift Card, applicable to any 2023 tour 

Contest closes April 21st at midnight. Then we'll announce the winner & coordinate your prize.