Traveling Beans

Survival Tips for Newbie Watson Fellows (or other travelers)

So at the request of Danielle-this blog has yet a new feature. It's survival tips for newibie world travelers. In the spirit of sharing knowledge and passing the torch-the seasoned travelers on this blog will post up thoughts, ideas, warnings, suggestions and all the other good advice that someone getting ready to travel the world should know.

Now we're not claiming to be the authority on this. But between the 8 of us, our collective knowledge should count for something. We also invite comments and suggestions from our readers (if we have any). So anyway-here we go.

Survival Tips: Financial Stuff

Now for the one year trip, it's important to have access to your money everywhere you go. It can be a real pain in the ass if you can't get a hold of your money that easy. While I was in Ghana, I had to withdraw my money in large sums at a time-trust me it was a real pain. So here are some suggestions:

-if possible, carry all three major credit cards (Amex, Visa, and Master). I would say that unless you have good credit you'll have to make sure that one of those cards is your debit/bank card. I found that Visa is the best as a bank card cause it's the most widely accepted.

-Make sure to call your bank and credit card companies and tell them where you'll be. If not they could freeze your cards when you start withdrawing or charging in another continent.

-Check to see what traveler benefits your credit cards offer. My American Express gave me extra points for booking tickets on the card, gave me limited travelers insurance, and for an extra 9 bucks I got on years worth of travel related injury insurance. It may even be worth to shop around for a card that gives you maximum benefit for travel. Your going to be spending the money anyway-might as well get something out of it later.

- Check to see what international bank is in the countries you're going. You may even have to split your fund between two banks. Personally I went with HSBC cause I found that it was everywhere I was going (except for Ghana).

-Be sure to carry a certain amount of travelers checks for those time when you may get stuck without an ATM or Bank. Normally there are forex everywhere.

Thats all I got for now. I hope the rest will join in and make some suggestions.

posted by Radio Ríos @ 2:06 PM