Carrying too much cash while traveling abroad in a new and foreign country is foolish, no matter where you are. But if you insist – keep in mind that it’s easy to draw attention to yourself if you’re carrying a wad of bills, so if you must carry a decent amount of paper money with you, split up your money and store them in several safe places – like hidden areas of your bag(s), in a hidden wallet-type bag, or even in your sock if you must. Either way, don’t carry more than you are willing to lose, and yet still be able to continue traveling.
The other option is setting up an international bank account or one of the many Online High Interest Savings Accounts available – you'll have to look at what's available for yourself, depending what part of the world you’re from. These accounts can allow you to have a bit more of a safety net, with more features catered to travelers and backpackers alike, as well as (typically) less fees on ATM withdrawals and far less hoops to jump through in managing your money and owning an account like that – because some banks tend to charge monthly or yearly fees for their accounts, and some travelers accounts have much more leeway. If you happen to have a bit of bad luck finding a good opportunity for a traveler’s account, try opening a separate account with your normal bank, because if you’re scammed on this account, you won’t have all of your eggs in the same basket, as they say, you will be able to put more money in if you start to run low, and you will have a fallback option, if ever the worst were to happen.
While traveler’s checks are a thing of the past, carrying an ATM-accessible credit/debit card with you is one of the safer things you can do. Although, it’s still possible to get ripped off, if it’s stolen or if your numbers are scammed somewhere, but you are typically guaranteed a bit of security from most banks – so even if you are scammed, you will usually receive your money back (but this can take several weeks, it depends on the bank, the amount and the circumstance – perhaps check out banks like BM Savings.)
While traveler’s checks are a thing of the past, carrying an ATM-accessible credit/debit card with you is one of the safer things you can do. Although, it’s still possible to get ripped off, if it’s stolen or if your numbers are scammed somewhere, but you are typically guaranteed a bit of security from most banks – so even if you are scammed, you will usually receive your money back (but this can take several weeks, it depends on the bank, the amount and the circumstance – perhaps check out banks like BM Savings.)
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