Chris Damitio
You must be here for something. Could it be the site's Beat content? If so, let me introduce you to a modern day Beat travelling the world in the style of Jack Kerouac. Chris Damitio has travelled the globe for pennies. He's seen what most of us only dream of, all with little to no cash. How does he do it? Well, he's crafty, darlings, and better than that, he's willing to share his knowledge in his new book,  Rough Living.  While similar to Abbey Hoffman's Steal This Book in content (locating shelter, food, etc.), Chris is much more spiritual in his focus, choosing to give rather than take, as Hoffman often suggested. He also entertains with his stories of places, people and events, making this a highly suggestible read.

The sellers describe Rough Living thusly:
"Rough Living: Tips and Tales of a Vagabond is an exciting look at the rewards and pitfalls of living the rough life.

Rough Living provides such essentials as what to carry, how to find food, shelter, provide income, get from place to place on a limited (or zero) budget, build a fire, and even how to create some of your own gear from what you find lying readily available. Also included are tasty vagabond recipes that can be made on the fire or in the kitchen.

The author chronicles his own vagabonding adventures from the Pacific Northwest through China, Laos, Thailand, Sumatra, and Hawaii.

This book is for those who have thought of seeing what lies beyond the bend or over the next hill."

Chris' bio reads like this: "Chris Damitio is a world-travelling vagrant with a penchant for gambling, drinking too much, and falling in love with beautiful women. Currently he is between homes and jobs and has happily retired with no money and all the time in the world." Allow me to add that he is a friendly, robust fellow with an unfailing hope for humanity and lust for life. If you have any questions, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you here, at his Gonzobeats Mailing List! We're an odd lot, but friendly.

Here's just a sampling of what Chris has to offer (these are not exerpts from the book, but off the cuff remarks from Chris on making it out in the world)....
FINDING WORK
1. Keep a smile on your face and try to make eye contact with everyone
2. Look for ways to meet new people
3. Be willing to shovel shit, bust driveways, or do any lousy job
4. Have conversations with strangers...that's the way to make strangers into friends...mostly be sure to ask them questions about
who they are, what they do, where they are from, they can find out about you later. It is all about who you know.
5. Ask for the job and figure out the money later...be willing to work for free if you have to for a day or two to show the person that you are serious....

Not to say that you should let yourself be screwed...cover your ass..but pretty much that is how I get work...that and I work hard all the way through so that when the job is done, they want to keep me on in whatever capacity they can...for example...fishing...

I met a guy in the parking lot, passed by, said 'Mornin' or something and then saw that he was unloading some cannisters so I asked if he needed a hand...he was a little surprised but said sure...turns out they were brine shrimp and me and my girlfriend had just started a batch of seamonkees...so I'm talking with the guy finding out about brineshrimp and I ask him if he knows any captains cause I want to fish..turns out he is a Captain and that he might need a crew...so I offer to help him out with some other srtuff and keep asking about the fishing and not asking for any cash..finally he tells me that the money won't be great and the work will be hard and that I should plan on helping him clean and outfit the boat for a few days...so I scrub and carry and do all kinds of gruntwork and then he appreciates the way I work and at that point I was in...that's when I asked for an advance and he gave it to me...locking us both into a working arrangement. Some people might say..oh yeah, Chris got lucky, but that's not the case. It was the same way I got into radio, became the manager of a hostel, got a job teaching in Indonesia, and more...it's
a method and it works...I can't gaurantee that it will work for everyone but I don't see why it wouldn't....

GETTING CASH
1. I like to buy books or pull them from free boxes and sell them to bookstores...on a good day I've made as much as $50
2. finding odd jobs at www.craigslist.com
3. Tarot readings on the street or beach
4. playing guitar on the street
5. collecting cans and recycling
6. and then there's gambling....not the best way to make money but sometimes it works out

MEALS
Making friends is really the key to eating well...I mean even if it's you buying the food and cooking it, food is always better with
company. You know? buy food at farmers markets and Chinese groceries...it's cheaper...eat lots of rice, minimize meat
consumption, avoid expensive restaurants, attend food not bombs events...help out, check out local soup kitchens...(here's a good tip for ya...got too much pride to go to a soup kitchen? volunteer to help serve soup and you still get to eat it, plus there's other perks for the kitchen help...)

Interested? I betcha you are! Click the cover for the link Chris suggests you use to buy his book, either in softback or Ebook (spare a tree, anyone?) He's not mercenary (well, maybe a little, but who isn't?), he's saving you money! It's the cheapest online source!

By the way, I make nary a cent from the sale of this book, just giving a chum a hand in PR. Would you like to help? Even a simple link to BookLocker like that above would help, or a mention here and there to book loving, money conscious friends!