Only A Bag - An Italy Travel Podcast (Nathaniel Mellor | Darcy Melton)

The cost of the transportation system is rising, and they're thinking about instituting a small charge to see the Trevi Fountain. But it's not all bad! If you want to walk to Rome, they're also pouring money into the Via Francigena to make it easier for pilgrims to make their way along the Canterbury-Rome road.

And if you want to take part in the festivities, we have you covered! Here's a link to the Vatican Website where you can go ahead and get your Pilgrim Card!

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Using Florence as a home-base for your Italy trip? Here are the top 17 places to visit in one-day from Florence. We're talking about places from 40 minutes one-way on the fast train to Bologna to 3 hours, for those bucket-list locations like Venice and Cinque Terre.

If you'd like to support us, you can do so by purchasing your next train or bus trip through Trainline, an easy-to-use aggregate of train and bus fares. It's the way we search for and buy our tickets! You can find our affiliate link by clicking here. It won't cost you anything extra, but it will give us a dollar or two.

If you like Only a Bag, please like, or click the "positive button" wherever you're hearing this podcast.

Checking accounts, debit cards, and how to access your money abroad without paying extraordinary fees.

We finally purchased a second microphone, so this special episode mini-series might sound a little uneven while we work ou the kinks. If it sounds especially atrocious on your headphones/phone/speakers, please let us know!

To support Only A Bag, you can sign up for one of the travel-oriented credit cards below. None of them have a yearly fee, which is one of the reasons we like them so much. (To learn more about the cards, you can either listen to the 3rd episode in this mini series, or search online for reviews about the card.) If you're not comfortable with opening a Credit Card, we encourage you not to. There is no pressure here, just some helpful tips.

Our favorite simple-to-use card: ⁠Capital One Quicksilver⁠

Our favorite for food and restaurants: ⁠Capital One Savor⁠

Our go-to for purchasing flights and lodging: ⁠Chase Freedom Unlimited⁠

All-around solid card with great cash back: ⁠Discover it⁠

As always, you can check out ⁠www.onlyabag.com⁠ for more information about traveling in Italy! 

Thanks for listening,

Darcy and Nathaniel

Planning on taking a cruise to/around Italy? Not sure what that entails? Struggling to see how it's possible given the fact many of the towns are land-locked?

After Darcy talked to her mom about an upcoming trip to Italy, we were inspired to do a little digging into cruises to, from, and around Italy. Some are massive cruise ships with multi-port journeys, water slides, and endless buffets others are, in fact, ferries with an unassuming bar and restaurant that get you from point A to B. In this episode we get into the pros and cons of it all plus touch on what the environmental impacts of various transportation might be.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

This week, we take a look at some of our favorite wintertime desserts, treats, and pastries. From the popular panettone to the less-known fried chiacchiere (or, chit-chat), we take you down the sugary path of what to look forward to in Italy this time of year.

We also want to extend a huge "thank you" to everyone who listened to us this year, who followed the show, left a review, and enjoyed it. It means the world to us and we're looking forward to 2025! We hope you have a Happy New Year!

Darcy and Nathaniel

Only A Bag

www.onlyabag.com

Darcy is still under the weather so it's just Nathaniel in today's episode! If you'll forgive the random tangents and the "um"s scattered throughout, I will try to help you understand the difference between travel insurance, travel health insurance, and at the end, I'll quickly discuss how to bring prescriptions with you on the plane. (Spoiler: you will need the .pdf from this website, or your own note.  

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

If you're in the market for travel health insurance, you can check out Visitor's Coverage* through our affiliate link!

Lastly, if you're in the market for a basic, no-fee credit card you can use on the road, you can try out Capital One's Quicksilver or Savor One. Both offer $200 cash back when you spend $550 in the first 3 months, zero foreign transaction fees, and some decent travel benefits.

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Thanks for listening to this mini-sode! A full-length episode will be out on Friday, and next week we will return to our normally-scheduled Wednesday episodes. We had intended to be back in full-force today, but we returned from the States an unintentional day late due to canceled flights, so the jet lag is still hitting hard.

This month will focus on restaurant etiquette, how to order, what's okay and not okay to do, and even what kinds of drinks to expect at every Italian bar.

As always, thank you all so much for listening! If you have any questions, please reach out at onlyabag.com!

Or, as Darcy likes to call it, Creepy Crawly Cuties!

Are there mosquitos in Italy? What are those tiny little bugs that bite me so painfully? Do I have to worry about scorpions? Most importantly, do I have to worry about rabies?

In this episode, we delve into the biting, stinging, flying, and slithering side of Italy!

As always, we truly appreciate you all for listening!

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Nathaniel has had about four cups of coffee, so please bear with him as he and Darcy jump into the world of the Venice Carnavale.

I can hear you now, your questions coming to me:

What is the Carnavale? Why is it in February, one of the worst times to go to Italy (or best, if you're on a budget!)? What are the little fried pieces of Heaven called "fritelle"? And most importantly, I want a mask, where do I get one?

Well, this episode has you covered! It covers everything you need to know, and some things that are just nice to know.

Plus:

Where to buy authentic masks:

La Bauta

Atelier Marega

La Bottega Dei Mascareri

San Marco 596

Fritelle (or, Pastry Shops):

Majer

Tonolo

Rizzardini

Dal Mas

Pasticceria Toletta (Next door at the Bar all Toletta has great (and cheap) sandwiches!)

Rosa Salva

Thank you all so much for listening!

Darcy and Nathaniel

Only A Bag

www.onlyabag.com

In this episode, we address some of the issues that Italians (and everyone who lives in a tourist-friendly town) have with AirBnb and why they've become the poster child for negative tourism.

However, hope is not lost! We also discuss a list of alternative types of stays in Italy that might not be available in other countries, such as convents, or farmstays.

If you're thinking about booking something for Italy, we'd love it if you could use our ⁠Booking.com⁠ affiliate link. There's no extra cost to you, and it supports the podcast!

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow and rate us on whichever platform you use!

If you like to follow us, we're ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠ on Instagram, and you can sign up for our newsletter on ⁠onlyabag.com⁠.

We’ve heard opinions from Italians and western tourists about Venice. We’ve seen questions like “What time does Venice close?” and “Does anyone actually live in Venice?” Nathaniel had been to Venice before, but two weeks ago I visited for time. We stayed for just one night and in this episode we address these questions and share our first impressions. 

Shout out to the Enoteca (wine bar) mentioned in this episode called "Stappo." You can check them out here stappovenezia.com .

As always thank you for listening! 

Hello and welcome back!

We apologize for having been gone for so long. While Only A Bag has always been on our minds, we couldn't figure out the time to sit down and finally record another episode.

And then we found the time!

Here's episode one of Season 2.

We lightly delve into "northern" Italy vs "southern" Italy, and how it might affect your trip to Italy.

At one point, we mentioned a bakery in Siena, which is here: https://goo.gl/maps/Js4UEQfURAr1JEr5A

We have also re-vamped our website: www.onlyabag.com.

Thank you all so much for listening! We hope you enjoy the episode!

Perugia, a relatively unknown city in the north; a just-as-beautiful relative of Tuscany at a fraction of the price.

(At some point Nathaniel mistakenly said Montepulciano is in Umbria, when it is in fact in Tuscany, so, sommelier classes aren't going so well.)

As always, if you'd like to support us, you can do so by using this link to sign up for Trusted Housesitters!

We also mentioned we'd look for a link to a tour that we've heard of and trust, and this is one that has been operating since we were there. If you want to check the offerings for yourself, you can click here, or google "Perugia food tours".

Lastly, we mentioned two rental websites, which are below:

https://www.idealista.it/

https://www.immobiliare.it/

As always, we'd love it if you were to check out our ever-improving website www.onlyabag.com

Thank you all so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy the episode!

Do you need to order a primi and secondi? Why can't you order pizza for lunch? What's the coperta? Navigating the way an Italian menu is set up can complicated—we're here to help!

Thank you all so much for listening, we really appreciate

it! If there's anything you'd like us to cover, please reach out on www.onlyabag.com.

And if you'd like to compliment Darcy on our brand-new cover, you can find her at darcymeltonfineart.com or @darcymeltonfineart on Instagram!

While visiting Naples could easily take a week by itself, there's so much more to the area than the city. Just off the coast you can find the resort island of Capri, the thermal springs island of Ischia, and the "blue collar" island of Procida.

How to get there? What to see? And when did these islands first host people? These questions and more are answered in today's episode!

As always, thank you all so much for listening!

While many people go to Pompeii while visiting Naples (and for good reason) there's so much more! In this episode we briefly look at Pompeii, Herculaneum, Pozzuoli (the Campi Flegrei), and lead into our next episode where we will talk about the islands around Naples and where to swim among Roman ruins.

Thank you all so much for listening!

If you have any comments or feedback, you can find us at onlyabag.com.

Happy Halloween, witches! In this episode we talk about the history of witchcraft in Italy. From herbs and invocations to hallucinogenic oils and riding animals following Herodias. And who is Herodias? Who is the queen of witches? We'll tell you. We also talk about the far too unknown Italian witch trials as well as how witchcraft exists in modern life in Italy. Welcome to our special Halloween Episode!

As always thank you for listening!

Everyone tells us where to eat in Rome. Where to find the best cacio e pepe or pizza. Even Google Maps gives advice.

So we wanted to tell you all how to eat at restaurants and what to expect when you do.

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Nathaniel on Twitter: @MellorNathaniel

Darcy on Twitter: @not_mr_darcy

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

After our recent trips to Venice and Florence we thought we'd share some of our hard-learned tips that have become second nature. Can you be fined for sitting in the wrong seat on a train? What do you do if you get separated while traveling? We will also talk about setting expectations, the importance of communicating your needs to your travel partner(s), and how crucial it is to bring two pairs of shoes (Nathaniel didn't and paid dearly).

In this episode we mention Nathaniel's article "Espresso Drinks and How to Order Them" which explains each type of coffee drink you can order at a cafe in Italy; hint: an American "macchiato" is not an Italian macchiato.

Thanks so much for listening! You can check out more articles on onlyabag.com with new articles coming out all the time.

If you liked the podcast you, please leave a review, it helps us immensely! You can contact us on our website and follow us on Bluesky and wherever you're listening to this podcast.

If you're thinking about moving to Italy and studying or working here, then one of the first steps is securing housing. While this might sound dry, trying to find an apartment in Italy can be one of the most rage-inducing aspects of living here, but it can also be one of the most exciting.

In this episode, we break down what to expect, what to look out for, what the lengths of a contract are, where to find apartments, and even how to get acodice fiscale.

We mentioned a few of the websites that we use which are:

immobiliare.it

idealista.it

casa.it

housinganywhere.com

And if you'd like to support Only A Bag, you can do so by using our affiliate link to sign up for Trusted Housesitters (if housesitting is something you'd like to explore!).

If you want to look at and compare the different costs of living in Italy, you can use Numbeo.

You can find us on onlyabag.com, Instagram, or BlueSky.

Picking up where we left off, this episode gets into the meat of the matter—the flight itself. Boiled down, it can be summed up as: moisturize, bring noise-cancelling headphones, moisturize, bring a change of clothes, and make sure your skin stays hydrated and moisturized.

We also talk about finding the perfect seat on any airplane. To do this, we use SeatGuru. It's often easier to simply search on Google the carrier and plane type, such as "Air France Boeing 777 SeatGuru" and it will direct you to the search result page you need.

For noise-cancelling headphones, the world is your oyster. We've found that a pair of $50 headphones works just fine, but you might want to try out something a little more powerful if you fly frequently.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When looking for hotels, we usually cross-reference ⁠Booking*⁠, ⁠Expedia*⁠, ⁠Priceline⁠, and ⁠Agoda*.⁠ We typically book with ⁠Booking.com*⁠ because we like their “Genius” deals and it seems like they often have the best or comparable prices. 

While Booking, Expedia, and Priceline do offer flight booking we usually use ⁠Google Flights⁠ or ⁠ITA Flight Matrix⁠ (also by Google) and then book the flight directly through the carrier or our credit card portal.

Lastly, if you're traveling with prescriptions, you will need to fill out this form (.pdf) or go to the Salute.it website and download it there. If you prefer to write your own note instead, it must include the name of the prescription (drug and brand name), dosage, dosage amount (how many ml or liquid or number of pills, etc.), condition it's being used for, and your doctor's information (mostly their name and medical license number), as well as your information (DoB, name, address, etc.).

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

In recent years, the flight has somehow become the worst part of any trip. It's not just the delays and cancellations, but the baggage fees, the seat selection fees if you'd like to do something crazy like sit next to the people you're traveling with, and even the tiny, narrow seats. In this episode (and the next one) we delve into how to prepare for a flight and how to maximize (or minimize) your time in an airport.

Because we completely forgot, we also briefly touch on using your credit card travel portal (like Capital One Travel or Chase Travel) to book a flight since they have baked-in protection like price-drop protection and lost baggage reimbursement.

You don't need a travel credit card to use these platforms, we use basic, no foreign-transaction fee credit cards like the Savor One and Quicksilver (both are referral links).

As we mention in this episode (and the next) something that we've found to be priceless is a power bank. Even though we don't put our boarding passes on our phones, having our phone die while in the midst of a trip can be disastrous. If you'd like to support Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate link for Belkin. However, pretty much any power bank will work!

Lastly, as we mentioned in the previous episodes, we rarely book flights through an aggregate, preferring to use the airline's website or our credit card's travel portal. When looking for hotels, we usually cross-reference ⁠Booking*⁠, ⁠Expedia*⁠, ⁠Priceline⁠, and ⁠Agoda*.⁠ (Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk.) We typically book with ⁠Booking.com*⁠ because we like their “Genius” deals and it seems like they often have the best or comparable prices. 

While Booking, Expedia, and Priceline do offer flight booking we usually use ⁠Google Flights⁠ or ⁠ITA Flight Matrix⁠ (also by Google) to find the price-range and then book the flight directly through the carrier or credit card portal.

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Perugia is a city of great food, and an abundance of it. It's almost impossible to find a bad restaurant, but just in case, we offer some of our favorite restaurant—especially for those of you who are getting tired of Italian food. If you'd like to support the podcast, one great way to do so is to sign up for Trusted Housesitters through our affiliate link here. Not sure what house sitting is? Well, we'd love to be the ones to introduce you to the best way to travel through the articles here, or our podcast episodes here. And if you're looking for a food tour of Perugia, you can click our affiliate link here, or search for "Perugia Food Tours" through your favorite search browser. You can find a list of our favorite places to eat in Perugia here, our handy-dandy Google Maps list. Lastly, we would love it if you were to take this poll on your listening habits! https://forms.gle/SZPLF1Xy5iU3uHrd9 Thank you all so much for listening, we hope you enjoyed this episode!

Welcome back!

We're sorry we were gone for so long. Life jumped out at us in so many ways, and while we were in the States visiting, we just couldn't seem to find the [quiet] time to sit down and record a few episodes.

However, now that we're back, we're planning on releasing a new episode every week on Wednesday.

In this episode, Part 1 of 3, we start talking about Naples. Specifically, the history! While it's not quite as full of battles, giant buildings, and togas as Rome, the city of Naples is even older than Rome and has remained one of the most important cities in the Mediterranean; even today that history affects the food, language, and culture.

If there's anything you'd like us to cover, or questions you might have, please reach out to us through Darcy's website (darcymeltonfineart.com) since we only now realized that Only A Bag's website (onlyabag.com) doesn't have a contact page! Soon to be rectified.

Until then, as always, thank you so much for your time and for listening!

Almost every hotel in Italy has some amount of stars, 1-5. On first glance, this can look straightforward, however, dig a little deeper, and you might find that the hotel you want isn't necessarily the one with the most stars.

More than that, we also dig a little deeper into what to expect from a hotel in Italy, whether it's the elevator, the quality of the room, or even the breakfast spread.

If you're thinking about booking something for Italy, we'd love it if you could use our Booking.com affiliate link. There's no extra cost to you, and the podcast will be helped out!

If you enjoyed this episode, we would love it if you were to follow and rate us on whichever platform you use!

If you like to follow us, we're @only_a_bag on Instagram, and you can sign up for our newsletter on onlyabag.com.

Do you want to know how to "act Italian" at restaurants? What to avoid (such as eating and walking around)? How about the dos and don'ts of pizza? Well, this episode has you covered with all of that and so much more!

If you enjoyed the episode, we'd love it if you were to rate us, follow, subscribe, comment, etc. It means the world to us and keeps us going!

If there's anything you'd like us to cover specifically, you can find us at onlyabag.com or on instagram @only_a_bag.

For the next few episodes Darcy and I will be talking about Rome, since that's where we are currently! 

Instead of talking about the normal sights and "to-do" lists, we thought we'd talk about some of the quieter sides of life. Like gelato, used clothing markets, and finding good food!

I hope you enjoy! 

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

In this episode we unpack (pun intended) all that we learned on our recent trip to Venice. How do you avoid pickpockets? What are cicchetti? Can you really buy a glass of wine for €1.50? And some important rules to follow while visiting, like don't sit on the church steps!

Stay tuned for articles on Venice and more coming soon to onlyabag.com. If you're planning your visit to Venice (or anywhere), you can help out the podcast by using our affiliate links with  ⁠Booking⁠, Expedia⁠, and ⁠Agoda⁠.

Thank you all so much for listening!

Hello everyone!

We are so sorry for our long absence. We moved houses again, lost internet, and real life got in the way. We are now back! 

In this episode we talk about getting to Rome by flying there, getting from the airport to the city, and getting around Rome once you're there. 

I also mentioned a website for cheap student flights which is called www.studentuniverse.com.

Some of my talking might be quick in this episode, and I do apologize! I realize I talk quickly when I'm excited about something, and I'm working on talking slower so everyone can understand. 

I hope you enjoy! 

Our Rome segment of our website is here: https://www.onlyabag.com/rome

This is going to be a two-part episode, with this as part one: a rambling history and some general ideas of what to expect. The next episode will [hopefully] focus more on concrete expectations!

To support Only A Bag, you can sign up for one of the travel-oriented credit cards below. None of them have a yearly fee, which is one of the reasons we like them so much. (To learn more about the cards, you can either listen to the 3rd episode in the series, or search online for reviews about the card.) If you're not comfortable with opening a Credit Card, we encourage you not to. There is no pressure here, just some helpful tips. 

Our favorite simple-to-use card: ⁠⁠Capital One Quicksilver⁠⁠

Our favorite for food and restaurants: ⁠⁠Capital One Savor⁠⁠

Our go-to for purchasing flights and lodging: ⁠⁠Chase Freedom Unlimited⁠⁠

All-around solid card with great cash back: ⁠⁠Discover it⁠⁠

As always, you can check out ⁠⁠www.onlyabag.com⁠⁠ for more information about traveling in Italy! 

Thanks for listening,

Darcy and Nathaniel

The larger-than-life stretch of towns along the Ligurian Coast with their pastel homes and craggy coves have inspired tourists for years. In this episode, we delve into what those towns are, what sets the apart, how to get there, how to walk between them, and some of our favorite food.

To support us, consider signing up for Trusted Housesitters through our affiliate link—we'd deeply appreciate it!

And for those of you who want to grab a pair of hiking shoes (or any other last-minute gear purchases), consider checking out Moosejaw with our affiliate link.

This website (linked here) has all of the trails as well as when they closed and when they're open, as well as some ticketing information.

And for an easy-access list of our favorite food, we've made it into a simple Google Maps List.

As always, we hope you enjoy this episode! If you could like it, rate it, follow us, or whatever the "good" button is on your platform, we would seriously appreciate it.

In this second episode we cover the differences in coffee (shorter and punchier), food (dry pasta is southern), and the Mediterranean Diet. As well as a whole slew of other sidetracks.

If you'd like to support the podcast, one great way to do so is to sign up for Trusted Housesitters through our affiliate link ⁠here⁠. Not sure what house sitting is? Well, we'd love to be the ones to introduce you to the best way to travel through the articles ⁠here⁠, or our podcast episodes ⁠here⁠.

Thank you all so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy this episode.

Welcome back to another episode of the Rome series! 

In this episode we discuss how to navigate the used clothing markets of Italy, and the ones we like to frequent.

We hope you enjoy! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

Towards the end we mentioned a group of vintage stores in the Monti neighborhood which are:

Pifebo Vintage Shop

Flamingo Vintage Shop Roma

Humana Vintage Roma

King Size Vintage

Pulp Vintage

Blue Goose

Abito

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

What's the best way to order a coffee in Rome?

Do you sit down and wait for someone to come over? Or go to the bar?

What is a "normal coffee?"

What are those red drinks everyone is drinking around 5 o'clock?

Are the water fountains in Rome potable?

In this episode Darcy and I take a look into coffee and drink culture in Rome. 

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Nathaniel: @MellorNathaniel

Darcy: @not_mr_darcy

Also, we kept pronouncing "brusque" as "brisk." I only noticed while editing. Sorry! 

Which Christmas market is the most popular? Which is the oldest? We'll answer those questions and more in this episode!

Edit, and this is a big one: In this episode Darcy is super excited about the "biggest Christmas tree in the world." Upon further fact checking, it is not in fact a living tree, but Christmas lights arranged along the side of Mount Ingino in the shape of a Christmas tree.

We do our best to deliver only accurate information, but sometimes things slip through the cracks, like "the biggest Christmas tree in the world." We also do our best to tell you when we're wrong and we appreciate your understanding.

That said, there is tons more in the episode that is correct, so we hope you give it a listen!

With the Jubilee coming up we highly recommend booking hotels in Rome as soon as possible, if you're planning on visiting in 2025. If you're visiting other parts of Italy in the coming year and want to know when to book hotels and flights, check out our episode When to Book: Hotels and Flights and even When to Book: Trains and Buses.

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

If you're looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠Expedia⁠* or ⁠Booking⁠* before purchasing. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find more at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and contact us via email at onlyabagpodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram at ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Welcome back to a Special Episode where we revisit the Venice tourist tax (a 5 euro tax for almost anyone entering Venice) that we first covered in a previous episode titled "Italy isn't breaking up with you, she's just setting boundaries".

While the fee may have ended for 2024, this episode covers what Venice learned from the experiment, how it affected tourism, and what they're planning on doing next year.

We also discuss other changes Venice has made to their tourism industry since the start of summer.

If you're planning a trip and you'd like to support Only A Bag, you can do so by purchasing your flight or lodging through our Booking.com affiliate link. We'll make a small percentage of Booking's portion, at no cost to you!

If you enjoyed this podcast, we would deeply appreciate it if you left a review, followed us, or simply told a friend! It goes a long way to helping us grow.

As always, thank you all so much for listening!

If you like to follow us, we're ⁠@only_a_bag⁠ on Instagram, and you can sign up for our newsletter on ⁠onlyabag.com⁠.

Welcome back to another episode of our housesitting series!

If you prefer to read our advice, you can find the article on our website!

In this episode, we talk about the "house." For us, this means cleaning the house when we leave, how to treat the house when we're there, and what to do in the absolute certainty that you break something. 

We hope you enjoy!

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!

Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link

MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)

Our website: Only A Bag

Instagram Page: Only_a_bag

Medium: @Nathanielmellor

In a continuation of the mini-series on living in Italy, today brings us to the work visa, the retirement visa, and the working holiday visa.

In this episode, we dive into why the work visa isn't as easy to get as a student visa, how to apply for it, and how to apply for other types of permits that will allow you to work in Italy (such as the Blue Card). As we mention towards the end of the episode, we highly encourage you to find a recruiter or an agency that helps with this in order to increase your chances of success.

As two other booking keeping notes, we have an updated website and this time we've added in what SHOULD be some subtle ads. Please let us know if you visit the website and feel bombarded by ads, that shouldn't be the case.

We will also be taking a break on Wednesday, February 26th while we visit Venice for the Carnavale.

Thank you all so much for listening!

www.onlyabag.com

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/onlyabag.com

Links:

Blue Card: https://www.apply.eu/BlueCard/

Blue Card Information: https://immigration-portal.ec.europa.eu/eu-blue-card/italy_en

Work Visa Information: https://visaguide.world/europe/italy-visa/long-stay/work/

Elective Residency Information: https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/italy/

Working Holiday Visa: https://visaguide.world/europe/italy-visa/long-stay/working-holiday/

While the Palio and the Duomo are two of Siena's major draws, they're not the only reason to visit this hilltop town.

In this episode we cover getting there, the history of the Palio, why the Duomo is so interestingly built, and why you should try panforte and cantucci. Plus, some of the best day trips!

To support us, you can use this Trainline link to buy your bus and train tickets (for anywhere, to just Italy!) or our Tiqets link to purchase things like entry to the Duomo (only 9€!).

As always, we would love you forever if you were leave us a review or follow us on Spotify.

Thank you for listening!

Does Italy have nude beaches? Can you spend the night on the beach? What's the deal with all of those umbrellas that look the same?

We answer all of those questions and so much more in this episode!

As always, thank you so much for listening!

Hello everyone!

Darcy caught a bit of a cold/flu situation so she's been in bed recovering for the past few days.

Instead of listening to an hour long monologue by yours truly, we thought it would be better to push the episode to next week, where we'll either double-publish on Wednesday or publish Monday and Wednesday.

As always, thank you all so much for your support!

The 1 euro house project has been talked about in countless articles, on the news, and spread across social media. So, can you really buy a house in Italy for 1 euro? Sort of. What most people don't mention are the extra costs like taxes, fees, and renovation costs. Plus, did you know about the renovation timeline a homeowner has to adhere to? In this episode we lay out the details of buying a "1 euro house" and the alternative, buying an inexpensive house in Italy "regular style."

In this episode we mention two great resources.

Idealista article:

"1 euro houses in Italy: the villages still in the spotlight in 2025" by Flavio Di Stefano 

One Euro Houses article:

Map of 1 euro houses

The HGTV show we mention is Fixer to Fabulous (during recording Darcy mistook this show for Home Town (a cuter show in her opinion)).

If you'd like to support the podcast you can use our affiliate Booking link or Trusted Housesitters link.

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠. 

While it's taken a long time to come to fruition, it looks like the EU is set to rollout their new visa scheme in the first half of 2025. So, what does this mean as a non-European? Do Americans (if you are American) now need a visa to go to Italy?

And what about this raised tourist tax we keep hearing so much about? Do you actually have to pay 25 euros a night in addition to a hotel room?

In this episode, we hope to inform you and assuage those fears about what 2025 will look like for travelers.

Until then, if you're planning a trip to Italy and you'd like to help out Only A Bag (read: Darcy and Nathaniel), you can do so by booking your hotel or train trip through our affiliate links.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When looking for hotels, we usually cross-reference Booking*, Expedia*, Priceline, and Agoda*. We typically book with Booking.com* because we like their “Genius” deals and it seems like they often have the best or comparable prices.

When looking for trains our go to is Train Line*. We cross reference it with Rail Europe* to find the best deal. You can also book directly through train companies websites like TrenItalia . 

As always, thank you all so much for listening. It means a great deal to us! If you liked what you heard and you want to help us make a change, you can do so by following us and leaving a review.

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Why do Italian children put out their shoes on January 5th to be filled with candy? Why are there so many witches and witch-related accoutrement after Christmas? And what can you do on January 6th in Italy to celebrate (or just partake) in Epiphany? Well, free candy galore, for one! In this episode, we dive in and give you everything you need to know about Epiphany.

If you’re planning on going to Rome this year, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Palazzi under the sea, a cursed island, and the queen's bath, you can swim there and we'll tell you how. While the Roman Empire once spanned countries and coastlines, very few ruins are near the shoreline in Italy. In this episode, we delve into three locations where you can actually swim among Roman ruins (or places to have a chill beach day), while also offering a hefty dose of history.

If you liked this episode, or the podcast, we would love it if you could follow us!

As always, thank you for listening!

Don't wear a weeding ring, don't take out your phone, cover up any expensive labels. There are countless tips out there to avoid looking like a target, so is getting pickpocketed a real fear?

Likewise, what are some scams you might run into while traveling in Italy?

And is it safe to walk around at night?

In this episode, we talk about crime, safety, and everything around it.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. It's free to make an account and look through ads, but you have to pay to send a message.

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

In this episode Darcy guides us (mainly Nathaniel) on the brief history of some of Italy's more famous cocktails like the Aperol spritz, the Campari and soda, and the Negroni.

We also discuss the lack of beer culture, and the blooming cocktail culture that expands beyond the use of Campari and Aperol.

As always, thank you for listening! If you have any questions, please leave a comment (on Spotify), send us a message on Instagram (@only_a_bag), or send us a message through our website (onlyabag.com)!

Welcome back after our impromptu 6 month break! 

To get things started, we figured we should round out the last of the food episodes talking about the thing we love best: gelato. Not only do we discuss the parts of a gelato cone, we discuss things to look for when hunting for the best gelateria in any city. 

At the end, we mentioned our list of our all-time favorite gelaterie in Rome, and here it is! Some of these gelateria have multiple locations, we list the ones we visited. If you want to make it even easier, we have created a Google Maps link to our list of favorite gelaterie!

Neve di Latte -

Via Luigi Poletti, 6, 00196 Roma RM

Otaleg! -

Via di S. Cosimato, 14a, 00153 Roma RM

Fatamorgana - 

Via Roma Libera, 11, 00153 Roma RM

Gracchi - 

Via dei Gracchi, 272, 00193 Roma RM

We're headed back to Rome in July, so if there's anything you'd like us to cover, please let us know!

Thank you all so much for listening! 

For anyone who also likes to read posts, here's a link to our "Gelato" page. https://www.onlyabag.com/gelato

(For the article version, click here. And as always, we love feedback about our website!

Welcome back!

In this episode of House Sitting: Miniseries, Darcy and I discuss setting up your profile, what to include and what to leave out, and sending that first message! 

We hope you enjoy!

Nathaniel and Darcy

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!

Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link

MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)

Our website: Only A Bag

Instagram Page: Only_a_bag

Medium: @Nathanielmellor

Welcome back!

If you prefer to read our advice, you can find the article on our website!

Now that we've talked about setting up your profile for various house sitting websites, in this episode we discuss our tips on how to get your first sit!

We hope you enjoy!

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!

Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link

MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)

Our website: Only A Bag

Instagram Page: Only_a_bag

Medium: @Nathanielmellor

If you asked a friend, "In one hour, tell me everything that's important about visiting Rome," this would be pretty close to their response.

If you'd like to support the podcast, one great way to do so is to sign up for Trusted Housesitters through our affiliate link ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Not sure what house sitting is? Well, we'd love to be the ones to introduce you to the best way to travel through the articles ⁠⁠here⁠⁠, or our podcast episodes ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

Thank you all so much for listening!

What to do if you miss your train? When should you book your train trip? Where do you get bus tickets? In this episode we will answer all of those questions, talk about best practices for booking train and bus journeys, and give you to scoop on where to find help at the station; it’s not always where you think.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When looking for trains and buses our go to is Train Line*. We cross reference it with Rail Europe* to find the best deal. You can also book directly through train companies websites like TrenItalia . 

As we mention in this episode, bus tickets are often purchased from the brick-and-mortar ticket office a few days ahead of time or the day of, some bus tickets are even bought on the bus. However, for booking cross country bus journeys with carriers like Flix Bus, Marino Bus, and ITA Bus, you can use an aggregate site like Bus Bud*.

Want more? Like reading? Check out Nathaniel’s article “What to do if you miss your train in Italy” on our website! 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Welcome back for Part 3 of 3!

I hope we don't sound too tired—what began as a quick 45-minute episode ended up as a two-hour megalith!

In this episode, we discuss the culture of Naples, what those hand gestures might mean, and why Italians often say "I can't understand anyone from Naples."

If you have any questions, or anything you'd like us to make an episode on, please let us know at onlyabag.com.

After a trip filled with good pasta, great gelato, and a wealth of national treasures, what could be more natural than wanting to live here? At least, that was our thought!

In this episode, we look at four of the most common avenues for residency: jus sanguinis, work visa, student visa, and digital nomad visa. We will delve into each of these more in depth in later episodes (poll below, if you'd like to tell us which kind of episodes you prefer), but for now, he's a little bit of information to get that imagination started!

And if you'd like to get your feet wet with living in Italy, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Welcome to Only a Bag, a travel podcast!

Since this podcast will weave certain topics in and out of every episode, I thought it would make sense to give a brief overview of those topics: One bag, ethical traveling, long-term traveling, and housesitting.

I will go into more depth in the following episodes.

If you have anything you'd like to hear me talk about, please let me know!

Thanks for listening,

Nathaniel

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

If you aren't related to an Italian and can't get the jus sanguinis visa, perhaps the easiest way to live in Italy is by acquiring a student visa. Can I go to college in Italy? Can I take courses taught in English? How much does it cost? In this episode we answer all of those questions and more.

This episode is a part of our "How to Live in Italy" series where we dive into different visa options. It would mean so much to us to know if you liked this episode. Please check out our poll in the previous episode or contact us via email or through our website to tell us if you want to hear more on topics like this one, or if you prefer to hear about being a tourist and short term travel tips.

If you don't want to commit to a year-long visa, like a student visa, but want to visit Italy on a tourist visa, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠. 

Let's be honest, catching a train can be confusing, especially for those of us who aren't accustomed to public transportation. In this episode we explain the difference between Italy's two major train operators and what they offer. Plus, we answer common questions like "Do I need to validate my ticket?" and "What is validating a ticket?"

Want to support our podcast? You can use our links to book your train trip.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When we travel by train we typically book through Train Line* which is an aggregate site or directly on the train company website at TrenItalia and Italo*.

Did you miss your train while listening to this podcast? Or want to be prepared just incase? Check out Nathaniel’s article “What to do if you miss your train in Italy” on our website! 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Hello and welcome back to Episode 2!

Before we get to talking about the North, Florence specifically, we wanted to very briefly go over a few points of interest about Rome that we haven't previously mentioned. In particular, we wanted to talk about how to stay cool on those heat-wave days that send Rome past the triple digits, and which day trips are feasible (and which aren't).

In this episode, we mention a few parks:

Villa Borghese (Near Flaminio)

Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele (Near Termini)

The grounds of Palazzo Barberini (The front area of the Museum)

Giardino degli Aranci (Near the famous keyhole)

Giardino di Sant'Alessio (Also near the keyhole)

Villa Celimontana (Near the Baths of Caracalla and the Colosseum)

As always, our website is www.onlyabag.com

And we would love it if you were to follow us on Instagram @only_a_bag.

Enjoy!

Benvenuti a La Settimana Infernale, or Week of Hell, named for the intense heatwave lazily moving across southern Europe. Here's an update on what's happening in Rome, what to do if you're visiting during the anticyclone causing the heatwave, and what is an anticyclone?

"Is tap water safe to drink in Italy?", "What's the deal with tipping?", "Do they expect me to use the bidet in a public bathroom?", and perhaps most importantly, "Why does the alarm go off in a public toilet when I pull that thin cord?". In this episode we answer all that and more! We also discover how incensed Darcy is about a rage-bait Instagram video and Nathaniel's views on tipping culture.

Thanks so much for listening! You can check out articles on ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ with new articles coming out all the time.

If you liked the podcast you, please leave a review, it helps us immensely! You can contact us on our website and follow us on ⁠Bluesky⁠ and wherever you're listening to this podcast.

Hello, hello! Welcome back to Episode 3 of Season 2.

In this episode, we're talking about Florence. Specifically, we are taking about how to get there (planes, trains, and automobiles (buses)), and how to get around.

We're also offering a very brief history. Not necessarily of Florence, but of Italy as a whole, and how the local dialect of Florence ended up as Italy's national language.

In this episode, we mentioned Trainline, a way of purchasing train and bus tickets in a surprisingly easy way. Here's our affiliate link: https://trainline.tp.st/Xo3tZo7p

Of course, we'd love it if you were to check out our brand-new website onlyabag.com!

Do you sit at a table and then order, or order first and then sit at a table? What about that age-old rule of no cappuccinos after 11am? And have you ever been curious as to why Italians eat their meals in a specific order, or why they often use the excuse of "I just took a coffee" to decline eating anything else?

This episode has you covered! We cover digestion, café/bar culture, and even a few drinks you can expect to see on the menu.

If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love it if you were to leave us a rating, follow us, or subscribe. It keeps us going and we so deeply appreciate the support!

If you have any questions, you can leave us a comment on Spotify (if that's where you listen), or send us a message on Instagram @only_a_bag, or send a message through onlyabag.com.

Thank you for listening!

Welcome back!

(If you prefer to read the podcast as an article, you can find it here!)

Now that you've learned all you can about getting started with house sitting, we thought we could share our favorite house sitting websites. These might not be the best, but these are the ones we've had the most luck with, or the most pleasant interactions with homeowners through.

Like always, we hope you enjoy! 

Nathaniel and Darcy

Here are some links to the mentioned websites! If you use an affiliate link, we'll make a little money.

Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link 

Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link

MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters Australia: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)

Our website: Only A Bag

Instagram Page:  Only_a_bag

Medium: @Nathanielmellor

Can I go to Italy as a medical tourist? What if I want to get some dental work done, or visit a health clinic? In this episode, we try and explore the idea of medical tourism (visiting Italy solely for health-related needs) and what kind of basic healthcare you might have access to in Italy.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use ⁠Booking⁠* since we’re already a part of their member program, but ⁠Expedia⁠* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out ⁠Agoda⁠*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠Expedia⁠* or ⁠Booking⁠* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠.

Sandwiches, pastries, gelato, wine to-go, and what is lampredotto? We've got you covered with a list of our favorite food in Florence.

If you prefer reading, you can find our review of La Strega Nocciola, our current favorite gelateria in Florence, here!

As always, thank you for listening!

If you'd like to support us, you can do with by purchasing your next train trip through Trainline, an easy-to-use aggregate of train and bus fares. You can find our affiliate link by clicking here!

And if you're planning out which sights to see and when to go, Tiqets has you covered with tickets! This is also an affiliate link that will support Only A Bag with a small portion of Tiqets' cut.

If you'd like to follow us on Instagram, we'd love that! We can be found at only

_a_bag. Likewise, you can keep up to date with what we're doing on our website, www.onlyabag.com.

Did you know?

The Rome Jubilee is based on Jewish tradition.

The Holy Door is walled up and must be broken down so that the Pope can unlock it with a hidden key.

Your sins can be absolved (according to the Catholic church)!

In this episode we get into the history and details of the Rome Jubilee. Plus, go check out our previous episode for all of the modern-day practicalities of visiting Rome during the Jubilee, just as many fun facts but in the 21st century not the 14th. 

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

In this episode I cover things you will need before you hit the road. This isn't about packing or any gadgets, but the bare basics such as a passport, visa, vaccines, travel insurance, and more.

I hope you enjoy! 

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

In this episode, we teach you how to order coffee in Italy like a natural. Some of you might see that this is a quasi-repeat of a previous episode. Part of that is due to us learning more about the coffee culture in Italy, and part of that is due to us watching Lidia Poet on Netflix and wondering why they were drinking tea.

So in this episode we delve into the history of coffee in Italy, and teach you how to order your favorite drinks.

If you’re planning on going to Rome in 2025, we highly recommend booking your hotels (and potentially even your flights) as soon as possible. If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use Booking* since we’re already a part of their member program, but Expedia* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out Agoda*. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use Trusted Housesitters* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Lastly, if you’re already looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking Expedia* or Booking* before purchasing. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠onlyabag.com⁠ and ⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠. 

Points, Miles, Cash Back: Which is best for you? And do you really need a credit card?

We finally purchased a second microphone, so this special episode mini-series might sound a little uneven while we work ou the kinks. If it sounds especially atrocious on your headphones/phone/speakers, please let us know!

To support Only A Bag, you can sign up for one of the travel-oriented credit cards below. None of them have a yearly fee, which is one of the reasons we like them so much. (To learn more about the cards, you can either listen to the 3rd episode in this mini series, or search online for reviews about the card.) If you're not comfortable with opening a Credit Card, we encourage you not to. There is no pressure here, just some helpful tips.

Our favorite simple-to-use card: ⁠Capital One Quicksilver⁠

Our favorite for food and restaurants: ⁠Capital One Savor⁠

Our go-to for purchasing flights and lodging: ⁠Chase Freedom Unlimited⁠

All-around solid card with great cash back: ⁠Discover it⁠

As always, you can check out ⁠www.onlyabag.com⁠ for more information about traveling in Italy! 

Thanks for listening,

Darcy and Nathaniel

Welcome back to Part 2 of 3!

In this episode, we take a look at some classic Napolitano dishes—some of them might sound very familiar to you, such as pizza! Or, the ever popular, spaghetti with olive oil and garlic.

If there's anything you'd like us to cover, or any other questions you might have, please let us know! You can find us at onlyabag.com.

Does Italy really hate tourists?

Does the new €5 fee at Venice affect you? Why are people protesting against it?

What about all these new rules like no flip-flops in Cinque Terre, or no swimsuit in Sorrento?

In this special episode, we dive into all the things that people are saying (and writing) about Italy, in order to help put those fears at ease!

As always, thank you for listening!

In this episode I invited my travel partner, Darcy, to talk with me about traveling together. We discuss the pros and cons, costs, and how it's important to sometimes take some time apart.

I hop you enjoy!

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

Since ancient Roman times people have celebrated a holiday called Ferragosto. What does that mean for modern Italians and tourists? Empty cities, closed shops, and crowded beaches. We'll tell you all you need to know for your August vacation in Italy.

As always, thank you for listening! If you have any questions, send us a message on Instagram (@only_a_bag), or contact us through our website (onlyabag.com)! 

Should you really book a flight 6 months out? And when's the best time to book a hotel room? In this rambling episode, we talk about the best practices for booking a flights and hotels while also taking you on a number of [hopefully] engaging tangents.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When looking for hotels, we usually cross-reference Booking*, Expedia*, Priceline, and Agoda*. We typically book with Booking.com* because we like their “Genius” deals and it seems like they often have the best or comparable prices. 

While Booking, Expedia, and Priceline do offer flight booking we usually use Google Flights or ITA Flight Matrix (also by Google) and then book the flight directly through the carrier. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference!

You can find us at onlyabag.com and @onlyabagpodcast.

Why is Christmas celebrated on December 25th and is it because of a Roman Emperor? Did Romans take off work and celebrate the winter holidays like we do? We'll tell you all about that as well as how Christmas is celebrated in Italy today. We'll answer questions like who brings gifts to Italian children on Christmas eve and do Italians have Christmas trees?

With the Jubilee coming up we highly recommend booking hotels in Rome as soon as possible, if you're planning on visiting in 2025. If you're visiting other parts of Italy in the coming year and want to know when to book hotels and flights, check out our episode ⁠When to Book: Hotels and Flights ⁠ and even ⁠When to Book: Trains and Buses⁠.

If you’d like to help out Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links marked with an asterisk. 

For hotels, we tend to use ⁠Booking⁠* since we’re already a part of their member program, but ⁠Expedia⁠* also has a robust member program with similar prices on hotel rooms. For an aggregate that seems to offer slightly better deals across the board, we recommend checking out ⁠Agoda⁠*. 

If you're looking to book flights, we like to use the airline’s website, however, some aggregates do offer better deals, so we always recommend checking ⁠⁠Expedia⁠⁠* or ⁠⁠Booking⁠⁠* before purchasing. 

And if you’ve always loved the idea of staying in Italy for an extended period and becoming part of the culture, we can’t recommend housesitting enough. While it does often entail taking care of someone’s pet, it can also be a gateway to seeing Italy in a totally new way. We use ⁠Trusted Housesitters⁠* which has a fairly steep upfront cost (a few hundred dollars) but that’s covered with a few nights of a house sit which should never cost you money. 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find more at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and contact us via email at onlyabagpodcast@gmail.com or on Instagram at ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠. 

Hello and welcome back! In this episode we are back to talking about Florence! Headed to Florence but short on time? We've got you covered with tips on what to see in Florence, what to skip, what's free in Florence, and what's worth the price. While we mentioned in episode 3, Florence can be a day trip, an ideal trip to Florence could be 4-6 days. Enough time to see the galleries, catch a few sunsets from the rose garden at the Piazzale Michelangelo, and stroll the Ponte Vecchio.

If you want to support the podcast, and book tickets for the Uffizi, click here!

That is our affiliate link to Tiquets, a ticket-buying platform.

Likewise, if you want to go to the Galleria Academia, click here for affiliate tickets! As always, we hope you enjoy! We'd love it if you followed us on Instagram: Only_a_bag And, of course, check out our new website! www.onlyabag.com

How to convert currency, let your bank know you're traveling, and everything else you need to know before you hit the road!

We finally purchased a second microphone, so this special episode mini-series might sound a little uneven while we work out the kinks. If it sounds especially atrocious in your headphones/phone/speakers, please let us know!

To support Only A Bag, you can sign up for one of the travel-oriented credit cards below. None of them have a yearly fee, which is one of the reasons we like them so much. (To learn more about the cards, you can either listen to the 3rd episode in this mini series, or search online for reviews about the card.) If you're not comfortable with opening a Credit Card, we encourage you not to. There is no pressure here, just some helpful tips.

Our favorite simple-to-use card: Capital One Quicksilver

Our favorite for food and restaurants: Capital One Savor

Our go-to for purchasing flights and lodging: Chase Freedom Unlimited

All-around solid card with great cash back: Discover it

As always, you can check out www.onlyabag.com for more information about traveling in Italy!

Thanks for listening,

Darcy and Nathaniel

Do you love trains? Travel back in time on trains from the 1930s and 50s for family friendly day-trips at around 7-12 euros with Fondazione FS. Or travel in style (there is a dress code), in all out luxuriousness with La Dolce Vita by Orient Express or Venice Simplon Orient Express by Belmond with trips stating around 4,000 euros. In this episode we talk about it all. Let's get into it.

Want to support our podcast? You can use our links to book your train trip. 

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. By using our affiliate link to book hotels you help our podcast! We get a kickback from the company and you will not be charged extra. 

When we travel by train we typically book through ⁠Train Line*⁠ which is an aggregate site or directly on the train company website at ⁠TrenItalia⁠ and ⁠Italo*⁠.

Did you miss your train while listening to this podcast? Or want to be prepared just incase? Check out Nathaniel’s article ⁠“What to do if you miss your train in Italy”⁠ on our website! 

Thank you so much for listening! We would absolutely appreciate it if you could follow us and rate us wherever you listen; it helps the podcast grow and it makes us feel like we're making a difference! 

You can find us at ⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠@onlyabagpodcast⁠⁠. 

Possibly the greatest debate while traveling is whether or not to go alone. For some, it's an eye-opening experience, a chance to connect with themselves and learn about the person they really are without distractions. For others, it's a deeply lonely experience that reinforces how far out of their comfort zone they are.

In this episode, I discuss having a new normal, changing your perspective, and learning how to travel alone.

I hope you enjoy! 

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

Hello all, and welcome to our "Kitchen Sink" episode for Rome.

There were so many little things we wanted to mention in the last few podcasts that either didn't fit, or we weren't factually sure on. So we added them into one large podcast. A "just in case" type of thing.

Some of it is also updates to prices or practices as we've experienced them

We also have a website! www.onlyabag.com. We will post the blog version of podcasts here as well as any and all other information we think is interesting. At least if it relates to Italy. And we have an instagram! https://www.instagram.com/only_a_bag/ Or, if you want to find it yourself, @only_a_bag. 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Nathaniel and Darcy,

Thanks for listening.

—————————————————————————————————————

Things we said we'd mention in the description:

Piazza Del Popolo fountains: There are four fountains in the center and two on the edges. None of these are potable. There is another fountain near the street entrance that is potable.

Emergecy Numbers:

112 - General Europe Emergency Number

113 - Italy specific Emergency Number

115 - Firefighters and Search and Rescue

118 - Medical Emergency Number

ATAC Cards:

Kids under 10 ride free.

Tickets lengths are  100 minutes (€1.50), 24 Hours (€7), 48 Hours (€12.50), 72 Hours(€18), and 1 week (€24)

General Updates:

Gelato = More Expensive

Air Conditioning = Less Common 

Welcome back to our episode on food! We try to lay the groundwork for any trip you might take to Rome by discussing street food, food markets, groceries, the customs around food, and what to do if you have allergies.

Darcy was coming off a bit of a cold, so I did a heavy portion of the talking, sorry about that!

We hope you all enjoy!

Update July 2022: We finally have a website! It's a bit light on the content as we are writing articles as quickly as possible, but we'd love for you to check it out and send us any comments! www.onlyabag.com

(For the article version, click here.)

Hello and welcome back!

In previous episodes, you might have heard us mention "house sitting." Well, in this episode, we discuss our introduction to house sitting, as well as some of the websites we like to use. 

In the beginning of the episode, we cover some "housekeeping" items, such as our new website, Instagram page, and our new use of affiliate links which will be disclosed. We will also use non-affiliate links in the descriptions of our podcast alongside affiliate links, in case you don't trust affiliate links (we totally understand!).

Thank you all so much for listening and your continued support! We can't tell you how much it means to us.

Nathaniel and Darcy

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites! 

Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link 

Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link

MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link

(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)

Our website: Only A Bag

Instagram Page:  Only_a_bag

Medium: Nathanielmellor

Headed to the Amalfi Coast? How do you even get there? What is the Amalfi Coast? How many towns are there, and what is the difference between the Sorrentinian Coast and the Amalfi Coast?

This, and so much more is covered in today's episode!

As always, thank you all so much for listening! If you liked the episode, we would love it if you followed us wherever you listen to podcasts!

If you have any questions, you can find us at onlyabag.com.

In this episode we delve into the people using broad generalizations, what kind of transportation to expect (or not expect), why the south feels so chaotic, what's with all the 1980s apartment buildings, and did we say "witchcraft"? Why yes, we did.

If you'd like to support the podcast, one great way to do so is to sign up for Trusted Housesitters through our affiliate link ⁠here⁠. Not sure what house sitting is? Well, we'd love to be the ones to introduce you to the best way to travel through the articles ⁠here⁠, or our podcast episodes ⁠here⁠.

Thank you all so much for listening!