Living la dolce vita is about to get a lot easier: Thanks to an initiative called La Settimana del Baratto—or "Barter Week" in Italy—visitors can get a free stay at any one of thousands of Italian bed and breakfasts by being willing to work for it. Literally. It's not so much a "wash the dishes" arrangement; rather, interested guests can get matched to B&B hosts looking for specific goods and services.
You start by picking a location from the website's regions menu. Once you've chosen a place to stay, you contact the owners with what you're able to offer in return—think anything from homemade marmalade or a DVD collection they can't find, to plumbing services and music lessons. (Another approach involves looking at a B&B's "wishlist" and contacting them if you have what they're looking for.)
Source: http://www.cntraveler.com/
