I am thrilled that I just saved an extra $100 on the already-lowest price I could find for a 5 day car rental in Italy.

For a Fiat Grande Punto, an economy car just the right size for tiny Italian streets and parking spaces, I checked multiple companies and tried as many different discount codes I could find with Google. For instance, at Hertz.com I tried three different discount codes, the best deal coming from a Continental Airlines discount. The best Hertz price was $521 after adding in the optional “super coverage” insurance and converting euros to dollars. At AutoEurope.com, the exact same car is $428 including full insurance, quoted in dollars. Then I found that by calling in to AutoEurope and mentioning the SlowTravel.com discount code 99006630, I could get an additional 5% discount.

But here is the real trick… the Canadian AutoEurope.ca website shows a much lower price for the exact same car, and their full insurance includes a zero deductible! You do not have to be a Canada resident, you just have to pay in Canadian dollars. Since the Canadian dollar is practically equal to the US dollar, this is a seriously good deal.

I called AutoEurope at 1-888-223-5555, set up the rental details, gave them the Slow Travel discount number, and asked about getting the Canadian price. The total price quoted was $328, which is $100 less than the regular US price! Even if my credit card charges me a currency exchange fee, I still come out way ahead. Woo-hoo!

Five weeks may seem like a long time, but it is starting to worry me that I’ve only got five weeks left. I like to be completely prepared, with a plan for everything, even if we don’t stick to the plan. I am still writing out our itinerary. I still need to rent a car for the Italy portion, including figuring out where to drop it off on the way to Rome. I haven’t put down the deposit for our two Tuscany lodgings (because they require a fax, can’t do it online). I haven’t tested out all the road-trip electronics. I don’t know what I’m going to pack. I haven’t got comfy shoes figured out. We haven’t done our wills. Ohhh, I shouldn’t write out all the things to do, it just makes me anxious.