We’d arrived at dusk—the air humid, the shadows long in the fading light.
We parked our rental car on the side of the house and walked through the tufts of mowed weeds sprouting from the dusty ground to find the front walk: broken slabs of concrete mostly obscured by the spurge and crab grass growing out of the cracks.
The porch floor moaned under our weight, spongy boards threatening to give way.
Our impression did not improve once the door swung open.
How to Get a European Passport in Three Months
... Getting Citizenship in as Little as 3 Months? (even if you don’t have a European parent or grandparent)
... How to Live in Europe Year-Round on an American Passport Alone (no visa or second citizenship required)
... Why 2026 May Be the Last Year for Easy European Passports for Americans
With no lights on and dark curtains pulled closed over blinds, the house brooded.
Pat said the scent took him right back to the post-football-practice locker room in his rural Nebraska high school.
“I’d call it horror-film chic,” he pronounced, having walked through the place, flipping on light switches.
More than Paris Prices for a Sagging, Spooky Rental
The whole building sloped. Distinctly. The fridge door banged into the counter every time you opened it.
Can’t win them all, I guess... still, it stung a bit: This house cost us more than the apartment we rented this summer in Paris... right on Boulevard Saint-Michel, a few blocks from Notre Dame.
To be fair, we knew going in we were being gouged. And we understood the house would be basic... we just didn’t think the place would be quite so rough.
This was two weeks ago—we had tickets to Jason Isbell’s Shoal’s Fest, a small outdoor music festival held in the city park in Florence, Alabama. It’s the biggest thing that happens there each year, and housing comes at a premium.
We wanted to be able to walk to the downtown restaurants and the festival itself. And we needed beds for our kiddo and his roommate who were driving from Savannah and for an old buddy of Pat’s, flying in from Nebraska to meet us. So we took what we could get.
The accommodations may have been a bust. But Florence, Alabama was not.
The Small Alabama Town Where Music Legends Recorded
An hour-and-a-half from Huntsville, just across the Tennessee River from Muscle Shoals, this place is off the beaten track... which, in my book, is always a plus.
If you know anything about American musical lore, you probably know this is where musicians like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Cher, and more recorded...
Music is in the water here. Local Native American tribes tell the legend of a woman singing in the river to protect them.
Generations of musicians credit the water with the region’s soulful sound. And this festival was held on the river’s bank—the ideal place to absorb the spirit of this place.
But just as rewarding as the great music was discovering a unique corner of America—one most people probably haven’t ever heard of.
Deviled Eggs, Fried Green Tomatoes and a Frank Lloyd Wright House
Florence has a lively, walkable downtown. Banners on the light posts outside the library read: “’A man who takes long walks by the river and reads books always has something to think about.’—Allen Levi, Theo of Golden.”
We ate an excellent deviled egg appetizer at Odette one evening... for lunch the next day, we devoured wings and fried green tomatoes at a little hole in the wall called Soul Wingery and Records... and we joined hundreds of locals out for First Friday, which closed down the main street for a craft/farmer’s market. Bands played, and the high school football game showed on two huge screens. We toured the sound studios and the beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in town.
We'd come for the music festival. But we left feeling we'd discovered something much more interesting.
That's the benefit of getting off the beaten track.
The best places aren't necessarily the famous places.
For me, they are the spots where everyday life remains the main attraction.
I've found this to be true again and again in my travels.
Of course, I love Paris. And Madrid. And Rome. Celebrated cities are celebrated for a reason... but some of my favorite memories come from places I knew almost nothing about before I arrived.
The little village in the South of France where moss-covered water wheels once powered the paper mills. The island off the coast of Tanzania where I got lost in the medina. The town in Portugal where we stopped for a glass of wine in the park and sat across from a Roman temple.
Places where you go expecting very little... and come away feeling you've found something special.
That's a big part of what we aim to help you do here at International Living... to look beyond the obvious.
Beyond the famous cities and crowded resorts to those overlooked corners of the planet where life is a little slower, the welcome is warm, and, if you play your cards right, the music is good...
This March, we’ll be gathering our editors and correspondents in person in southern Portugal with one mission: to introduce you to the Europe you don’t know... to point you to cities, towns, and villages across the continent that our guys on the ground know about and like... but which the average person hasn’t heard of. Spots where you could successfully build a more international life for yourself... but spend less than it would cost you to stay home.
We call this conference Fast Track Europe: Unlock Europe’s Best-Kept Secrets. Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Ireland, and beyond... don’t wait to get the details and your discount. Seats are already filling fast. The last two programs like this we held in Portugal sold out, and this one is likely to as well.
The World’s Best Retirement Havens for 2026
The World’s Best Retirement Havens for 2026
24 Countries Compared, Contrasted, Ranked, and Rated. You don’t have to be rich to enjoy a pampered retirement, you just need to know where to go. With our 35th Annual Global Retirement Index, our experts hand you a detailed roadmap. Details—and a Special Offer—Here
By submitting your email address, you will receive a free subscription to IL Postcards, The Untourist Daily and special offers from International Living and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at any time, and we encourage you to read more about our Privacy Policy.
Join Us in Europe in 2027!
Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Greece... You’ll find gorgeous, culturally rich cities and towns and beautiful sunny beaches. You can enjoy a high quality of life—yet a surprisingly low cost of living. Starting at $2,500 a month, a couple can live well. With more, you could live large.
If you’ve been dreaming of life in Europe, join us March 20-22, 2027, for International Living’s Fast Track Europe Conference. We’ll meet in Portugal’s sunny Algarve, and our focus will be on Europe’s best destinations to retire better, live well, and spend less.
