10 Tips to Dirt-bag Italy (what Rick Steves didn’t tell you):

1. Wherever you go, act like you own the place. This tip scored us crashing a free champagne and horderves party in Venice. It can also work when looking to use a bathroom in a fancy hotel. See tip 2 if a fancy hotel isn’t available.
2. McDonalds is your friend. The popular chain has many negative attributes but on the plus side the bathrooms are almost always free. I’m loving it. Public bathrooms in Venice were 1 Euro a pop. We know how much water I drink so this tip saved us a lot of money.
3. Two words…water pumps. People might look at you funny when you fill up your water bottle at public fountains. Just double check that the water is potable and then you’re ready to go.
4. Travel light. RyanAir and other low budget airlines charge to check your bags. So one up them and don’t bring one. Ha.
5. Brown bag it. It might not be glamorous to get most of your meals out of your backpack, but it’s cheaper. Yahoo for picknicks, boo 4 Euro pre-made sandwiches.
6. Be sure to check the price before you eat. This tip will help you avoid the 6 Euro slice of chocolate cake or 3 Euro cappuccino.
7. Don’t buy a guide book, just do a “book exchange”. I admit that I “stole” a Rome guidebook from a hostel book exchange. But, if you give it back to another book exchange than it’s ok, right? If a book exchange isn’t available there’s always guidebook shoulder tapping.
8. Choose your guided tours selectively. There are some tours that you must spring for - for example the coliseum tour for 10 Euros. But why pay 30 Euros for a Vatican City tour guide when you can shoulder tap for Rick Steves?
9. Convents = cheap, centrally located housing. If you want to meet friends that party – don’t stay here. But if you want a place where you can fall asleep at 8:30 pm with out people waking you up, you’re in. Another plus is that girls don’t have to share a room with stinky boys. My room in Venice smelled like shampoo, Leif’s like gym socks.
10. Get a mileage plus credit card. If you’re going to put most of your vacation on a credit card you might as well get miles for it, right?