General

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Divide your cash, credit cards, and traveler’s checks into multiple places, such as your backpack, money belt, and wallet.

Investigate the most appropriate way to carry money at your destination. They can be US dollars, traveler’s checks, credit card, local currency, etc.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can use your journal to keep track of your expenses by writing them down in the journal.

Money

There are many counterfeit banknotes in some parts of the world. This has led some places to prefer notes of certain years, with a certain font (for example, USD with large print), and notes in good condition. Consult what is recommended before changing your money.

It can be practical (although expensive) to obtain some of the local currency (in small denominations) before you leave.

Try to break large bills in stores and restaurants, getting small bills can be difficult. If you can’t find a place to exchange money, you can try the big hotels.

If for some reason you find yourself stranded without cash, calling mom or other family members is a good lifesaver. If there is a bank or just any store, there is a good chance that they will be able to transfer money with a money transfer agency.

Exchange some cash in your home country to have enough local currency for a day or two. Having to find a place to exchange money after a 20-hour flight is tedious, although there are usually several ATMs at airports.

Personal experience: the Komodo crisis

Try not to be stranded with no money. A friend of mine was traveling overland in Indonesia to Komodo and was constantly running low on cash hoping there were ATMs around. There were none and he was lucky to meet some people who could lend him some money.

credit card

Check the expiration date of your credit card. You don’t want it to expire in the middle of your trip. Also note that some credit cards that are primarily targeted at young people (for example, the Maestro and Electron cards) may not work at all ATMs. These cards are generally not embossed and will not work in the older manual swipe machines. Check with your card issuer to make sure.

Relying on just one credit card can be risky if you plan to use ATMs. From time to time they are swallowed for seemingly no reason. If you plan to have multiple cards with you, it might help to make sure they are on different networks, for example on Cirrus and on PLUS.

You can also get prepaid cards where you store a certain amount of money and then withdraw your prepaid amount without any credit, which can be more secure if your card is stolen.

If you have a special device or one-time codes for online banking, please bring them if you plan to bank online.

Travelers checks

Different brands are preferred in different countries, check before you go.

Keep a record of the traveler’s checks you have used (in a separate place from the checks themselves).

Make sure your signature on traveler’s checks matches the one on your passport.

Carry your record of purchase with you (separate from checks), sometimes needed to cash checks and claim reimbursement for stolen checks.

Personal experience: the Cambodian joke

I was traveling in Cambodia and tried to cash my traveler’s check. I had gotten a new passport and had the brilliant idea of ​​changing my signature. The only problem was that the signature on the checks was my old one, so they didn’t match. This made it almost impossible for me to cash my checks in Cambodia.

Personal Experience – Alice Springs ATM Adventure

On a Friday afternoon in 1997 in Alice Springs, Australia, I was running low on cash. I had $20 left and tried to withdraw cash from one of the few ATMs inside. I inserted the credit card as it is done in Sweden, with the magnetic stripe facing up. The machine swallowed the card and there I was left with only a few dollars. My hostel accepted the credit, and I found myself eating bananas, drinking tap water, and comparing pasta prices for the next five days. Quite a different diet from the steak and umbrella drink life he was used to. For FedEx to send a new card to the middle of nowhere (ie Alice Springs) it took five days.