When you’re on vacation, you want to carry money in a way that’s both safe and useful. If you make it too difficult to access for thieves, it’ll also take you so much time and awkwardness to find your money when you have to pay for something. Here are 8 smart and efficient ways to carry money while you travel.
1. Keep Money Separated
This tip is without a doubt the most important of all the tips in this list. You should divide your cash and credit/debit cards into many different safe spots. If you carry everything in one place, you stand to lose everything in one sweep, and then it becomes really difficult to access money while in a foreign country. Instead, keep some money and a card on your person, and some more in your bag, and another cache in your room.
2. Keep Money on Your Person
Money belts and neck pouches aren’t as awkward and bulky as they used to be. You can now get a range of different storage accessories for under your clothing, including bra stashes, underwear, undershirts, and long johns with secret pockets, and more. These are great options for spending the night somewhere without a locker for valuables, but you shouldn’t use them instead of a wallet because you can’t be rummaging under your clothes for money at a shop.
3. Have Small Bills
You should have some small currency denominations that are easily available so you don’t have to pull out a big wad of cash everywhere you go. Martha Weisman, a travel writer at Academized and Australian Help, says that “when you get ready for the day in the morning, make sure you’ve got small change easily accessible and larger bills can be tucked away in a more secure part of your bag or under your clothes.”
4. Invest in Anti-Theft Bags
Some bags are better designed than others; it’s as simple as that. For example, the Destination 22L Package Backpack by Spivo feature a hidden pocket that is only accessible from the back of the bag. The secret pocket perfect for storing your passport and cash directly against your back so pickpocketers and thieves can't access it. This is a good investment that may make the difference between being robbed or not on the road.
5. Get Rid of Useless Cards
You don’t need all your usual cards when you’re traveling. Before you go, take out everything you don’t need, including your gift cards, library card, points cars, and so on. Keep just the basics – a credit card, debit card, photo ID, insurance card, and keep the photocopies and extra bank cards in a secure second location, as mentioned. Consider taking photos of your important documents like your passport and uploading them to Google Drive or somewhere else on in the cloud that you can access in case of an emergency. Overall, this will help you travel lighter and also means you have less to replace if you are the unfortunate victim of theft.
6. Be Aware of the Local Money Culture
When you’re on vacation, you want to be prepared to pay, whether it’s a cash economy or credit card-based. If you’re in a cash economy, you need to have many different bills and coins available, but in a credit card economy, you should have a compatible card, especially if you have one without foreign exchange fees. In some countries, US dollars are a secondary currency so it might be smart to carry some American money with you just in case.
7. Have a Dummy Wallet
Another great idea comes from Tammy Delaney, a lifestyle blogger at Big Assignments and Paper Fellows: “when you’re in a destination known for muggings or pickpocketing is to have a cheap dummy wallet in your bag. Put a couple of small bills in there and an expired credit card. This may confuse pickpockets to grab that instead of your real wallet.”
8. Use Alternatives
Sometimes you can bypass cash and credit altogether and use alternatives like multi-use cards for public transportation and tourist sites. This lowers your chances of losing your wallet, and means you can bring less money with you.
Travelling is fun and exciting, but you don’t want your vacation to get derailed by getting your cash stolen and being caught in a jam. By following these 8 smart money-carrying tips, you should always be able to keep traveling happily and avoid having all your money stolen.
About the author:
Ellie Coverdale is a travel blogger with Essayroo and UK Writings. She is passionate about travelling and loves to share her tips and tricks with her audience. She has travelled to over 45 countries and in her free time she is a teacher with Boom Essays.
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