It takes a special kind of person to embrace change, whether large or small – someone adventurous, flexible and patient. But a change on the scale undertaken by Mark Hinshaw, a former Seattle architect and urban planner, might be considered off the charts.

In 2017, Hinshaw quit his job, sold his Pioneer Square condo, and together with his wife, Savina (Sunny) Bertollini, left Seattle after some 30 years to move to a small hill town in one of Italy’s most untouristed provinces, Le Marche – most surprisingly, it was a spot neither had been to before.