Spending 101 While Traveling Overseas
If you are a USA resident, then we are pretty much used to what things cost from city to city. This article is to translate some of this thinking while you are traveling overseas. This is one topic you really don’t get to think about before hand.
Whether you are traveling for pleasure or business as I do quite occasionally, this is a good method I thought I would share to manage you spending. This is something you can do before arriving to your destination country or usually it is the first thing I do when I get to the hotel. Let’s break this down in to a process that you can do before and after arrival.
Before Departure
- Notify your Financial Institution of your Travel Plans
In these modern times, you should be able to use your mobile banking app to do this process. Almost all major banks have this capability or some way to do this that does not involve speaking to a live person. With the way Artificial Intelligence and Fraud Analysis systems work now, without notifications the transactions from the USA to all of a sudden to a non USA location would more than likely trip some alerts.
After Arrival
- Make your Travel Conversion Notepad
If I do not have time to do the research before I leave, this is usually something I do once I arrive to the hotel. Using the hotel notepad is a great way as well to remember where you are staying especially if you are in a country where English may not be the common language. Sometimes the familiar logo can be all that is needed to get a taxi to work with you.
To get the current rates, you can use one of the two methods:
- Google “USD to #country# currency”
- Search app store for “Currency Exchange”
Now I’ll get to the whole point of this post because over the 9 years I have been traveling for business it never fails to happen. Once you arrive in a destination country, you will see many different prices for almost everything you look at. You can always try to convert everything in your head on the fly ( or even worse, try to pull up the ole Currency app on your mobile with the slow internet connection ), but it usually means you look at ANY price and find yourself subconsciously always doing mental conversions. By relating the destination country’s currency to what we may know with common US denominations, it does take the load off your mind.
This also helps you spend the same as you would spend at home. For instance, if you usually go to dinner and spend around $20 for a meal, then this will help you know what translates that wherever you are.
Every little bit helps, but this little #lifehack has saved me many a times of spending only what I want.
Travel Safe!!