International Travel: The Generic Overview Part I

International Travel: The Generic Overview

Budgeting: Shoot for First Class—When You Fail, You’ll Still Land in Economy

            In my personal experience, budgeting is like alchemy: A promise of being set for life that usually goes haywire somewhere among the humors of the spleen, when you end up with an emergency appendectomy that wipes out your savings.

           

But seriously, budgeting on paper and budgeting in the real world is like looking at the periodic table; gold may be one square away from lead, but there is a world of difference between the two. When you travel to foreign countries, being caught with a surplus is hands-down the way to go rather than being stranded with a deficit. I was told since I was little to always over save; better to get that tax refund than owe the government money, better to have a savings account than blow it all on Amazon’s awesome deals on nerd paraphernalia… less fun in the short-term, but in the long-term more responsible. The whole saving thing is never more important than while you’re abroad.

As exhibit A I present a trip from 2010. Two friends and I were travelling Europe hostel-hopping when we got to Amsterdam. I had been warned through my credit card company that there was massive credit card fraud in Holland—debit machines with copiers fitted in the card slots, people stealing PIN numbers, you name it. So my friends and I decided to work solely off of whatever Euros we could withdraw from the previous country.

You will never feel more cut off and exposed than when you’re counting physical money in a new country, knowing that your usual debit-card safety net has been decommissioned. Even when we knew we had enough money, we were still sitting at the hostel tallying up all our spending and projecting how much tomorrow would need.

But my friends and I survived, and in large part it was because along with saving we rounded up. Yes, another trick your parents probably tried to teach you to deal with taxes in unknown places. Well, along with my directional sense I have no head for numbers, and with taxes changing from county to county around my home its second nature to round up and add on some extra, just in case.

            When creating a budget to travel abroad, don’t just round up on unknown quantities. Round up EVERYTHING, even items that are “for sure” like fixed-price plane tickets, the Euro Rail Pass, even train fare that hasn’t changed in decades. Murphy loves a traveller, and his laws apply worldwide. Be sure that when he visits and gives you an unexpected peak-season train fare raise or black out date on your flight coupon, you can give him a friendly wave instead of cursing his existence. 

Know Your Currency Exchange

People of America! Let me show you something. This, friends, is Earth—or, Earth divided into all the many different forms of currency accepted both mutually and exclusively across the globe.

Scary, I know. But my first travelling experience was back before the European Union instituted the Euro, and my family had to switch currency every hour and a half after we hit one border or another. So really, things have become simpler from that standpoint. And the internet has made currency exchange far simpler still.

My favorite website to visit before I plan a trip is X-Rates. com, or here in a handy link: 

http://www.x-rates.com/

It shows current exchange rates, as well as a simple graph with trends matched against what currency your using and the strength of the currency your trying to get. The moment you start thinking of going abroad, check these graphs.

This time, I forgot to check my currency exchange and it ended up costing me almost 25% of what I could have gotten in return for the US dollar against the Yen. Look at the graph:

   

Average Rates

January

0.0129927 USD   (22 days average)

February

0.0127509 USD   (21 days average)

March

0.0121262 USD   (22 days average)

April

0.0122942 USD   (21 days average)

May

0.0124998 USD   (9 days average)

By that, I should have been exchanging back in March or even April. Now, I didn’t have any money to exchange back in March. But if you are planning a trip and you already have the money saved ahead of time, this graph and other graphs and predictions like it could mean the difference between staying at a four start hotel in local currency or a two star.

**Side Note**

If you’re a return traveller, like me, it may be in your best interest to hold on to any unused foreign currency after you return home. This is especially true for the Euro and the British Pound—two currencies that have historically outstripped the American dollar. That way, no matter what the exchange market when you decide to travel you already have that currency locked in at no fee to you.

My mother actually saved 18,000 yen from our last Japan trip back before the economic crash, so adding that to what I’ve had to pay has seriously helped up my Yen count—all for no added charge this time around. The icing on the cake is that when she first bought the Yen, she probably didn’t pay much more than 180 USD for18,000 Yen. Today, that same Yen would cost me 225 USD and some change.