In the past four weeks Perrin and I have lived in five cities and visited a new destination every weekend.  When we move so rapidly, it’s surprisingly easy to fail at life sometimes.  To spare future travelers some grief, we decided to share some of our low moments and make a few recommendations.

1. Buy a train ticket

There is an honor system in place and on short, regional train rides and conductors rarely check your ticket.  If you DO get caught without a ticket there is a  50 fine and you can get booted off.

On our trip from Verona to Roccafranca we didn’t buy the 6 Euro ticket.  We hadn’t seen a train conductor in five rides so, being budget travelers, we took our chances.  About four minutes into the trip we spotted the conductor approaching us with his ticket puncher at the ready.  Instead of forking over cash we bolted for the bathroom with urgency I usually reserve for dashing for a last piece of Napoli pizza.  We locked ourselves in the 3ft x 4ft stall for the remaining 35 minutes.  A fellow ticket evader kept pounding on the door pleading to be let in but we selfishly hogged our space and brainstormed excuses for being ticketless.  Needless to say, we splurge on tickets now.

Tucked away in the tiny (and rank) train bathroom, Perrin and I contemplate escape out the window.

(more…)