Jan Hendrik invites readers to join him on a personal journey across Italy, soaking up Italians’ love for life and relishing the art form that is Italian cuisine as he criss-crosses the country.

When we travel, we open ourselves up to the experiences of others, mirrored through our own unique perspectives. The greatest thrill of exploring life outside our own is that – for as little as a moment or as long as a lifetime – we find ourselves changed. And these are the experiences that are captured on the 256 pages of our six-year anniversary issue.

This is by no means a definitive guide to Italy – it is a record of Jan Hendrik’s deeply personal experience of the country as he picnicked in orchards, bought basketfuls of citrus from locals selling this cornerstone of Italian cuisine on the roadside, whizzed from city to city on a high-speed train, and bumped along lesser-travelled roads, discovering whitewashed villages – like Ostuni – perched on hilltops where they have stood for centuries, stoic guardians of ancient traditions and colourful legends. The pages of this Journal pay homage to Italy as Jan Hendrik experienced it, with limited time and a whole lot of curiosity.