Riff-raff. Street Rat. I don’t buy that

If they did look closer, would they see a poor traveler or just a cheap opportunist. I dunno, but when you travel/backpack around as much as I am, you tend to revert to a minimalist lifestyle. You have to. Conserving food, energy, and most of all, MONEY is a day to day necessity. Ok sure I am not running around with a small monkey and pilfering apples and large bread rolls. But, ever since my bank was devastated due to obsessive, excessive eating and partying through Spain Italy and Amsterdam, there have been a few times I feel like a poor kid living in Agrabah. For one, I carry around a sac of  bananas, bread, and nutella to satiate a growling stomach throughout the day. I try to only buy 1 meal a day from local vendors for maybe 5~10 Euros. Every now and then the craving for a huge burger arises, but with McD’s & BK’s prices out here (a freaking snack wrap was 4 Franks! That’s basically $4! Forget about the value meal - its all about $10), I mostly go with locals.

Aside from eatin on the cheap, I’m more and more an opportunist, lookin for free places to crash, free drinks, and free eats.  Haven’t reaaally ‘stolen’ anything, but hey, if you sit long enough in a café with the same cup of coffee waitresses tend to forget if you paid or not…So I say “Danke, it was very good, ” and if they say “5 Franks” I pay, if they just say “Thanks, Bye” then who am I to correct them.

BUT, of course I do have some what of a conscience or at least a belief in karma. So when the waitress at Hooter’s today (I missed the American Burger, not scantily clad women) I did find her and ask for a bill.. Call it my good nature. You really don’t want bad karma haunting you when you are traveling like this anyway.