Broke-Ass of the Week – Food and Travel Writer David Farley
Every week we feature a different person from the community shedding a little light on their life of brokeitude. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something about the human spirit'probably not.
Wanna be a Broke-Ass of the Week? Holler at us here and we’ll send you the questionnaire.
David Farley is a food and travel writer who has written for the New York Times, The Washington Post and a bunch of other famous rags. This means that he’s traveled all over the world, eaten well, and then gotten paid to write about it. Not a bad gig. His most recent bit of notoriety has come from the publishing of his book An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oldest Town. It’s all about his time living in Italy while trying to track down the missing foreskin of Jesus. Yes really. Read below to check out his insights into brokeitude and check him out on twitter.
Name: David Farley
Age: 39
Occupation: Food and Travel Writer
What neighborhood do you live in?: Greenwich Village, New York, NY
What are you listening to these days?: Sleigh Bells, Girl Talk, Groove Armada.
Best money saving tip: Happy hour!
What do you refuse to spend money on?: Outrageously expensive tasting menus at outrageously upscale restaurants. As much as I love eating and good food, I just can’t fathom the idea of spending on one meal the equivalent of what is a month’s rent for someone in another part of the world.
Most expensive thing you’ve ever bought: a crappy little Honda in 1998 for $1,500.
How’d that feel?: There wasn’t much aftertaste to the purchase. I had to live in Los Angeles for six months after being in Prague for three years and needed a car until I moved to San Francisco.
Favorite cheap eat: Tacos in East L.A., pho in Saigon, supli in Rome.
Favorite dive bar: The International Bar in the East Village, NYC
Best deal you’ve ever gotten: I once scored a coupon that nabbed me a free box of Cap’n Crunch. Also, I live in a rent-stabilized apartment in one of the country’s most expensive neighborhoods, so every time I pay my rent, I feel like I got a good deal.
Favorite free thing to do: Eavesdrop.
If you woke up a millionaire, what’s the first thing you’d buy?: Coffee. But, really, it depends what country I’m in and what currency we’re talking about. I have woken up a multi-millionaire in Turkey (when, at the time, about two million Turkish lira equaled a dollar) and what was the first thing I bought after I woke up? Yep, coffee.
Despite not having money, do you still love your life?: As long as I have the ability to self medicate.
Do you own my book?: Nope.
Best hangover cure: Vicodin.
Are you a hipster?: Until the day my eyewear somehow becomes ironic, I’ll will remain a non-hipster.
