How to Avoid Getting Broke When Travelling Abroad

Have you ever wondered what might happen if you lose all the money you brought with you when you travel? Travellers get caught off guard when unfortunate things like this happen. Sometimes, even the most OC and prepared traveller ends up losing stuff, worse their travel funds. Others would probably fail to bring their ATMs or choose to leave their credit cards behind because of the fees that are associated with using it abroad. And when the worse thing happens, they end up regretting not considering the chance to compare credit cards to use for travel emergencies before leaving for a trip. Which is why it is important to have a backup plan on where to get your source of funds before travelling.

How to Prevent Being Flat Broke When Travelling?

Sometimes, we just have this tendency to either lose our money or spend it all and end up going penniless. So here are a few things to consider on how to avoid going broke abroad.

1. Plan your trip ahead

Whether you are travelling on a budget or not, it’s best that you create a travel itinerary before going on a trip. Research the destination and the cost of living in the area. Set a budget (e.g. $50 a day) for your daily expenses and multiply that by the number of days you’ll be travelling so you’ll get a realistic figure on how much money you need to bring for your trip.

2. Stash your cash in secret places

Split your cash. Think of it as your emergency money. Place some in your wallet, backpack, hip pack or wherever secret place you can think of. That way, when worse things happen, you’d still have access to your emergency funds.

3. Avoid being robbed

Flashing all your money to show it off to the world will likely attract thieves. Before you know it, you’ll wind up too drunk and sleeping on a sidewalk while those crooks happily run away with your money. So be on your guard all the time.

Ed getting robbed by Den at the entrance of Angkor  Wat 😆

4. Bring an ATM card or a debit card

Don’t bring a lot of cash with you. Just bring enough and once you run out of money, replenish it by using your ATM card or a debit card. Make the necessary arrangements with your bank for you to access your plastics across the globe. But be sure to safe keep them too. When your ATM runs out of money, you could always contact your folks and transfer more money into your bank account. Just make sure you leave the needed information on where and how to send you money. They can also wire you money through online money transfers.

5. Bring 1-2 credit cards

Although travellers might have concerns with fees related to using credit cards, you can find the best credit card online that offers the best rates. Just make sure you let the credit card company know where you’re headed as they have a tendency to block your card once used outside your country. They do this for your own security.

6. Find a part-time job

In case you really run out of money, you could always find a part time job to replenish your travel funds. My travel buddy worked as a host in a restaurant of a 5-star resort in Malaysia to continue his backpacking trip. There are online sites that provide information on where you can look for temporary jobs while travelling in Southeast Asia or the rest of the world. Doing this will add more to your ailing funds.

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A traveller from Canada (let’s secretly call him Vinny 😆 ), whom I met through a friend, decided to travel to the Philippines a month ago to visit Cebu and Albay. It was his first time to travel out of his homeland and though he was excited about the trip, his lack of experience in travelling outside of his comfort zone presented unpleasant surprises along the way. After getting back to the city from our trip to Kawasan Falls in Badian, he had to withdraw cash from his ATM. But because of lack of sleep, the ATM slipped away from his hand while still inside the taxi. He only realized that he must have dropped it on the taxi floor after getting out of the cab and guess what? The taxi was nowhere to be found by the time he discovered the missing card. It was a good thing that he brought a credit card with him. Although the fees associated with getting cash from the card might be too much, bringing those extra plastics became a life-saver for him. Otherwise, his vacation would have been cut short.

So when you travel for a long period of time, bringing a debit card, ATM card or a credit card might just save you the trouble when you run low on cash. Consider those simple tips mentioned on top and it’s a guarantee you won’t have to worry about going broke when travelling.