What do you need?
The three things you need to travel are: Money, Passport, Ticket.
These items are your crown jewels. Keep them in your money belt at all times. Sleep with the money belt under your pillow, or with it on. When you take a shower use a safety pin to fasten the belt to your towel. Keep your other valuables eg. camera, with you at all times, or put them in the hotel safe. If you plan to let other people, that is tourists or locals, in your room overnight make sure you put your money belt and valuables in the hotel safe before they arrive.
How do you carry them?
Money
Okay money first. Seeing as how money is the most valuable thing you will be taking with you, it is really important you protect it at all costs. My suggestion is that you take traveller’s checks, preferably American Express. Traveller’s checks come with a receipt, so if you lose them you go to the nearest office and they will refund them (unlike cash). If you are travelling with a friend, swap your receipts so that if one of you loses everything, you will still be able to get a refund. You will need a police report, but once you’ve got it you’re fine.
I like Amex because they have offices in many countries of the world. In many places like the Philippines the only place that you can rely on is American Express. On several occasions I’ve needed money to be sent to me and you can do this easily and affordably through the Amex office. When you pick up your money you can get it in either US dollars, local money or traveller’s checks.
Carrying an Amex card is also a good idea in case you happen to run out of cash and need a ticket home (something that has happened to me on more than one occasion). One exception to this is Europe where they will skin you if you attempt to use traveller’s checks. In Europe they have EuroCard or Visa.
The most widely accepted currency in the World is US Dollars. Try cashing anything else in Bali on a Sunday……no way! The most easily exchanged bill is $100. The world loves these. I’ve cashed them in the Himalayas at a shack!!! My advice would be to carry 3 of these in your money belt, just in case.
Local Money
When you arrive in a new place cash up about $50 worth of local money. Put half of it in your money belt and the rest in your pocket. That way you will have enough local cash handy and never have to reach into your money belt in public. If you are changing money with anyone other than a bank, ALWAYS count your money straight away in front of the person who has given it to you. There are a dozen ways to work a slight of hand trick and tourists are the best targets. In India, carpet shops often offer a better rate than the bank, but you have to be aware.
Passport
Before you leave home make sure your passport is valid for several years. If not apply for a new one. Keep this in your money belt at all times. Do not let other people hang onto this if you can help it.
Ticket
Your ticket should allow you flexibility with time. I once got a return ticket from London to Bombay that was good for a year. That means I could come back straight away or anytime during the year.
Round-the-World tickets are popular and an affordable way to cover a lot of turf. These tickets start at about US$1500 and are good for a year. What happens is two airlines each cover half of the globe, for example Cathay Pacific and United.
Some of these tickets insist you book the dates in advance, however some let you leave them open. You usually get get one free ‘change’ per stop. There is a basic traveller’s trail leading around the World. When this coincides with busy travel hubs the prices will come down. For example, the cheapest RTW ticket will go something like, LA – HONOLULU – FIJI – SYDNEY – BANGKOK – NEPAL – LONDON – NEW YORK – LA.
If that’s your cup of tea you’re set. Remember that you can arrange things like flying into Sydney and flying out of Perth, giving you the opportunity of discovering Aussie culture (has it been discovered yet?).
The more ‘equator hopping’ you do the more the price goes up. If you want to go LONDON – RIO – LA – ANCHORAGE – SYDNEY – BEIJING – BALI – MOSCOW – JOBURG – LONDON, then make sure daddy is paying!
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