[Noisebridge-discuss] Best strategy and currency for foreign travel..

[Gian Pablo Villamil]

Depends on where you're going. If I'm travelling within the "ATM zone"
I generally don't worry too much about cash or travellers checks.
However, I do carry cards that work on separate ATM networks, and keep
them separate. This is for several reasons: when you're off the beaten
track, sometimes one ATM network might have coverage, but not another;
redundancy in case one account/network is not working for technical
reasons; and third protection against theft.

If travelling outside the ATM zone, I usually carry a reserve in
traveller's checks, but also count on being able to access funds
electronically. This is getting much easier over time. For example,
even in remote parts of India, some businesses (usually jewelry
stores) would process cash advances for you by putting a charge on
your credit card and giving you cash. USD or Euros are slightly easier
to exchange than cash, but much riskier in case of theft or loss.

Credit card companies usually get a better exchange rate than the
dedicated moneychangers, it's a better deal for you. So counting on
credit-card based cash advance is not a bad strategy.

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 6:54 PM, Martin Bogomolni <martinbogo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Over the next year, I'm going to be traveling a lot more
> internationally than I have in a long time.   It's gotten me thinking
> about how to handle money, and what modern tech has done to how
> 'things are done.'
>
> It used to be that a person would get traveler's checks, or perhaps
> withdraw money (and incur a buy/sell loss) in the currency of the
> target country.    Today we have debit cards, credit cards, paypal,
> and access to money in all sorts of forms worldwide.
>
> So, what do you do when you travel?  What's the current "smart
> strategem" when traveling to get the best bang for the buck, and still
> travel safe and be prepared?
>
> -Martin
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