Cash & Card: Dealing With Money While Traveling by Susie Staff

I am happy to say that today's post has been contributed by a guest travel writer. Susie Staff asked if I would consider a piece she has written, so here it is.


Susie Staff contributed:
Some people have travelled the world, from country to country, by cruise or airplane or train; others are only just taking their first steps out of their own country, uncertain of everything on this first time in a foreign land. However, it doesn’t matter if you’re a world adventurer or travelling for the first time - everyone always worries about dealing with money in a new country. Once upon a time the best or only option was traveller’s cheques, along with all their associated costs, frustrations, and the hassle of spending time on your holiday trying to find a place to cash them (or, god forbid, losing them). International banking, debit cards, and credit cards have taken the place of traveller’s cheques in most places, but there are still reasons for travellers to worry about whether or not they’ll be able to access their funds. Some credit cards are rarely accepted in some countries or cities, cash is king in some places but not others, and there’s always the spectre of thieves to keep travellers holding tight to their wallets. Luckily, by taking a few simple steps, it’s easy to ensure you’re never short on funds while you live your dream vacation.

Navigating Exchange Rates
The first choice you have to make when it comes to travel money is deciding whether to take advantage of a low pre-trip exchange rate, or rolling the dice and choosing to take the exchange rates as they come in return for the convenience of being able to take money out only when necessary on your trip. Even the experts can be caught off guard by the confusing fluctuations of exchange rates, which can vary wildly based on small and seemingly insignificant details. However, no matter which decision you make on whether to take out money before or during your trip, you can still make sure you get the best deal for your exchange. At home, your bank may have the best deal for withdrawals in foreign tender, although larger amounts are unwieldy to travel with and may require your bank to order in your money ahead of time. Once at your destination, your choices are primarily banks or specialised exchange centres - each has its own negatives and positives, so make sure to do your research (either online or in person).
 
Official and in-house exchange rates should be clearly posted, in addition to any going fees. If your bank has a branch in the region you may be able to get a better deal there, but it depends on the branch’s relationship to your home bank. As a rule, avoid cash points unless necessary - these can have steep fees, either as a rule or due to your own bank’s fees - and airport foreign exchange booths, which often have skewed exchange rates and very high fees.
 
Credit Or Cash
It is vital to always carry enough cash on you to get safely back to your hotel if your cards are lost or stolen (preferably in a place other than where you keep your cards!). Beyond that, how much cash you need to carry on you is dependent on your destination and what you plan to do. Even in large cities many places have minimum spends for the use of credit cards, or may not accept cards at all; likewise, public transit, where available, used to depend on cash. (This has changed with the slow move towards transit cards like London’s Oyster Card.)
 
When it comes to credit cards, Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted, followed by American Express, Diners Club, and similar cards. If your card is one of these, be sure to bring another method of payment along. Furthermore, make sure ahead of time that your PIN and card are acceptable at your destination. Chipped cards are quickly becoming the standard, and four-digit PINs are the most commonly accepted varieties, but check to ensure that you’ll be able to use your card before you plan to depend on it. As always, use common sense with both cash and cards - look for modified credit and debit machines and refuse to use them, do what you can to reduce your attractiveness to thieves, cover your card while using your PIN, and don’t carry large amounts of cash on your person. With these tips, you’ll be saving plenty, and you don’t want to donate it to a thief.


Thank you Susie!

Pin It Now!

And the Real Estate Beat Goes On

In this educational journey of buying property over the Internet, there have been many twists and turns. The Realtor that Mike had referred me to was very pleasant and accommodating for about a week, but then turned. He changed personalities so fast, a schizophrenic would be impressed. Suddenly, he felt we should come live there and rent for a few years before buying anything. Standard reasoning should be clear that if you are paying rent, you are not saving money for your down payment. That aside, he totally by-passed the fact that I said we were looking for an investment until we were ready to move back to the States sometime in the future. This felt like a brush-off because it was just that. Time to move on to Istvan's referral.

I e-mailed this Realtor Larry. gave him the lowdown on what we wanted, where we were at mentally and geographically, and asked if he could/would assist. He immediately arranged for a phone call to discuss things further. We spoke, he said he could help and signed us up for e-mail alerts on properties that came in through his agencies listing services. I was feeling heard and helped. I told Larry how much money we had in cash to buy a place. There were dozens and dozens of places within our range, but he suggested we still try to pre-qualify for a mortgage so that we don't use up all of our cash. He put me in touch with a loan officer at Bank of America. B of A is my secret nemesis, but we do have our checking, savings, and money market accounts with the CA B of A and we had our CA mortgage through them, making this a logical way to go.

The officer Larry referred us to, Peter, is a Platinum Member of B of A's corp of loan officers, the top 5% of the entire corporation. Shiny objects distract me and gain my attention, so Platinum was shiny enough to get me excited about working with Peter. After e-mailing Peter, he responded within a couple of hours. He immediately brushed me off, misreading my e-mail thinking we had no US income at all. Trying to keep my B of A contempt under control, I politely wrote back pointing out the error of his reading. Now understand, we only want a mortgage up to $30,000. It is not like we want to finance 75% of a property. We are just looking for a bit of cushion in case a really hot property comes along that is over our cash threshold. 

First Peter did not know if he could underwrite a loan for Americans living abroad. This took a couple of days and he found he could if we had sufficient US income. Well, I have no US income and our foreign income is not acceptable for US banking standards. Then we found out that the rules for giving loans to US citizens who are living abroad has changed in September 2009, not in our favor, of course. 

After Peter did much investigating, I had to scan and send off Ron's last two tax returns and copies of his 1099s for his retirement and Social Security as well as the evaporating pension fund. I included copies of our B of A bank statements, because I thought they were pretty damned impressive, but obviously not so. Peter wrote back stating that he could not run my credit report without any US income making it totally dependent on Ron. Now here is the glitch. Ron needs to have three open lines of credit to fully qualify. The problem here is that before we left the States, I paid off all of our credit cards and cut up most of them to avoid having debt. Ron still has a B of A Mastercard that he has not used in years and a Diners Club card. Ron's two cards are not enough according to Peter. After some pushing, he agreed to run a credit check anyway. We had a mortgage with B of A up until just five years ago. Ron had his truck loan through B of A. This idea that you have to be in hock up to your neck in order to borrow money is why our economy is in the shape it is in. 

We are waiting for the verdict, but it is not going to ruin my day either way. I can go either way. A mortgage will help Ron's Federal taxes, but being able to pay cash for a place and not having any big debt is are dream come true also.

Pin It Now!

Boxing Day, Where is My Box?

Happy Boxing Day!

This is our last day with Anwar and the last of the safaris for a little over a week. Last night I overindulged with the spinach on the buffet. Spinach  and pumpkin will always get me for second helpings, but this is not a good thing. Spinach treats me the same way as eating two bowls of stewed prunes does others. I am paying for it this morning, but knowing I made trouble for myself, I set the alarm for an hour earlier than need be.

This will be a short safari drive in Lake Manyara Reserve, because we have to catch a flight to Zanzibar at 2pm. They have the whole assortment of animals in this reserve, but almost immediately, we came across a bull elephant just lazily strolling down the road. Anwar had to stop as the animals have the right of way. He was explaining to us that one time he was caught blocking an animals thoroughfare and was fined $200 general fine and an additional fine of $5o for each person in the jeep.

As the elephant walked by us within petting distance, I just wanted to reach out and cuddle him. When I started cooing at him, Anwar shut me up explaining that could agitate the bull into doing something destructive to the car. Okay, cute, but dangerous still. I get it. There ia a large hippo pond with numerous hippos; two started fighting, but it happened and ended so fast, I could not get it on camera. We were only able to stand at a railing to view them, which was fine, we had seen a number of hippos. This reserve is know for its bird varieties. We saw numerous birds we had not seen before. Baboons ran rampant and should try practiciing birth control. There were more of them than I had ever seen anywhere. Some were doing the nasty on the road, while others were doing the nasty to themselves on the road or on the side of it. Oh, tourists, let's put on our show.

The hotel packed us a picnic lunch, surprising since we checked out long before a normal lunchtime. We had a 2 hour drive to the Arusha airport for our TanzAir flight to Zanzibar. Being the travelers we are, we thought we should be there 2 hours ahead of time for security and all that hubbub, but when we arrived at 12:15, we found the check-in did not begin until 1:00pm. Anwar's boss showed up with our tickets. He received so many kudos on Anwar's performance, he grinned from ear to ear. Anwar told us over lunch, he did not work at all in November. Promising to do our best to send clients his way, we gave him his tip and said good-bye. Living only 20 minutes away, he was going to spend the rest of the day having Christmas with his family and neighbors, though he is Muslim. His wife was a Christian, but converted to Muslim along with his three kids.

At an airport this small, it is a comedy act, but actually they are well organized. All flights on all of the airlines check in at one counter with one man doing the check-in and one weighing and labeling the luggage. Although there was a horde of people, we checked in and received boarding passes relatively quickly. Next was move to the  loading area, where everyone is allowed, those flying and those saying good-bye or hello to an incoming flight.

Without warning, we had a downpour. Being we were flying on a 30 seat Cessna, we had to wait out the rain. This turned out to be a good thing. I had to acquaint myself with the men's room three times before we finally boarded. I kept thinking as long as they have my luggage, they will not leave without me, but in reality, the plane is so small, they could have dumped my luggage in a heartbeat. There were no seat assignments, just grab a seat filling up the front first. Being 2nd and 3rd, we sat right behing the pilots and could have given them back massages along the way. However, it was so hot in the plane for this hour and twenty-minute flight, we fell asleep.

At the Zanzibar "International" Airport, hardly a bite bigger than the one we left, the luggage was off-loaded by hand onto a rack, not a conveyor belt. Everyone had told us that finding an ATM machine in Tanzania was going to be difficult, but while on the safari, we had all meals included, so had no need for cash. Now, it was an issue and the airport we left behind had no ATM machine. Fortunately, the Zanzibar airport had a row of money changers, so we converted euros to get by, especially for the taxi ride to the hotel. Warned to use the authorized taxis regardless of offers by others, we did and had a set rate of 13,000 T shillings. When the driver pulled up next to a mosque and said this was as far as he could go, we were nervous, but he continued that the roads to the hotel were too narrow for cars. Instead, he walked us to the hotel, 236 Hurumzi.

What an amazing hotel it is, called 236 Hurumzi, the address where it sits. Originally, the building was built by the Omani Arabs. The front section was built by Tharia Tiipto who was principal financial advisor to Sultan Bargash. Tipton also served as Head of Customs. In 1863, when the slave trade was officially ended, the British made it a law that all slaves were to be freed. Those who had made investments in their slaves refused to relinquish the money spent, so the British  government reimbursed them for their losses. It was in this building that these transactions were handled. Hurumzi is derived from the Swahili Uhuru-mzee which means "Free the men". Tom Green, an American from Kansas, bought the first property and restored it. Now including the properties at 236, there is also 240, 234, and 235 creating 24 spacious and luxurious rooms. All rooms are decorated in a mixture of Persian, Indian, and Arab elements. As he restored each part, locals offered to sell him bits and pieces from destroyed buildings. It is truly unique. Our tub is the size of a wading pool. All of the furniture throughout the hotel is antique.

All of this goodness is not without a down side. The island of Zanzibar receives its electricity from the mainland. On December 10th, the government decided to refurbish the underwater cable. In light of this, there has not been any electricity since December 10th. The hotel has a tremendously large generator that runs 18 hours a day. However, smaller businesses and restaurants who are not as fortunate can only stay open if they have their own generator or during daylight hours for stores. Commerce aside, the average citizen has no electricity, no running water as the pumps are electric, so they are stuck. The hotel has its own wells, so water is not an issue here.

So, we finally are settled into our room by 4:30 and want to explore, but first we want to put our credit cards, the computer, and other cash in the room's safe. We follow the instructions, but it does not work. Multiple attempts later, we call downstairs for aid. A young man comes up with a bit of a smirk like he is going to solve our problems. He lost his smirk mighty quickly. He could not get it to work either. Believing that if he went for the printed instructions, it would help, but when he returned with them in hand, it was useless. Finally, they decided that the battery needed replacing, but the manager would not be back until 7pm. Wifi is supposed to be available, but I could not connect. When I asked reception, she told me to use the lobby and gave me the password. It did not work. We tried the password every which way, but no deal. She finally suggested I go upstairs to the office, where a password is not needed. It worked, but then I had to sort through 657 e-mails to get rid of the spam while uploading my little YouTube videos to include in earlier postings.

By this time, it was 8:00, they had just finished replacing the batteries in the safe, it worked again, and we were ready to go out and explore. Problem...the city had no electricity, so all of the alleys and byways were black as a witches stereotypical cat, so we couuld not see a thing. Next door to the hotel is a cafe that is part of the hotel, so we ate there, came back and went to bed.

Pin It Now!

Counting Cash

How do you count your cash? My pile of cash is so small, I barely need to count it at all. However, this is an interesting thought and I will pay more attention when we travel.

Pin It Now!

Yesterday and Today

I received e-mails yesterday from students who did not intend to return to Budapest yesterday for fear of the news on TV. We stayed in all day to avoid problems. Today, half of my classes were missing in action or lack thereof. On a different, but interesting note, I just read today that the Hungarian government is doing away with the 1 and 2 forint coins as of March 2008. Anyone harboring a bag of those coins can bring them to the National bank for redemption, but to save time you should count them yourself. There is a going to be a long line at the one counting machine. This will have a minor impact on exchange rates too.

Pin It Now!

Hello Paul Roberts

Hello Paul Roberts,

This comment came through: “Wonderful story, you might look at using PayPal to transfer the money to the school bank account.” Thanks Paul! For a wild moment after reading your comment, I had a long ‘DUH!!’ moment and was ready to give myself a swift kick for not thinking about this. BUT, before I did something self-abusive, my memory loss was reverted. I have a PayPal account; however, gosh darn them, they will not send money to Hungary. Hungary is not in the Euro zone yet and I guess PayPal does not want to muddle around with Forints.

Pin It Now!

Tossing Money to the Wind

A Hungarian benefactor living in the US gave our department at the university a check for $2,000. An American check here is worthless. You cannot cash it for less than $60.00 in fees and it takes up to six months. The faculty on the other hand was all salivating at the prospect of spending it. The list included a projector for PowerPoint presentations, an all-in-one fax/copier/scanner, and the list went on. This demanded a faculty meeting to decide how to spend this worthless piece of paper and how to cash it.

While sitting in the meeting fairly disinterested since none of my suggestions were receiving any attention, when it came around to how to cash the check, I felt six pairs of eyes burning into my face. Well here is an idea, we will give it to Ryan and he can deposit it in his US bank account in CA and then give us the money. Oh, boy! Did I NOT like that idea. But, I had them mail the check certified to a friend in CA who deposited into my account. Then the next issue was how to get it back. The options were to take it out in $400.00 increments, my daily ATM allowance from the bank with a $5.00 charge for each plus their ‘we can screw you’ currency conversion charge of 10%. Option two was more fiscally sound. I could shop for what they wanted, pay by credit card and then pay off my credit card immediately with the money in the account. They wisely chose option two for ¾ of the money.

However, the patron gave them yet another check for another $2,000. My nightmare all over again, but this time they wanted it in cash. Yikes! It seemed like a brainstorm to get a cash advance from the ATM on a credit card. I took out the max equivalent of $1,000.00 and shoved it into a pocket in my wallet. I would do this in two installments; after all, they were dependent on my generosity to get the cash either way. They would just have to wait for the cash sequel.

So I have this thick wad of Hungarian forint bills stuffed in my wallet and I am heading to the metro. This was one of those days when the ticket inspectors were checking tickets before you could attempt to get on the escalator to the trains. They mob up there like defensive guards at a sporting event. Traffic is slowed to a snail’s pace and everyone is suddenly in a hurry even if they were not five minutes before. Not being concerned, having my annual pass, I open my wallet to display it as I go gliding by onto the moving stairway. I am bumped in the back by the next anxious passenger throwing me forward as I am trying to put my wallet back in my backpack. That does not happen, though. The wallet goes flying into the air, gravity and airflow of the escalator tunnel pulling it open and forint bills go flying through the air like confetti at a wedding. A thousand dollars of forints are traveling faster than I am and in all directions. People going down are angry and disappointed that those on their way up have the catcher’s advantage and the best escape. I immediately visualize wrestling Hungarians to the ground or getting a second job to recoup this money.

When I finally reach the lower level, my reverie comes to an end, I loosen the tight grip on my wallet and put it snuggly into my backpack thinking of what could have been.

Pin It Now!

Re-Entry Mode

Last night was not a good night’s sleep. It sounded like someone was tapping a nail into the wall on the other side of my bed headboard. That woke me continually, but when I did get to sleep, I dreamed of students not turning in their papers on time. Ron calls this my re-entering stage; this is the time when I know it is getting close to going back to the routine of home again. There will be papers to read and correct and a professional article to write, but thankfully, I will still be off from school until the 19^th of April.

Hearing the alarm at 9:30 am was not a pleasant sound, but I got up anyway. I could hear my new neighbor in the shower, so I did my preliminaries in the room until I heard him go back to his room. While I was waiting, I uploaded yet again, the pictures I took yesterday. I did it last night only to realize 1 ½ hours later, that I uploaded the 239 pictures without the captions. I deleted the album and started it again.

My new neighbor and I went to breakfast almost simultaneously, but did not meet until we were seated in the breakfast room and gave our room numbers again to the multitasking clerk. Retrospectively, I cannot remember his name, but he is from Costa Rica, works for Dole bananas as an accountant and has a business trip to London each year. He extends it to come to Amsterdam and some other cities before heading back. We talked all during breakfast and then he was off to an exhibit at a museum and I had intended to go to the Indonesian exhibit at the New Church.

My transportation pass expired at 11:15 today and I left the hotel at 11:00. By rights, I could have taken the tram, but the air was cool, clear, and fresh, so I thought the walk would be therapeutic for my aching legs that were abused yesterday. It was a relaxed pace as the path chosen was not the most frequented by the mobs of tourists. It is the one with the least number of shops on the way.

In my mind, the figure of four Euros for admission to the Indonesian exhibit happened to stick. As I was handing a 20 Euro bill to the cashier, she was just finishing the words “10 Euros, please”. Opps! Did I really want to see this exhibit 10 Euros worth? Not really! I could barely find Indonesia on a map if I had to do it under pressure, why did I really care? As this mental tennis match was happening, I already had my change and ticket in hand. Too inhibited to say, “Sorry, I just realized that I did not care that much about Indonesia that much, can I have a refund”, I went in anyway. What was option B? Well, I could walk the same streets that I have covered six times already to the point on knowing each manhole cover in a five mile radius or I could spend some time broadening my mind. The decision of whether or not it was worth the money came tumbling down to a final verdict when I asked if pictures were allowed. I was told that they were not. Well if I cannot take photos, then why am I here? You might as well tie my hands behind my back and then tell me to make a speech.

After two hours of roaming around the exhibits and watching a 14 minute movie, I felt justified in leaving. There was one spectacular sculpture from the 13^th century of a female deity. The detail was exquisite. This validated the expense. Sculpture has always been my favorite form of art, but at the moment, I am reading The Agony and the Ecstasy, so I am fine tuned to appreciating it.

Okay, Mr. Intellectual, what do you do now? Your transportation pass has expired, it is not worth 6.30 Euro for a 24 hour pass and you cannot make sense of the stripkaart, so what do you do now? It looks like you do what you have been doing all along, you walk. A latte sounded really appetizing and there are two places I knew would not disappoint me. One was around the corner from the hotel, so I headed back down to the one with the rainbow coffee canisters. It was a long walk with sore legs, so I needed to fortify myself halfway with two muesli cookies. At the coffee shop, I was able to get a seat right under the lilies that had photographed a couple of days ago. Again, with the slow wilting of the flowers, their changed personalities called for being photographed once again. While the camera was at hand, I was able to capture a baby with a humorous hat as mom was getting her off of the bike. I wanted to get a secret shot of the woman sitting across from me, but she shifted and spoiled the mood or my mood; I am not sure which.

It is at least two miles back to the hotel from this coffee shop. I tried walking in a way I had never done before to see some new sights, but the glitch in that plan is that there are not always bridges to get over the canals where you need them. That plan was not as fruitful as I had intended, but I did come across a gay bookstore that I have gone to back in 1984. At this point, I do need to say that coffee shop is not a euphemism for anything more than a caffeine stop. Smoking weeds give me a headache and set my sinuses off, so I do avoid those. The bookstore as well is not euphemistic for a porn store. This is a legitimate bookstore that sells books, magazines, and gay themed movies. I could not believe that they were selling new copies of novels I had read in the 70s. Who would have believed John Reichy’s novels would still be around today and in new editions besides? It was a real time warp experience.

As I was walking, I was debating the pros and cons of traveling alone. This occurred to me because after spending the last 12 ½ years in a relationship, it is rare that I travel solo. The only other times that I have were either for educational reasons or to see my nephews, but never strictly for a vacation.

Pro – You can eat wherever you want without anyone saying “I don’t feel like that tonight.”

Con – You have to decide on your own what you don’t feel like eating tonight.

Pro – There are no time constraints. You can get up and go when you wish.

Con – There is no one to push you out of the hotel door.

Pro – You can spend as much time as you want in a store, a museum, or a coffee shop.

Con – You can spend too much time in a store, a museum, or a coffee shop.

Pro – You can walk as much as you want and not have to worry about anyone else’s needs.

Con – You don’t have someone with better sense then you do who will say it is time to take a tram now.

Pro – You can sit at dinner and ignore everyone else if you choose to.

Con – You are sitting alone at dinner being ignored by everyone since they choose to.

I know there are many who travel alone and love it. I have never been one of them. When I have traveled alone in the past, it was only because I could not get anyone to go with me. That was never a deterrent for me to go somewhere. I would rather go it alone than not go at all.

The chill in the air was turning frosty, so going back to the hotel did not seem like a bad idea at that point. As I ventured over well worn paths, I look another look at this lock and realized there is a bagel shop next door. Locks and Bagels is the name of this photo. I cracked up.

It took an hour or so to blog yesterday’s ventures. It took six edits to get the font correct and I am not sure yet that it is, but working on a laptop with a touchpad, my fingers are getting calloused. Placing pictures in is a major hassle. Each picture goes to the top regardless of where you try placing it and then needs to be dragged into place. This is especially difficult with the small screen of a laptop, so I will improve them when I get home and am working with a swivel screen monitor and a mouse.

For dinner, I went to the falafel place that Ron and I went to often at the end of the flower market. It is a bargain for 3.50 Euros. Feeling gluttonous, I made my last trip to the French fry stand for my last sate sauce fix. On the way home, the air was frigid. I told the desk clerk that if it were to rain now, it would be snow. When does spring come to this country? Has the Spring Fairy passed them over for being bad? The radiator is cranked on high in my room.

The plan for tomorrow it to go to breakfast late with my bags in hand since check-out time is 11:00. My flight is not until 4:30, but I will most likely leave after a leisurely breakfast and then find the Diners Club lounge to spend the extra time in.

Pin It Now!