A few years ago a friend came to me to say her bestie had gotten a notification in the US mail in Italian saying she’d made some kind of driving infraction while in Italy… could I help with translation, and what should Bestie do about paying the ticket?  I figured this was some type of delayed international manhunt based on a crime caught on CCTV cameras put up for the express purpose of ticketing international visitors…. Kinda like a digital South Carolina speed trap only in Italian… and really, is Bestie gonna be renting a car and driving around in Tuscany again anytime soon? Nah, I’m thinking she’s going to Bald Head Island or New Orleans for her next vacations. 

So I said “Hey, ho, fuggedaboutit”.

Fast forward about a year and damn if I didn’t get that same notification! It seems when I rented a car in Liguria I mistakenly took my automobile on some street that was only meant for trucks (or something incomprehensible like that…). A photo was snapped, they tracked the car to Hertz (“Airt-ZAH”), who ratted me out (maybe some Euros changed hands, who knows)…

So I contacted my Italian Italian friends Davide and The Muzz (not to be confused with The Mucc) and they both said “fuggedaboutit”, though not with NJ accents.

So I did.

For an American to rent a car in Europe, you’ll need to get an International Driver’s Permit. In my case, I went to AAA with two passport photos, showed my valid NC Driver’s License, paid a fee. And Bada bing bada boom! Ready to drive a tiny car over windy cliffside roads where I don’t understand the signage!

In fact, I’m doing this again tomorrow…. And hoping the Italians haven’t put a block on my permit!