In Part 2 of Expert Travel Tips on How to Travel the World, Gabriel Morris shares valuable advice and tricks he has learned over his thirty-four years of traveling around the world. One important tip he highlights is the best way to access your cash while traveling. He recommends using your debit card to withdraw money from your bank account back in your home country instead of carrying large amounts of cash that can get lost or stolen. Withdrawing money from an ATM in a foreign country not only provides you with the local currency but also ensures you get the most current exchange rate.
Gabriel also emphasizes the importance of being cautious of currency exchange scams, especially with the option to do currency conversion on the ATM itself. He warns against accepting this as it often results in a significant amount being charged for no benefit. Always decline conversion and check exchange rates on websites like xe.com to ensure you are getting a fair deal.
Another useful tip he shares is to be aware of the exchange rates at different locations, such as airports, cities, or touristy areas. It’s essential to do your research and compare rates before exchanging money to avoid unnecessary fees.
Overall, Gabriel’s travel tips in Part 2 are practical and insightful, providing travelers with the knowledge to make informed decisions when it comes to accessing and exchanging money while on the road. Travelers can learn more from Gabriel’s adventures and experiences by checking out his videos and books on budget travel and adventure stories. With these expert travel tips, you can embark on your next journey with confidence and ease.
Watch the video by Gabriel Traveler
[Applause] And so when it comes to actually accessing your cash while you travel then the best way in my opinion is to use your debit card and withdraw money from your bank account back in your home country as opposed to Bringing however much cash you’re going to need for your
Trip 3,000 bucks 5,000 bucks whatever which can get lost or stolen withdrawing money from your bank account is the most secure way to access your cash and it is also really the most economical rather than having cash currency on you that you need to change into the local currency because when you
Use an ATM in a foreign country then you will get the local currency back and your bank will use the latest most Uh current exchange rate exchanging the money when it withdraws the money out of your bank account and so it is just quick and easy you just find an ATM most
ATMs these days will work with foreign ATM cards and so you’re walking down a street and walk past an ATM you can just stop get your cash Keep On Walking it takes a minute or two as opposed to dealing with a bank having to go into a
Bank and do some sort of withdrawal or do currency exchange there or finding a currency exchange office sometimes they need to see a passport it takes time and exchange rates are super variable and so that is a uh big one is looking for a reasonable exchange rate if you do need to change
Currency including maybe when you’re leaving a country and you have currency left over from that country and you want to change it into the currency of the country you’re going to next or back into your home currency so I recommend the website or the app xe.com they will show you the latest most
Current and fair exchange rates which is not you know 100% ever so that is something to keep in mind is that exchange rates are very variable and so you want to have a good handle on the exchange rates before you exchange any money so you know how much
You might be losing if it’s worth you know waiting until you find someone with a better exchange rate or if it’s only going to be a few bucks or whatever then uh you know go ahead and get it done and not waste your time you know wandering
Around a city trying to find the best exchange rates so xe.com find the exchange rate between what you have what you want to get and then just figure out how much are you losing based on the exchange rate of this particular place so when it comes to exchange rates
Around the world and in different places uh you know in a country in a city at the airport in uh the middle of a touristy City somewhere that’s more out of the way then it is just super variable and so a general rule is that airports have
Very bad exchange rates I was in London and I forget what I had left over I think that I had Saudi Arabian what do they have the real maybe and it was somewhere around a hundred bucks or so something like that and so I stopped at a uh currency exchange desk
In the London Airport and I was going to lose like 40% or something of that $100 and so I held on to it and then found some somewhere in the city with a much better exchange rate but it is not a rule that airports always have bad exchange rates sometimes you get great
Rates somewhere recently where the heck was that uh I think that it was somewhere in Asia but uh the exchange rate ended up being actually slightly better than I expected than what was on xe.com which was amazing or it was exactly equal something like that but uh
It depends a lot on the and how it is regulated as far as just their like economic system some countries are just more fair in that regard so just know the exchange rates and speaking of ATMs as I mentioned in many previous videos but it is always worth mentioning
Again watch out for the what I call a scam on the ATM machines themselves it is when the machine offers to do the currency conversion instead of of your bank so a screen will pop up and it will ask you if you want to approve the uh
Currency conversion and so it shows you the exact amount that they’re going to charge you to your bank account and so if you know the current uh conversion rates then just check that amount that they’re quoting compared to xe.com or whatever uh site you use to check rates and
Always literally always that screen will be robbing you and it could be a pretty big amount if you’re trying to withdraw 300 400 $500 then they might charge you 30 40 50 60 bucks in addition to a you know $5 or whatever ATM charge or maybe instead of the charge
But uh still it is going to be a absolute ripoff scam theft of money for no reason it gives you no no benefit whatsoever it is just them a middleman stepping in the bank that owns that ATM machine saying hey I’ll do this currency conversion for you and uh then you know
Exactly what you’re being uh deducted from your account but they’re just telling you how much money they’re stealing from you is all that they are telling you it is just a scam to rip off tourists who don’t understand currency conversion rates so the solution for dealing with that is always always
Decline conversion decline conversion they make it look like this is just you know the uh protocol just one of the steps you have to go to to accept the currency conversion but don’t decline it it then goes to the next screen and then you might be charged the fee maybe you
Know three four5 but uh it is going to be a much better deal than the currency conversion scam and there might not even be a fee at all and so just decline conversion is the same when it comes to credit cards because sometimes you will use your credit card in a restaurant or
Whatever and they will do the same thing they will offer to do the conversion and so the solution to this one is a little bit different it is to choose the local currency you’re in Romania and it asks you would you like to be charged in
Romanian Lei or US dollars so you might be inclined to say US dollars because that is more you know comfortable and familiar to you but uh that is just them trying to do the currency conversion thems themselves once again so choose local currency and then one last thing
On the money subject when it comes to credit cards then get a credit card that will rack up points you can use to pay for various traveling expenses especially flights I have the Capital One Venture Card which I got like 5 years or so ago and I’ve used it to pay
For a number of flights including some pretty expensive ones 6 700 bucks or so at one point I had like $1,500 or something in points racked up that I hadn’t spent yet and so credit cards are accepted in more and more places around the world and so that is
Something that you might want to keep in mind in general is using your card to uh pay for uh things and then racking up those points and getting that money back to some extent in order to help cover some of your travel costs so this is not
At all spons sponsored or anything but uh I use the Capital One Venture Card and it has definitely helped to bring down some of my expenses over the years all right so lastly I want to talk about the issue of airports and flying some general tips here so the most obvious
Tip is get to the airport early especially if it is an important flight that you really really don’t want to miss the more important the flight the earlier you want to get to the airport I would much rather be sitting around board in the airport for an extra hour
To then be sitting in a taxi stuck in traffic or standing in a line trying to get through security or whatever looking at my watch thinking okay I’m just about to miss this thing and miss you know 1,500 bucks in the process having to buy a new flight whatever so that’s a basic
One is just you know give yourself extra time in case there are unexpected delays on the way getting to the airport or in case there are bigger crowds or whatever at the airport once you arrive but that is not the only way you can miss a
Flight as I have experienced uh a number of times I’m pretty sure that I have never actually missed a flight because I was late that I can recall but I’ve had some very very close calls as a result of ending up at the wrong wrong airport
Or at least almost getting to the wrong airport and then realizing my mistake that’s happened I think twice and then getting there and the lines are longer than expected and here’s one that you might not necessarily think of until it happens to you which is issues finding the correct
Gate and there can be various problems that can arise when it comes to this some of them totally outside the box it’s happened to me twice now that the gate that was being uh broadcast either on the uh screen in the uh airport or on my ticket
Or what was told to me when I checked into the airport ends up being wrong and so I go to a gate and I think that I’m you know there I know where it is and I think that I have plenty of time and so I go to a you know
Restaurant nearby cuz I have an hour to kill and go get a beer or lunch or whatever and then some issue arrives it turns out you know that is the wrong gate for some reason or another and so then I’m like running across the airport
Trying to to get there just in time or there can be issues such as there’s an added security that you didn’t know about you go through security and then sometimes there’s another security and then you have this line that you didn’t expect to have to wait for or it’s a really really
Long ways to get to that gate it is a big airport and uh distances are far away and so once you actually get through security and you can now relax you think that you’ve you know got plenty of time then locate your gate and just double triple check that it is the
Right one and then once you really know that you know your gate is where it should be and there’s no extra security or whatever then you go you know relax and and uh take your time and then come back later but uh locate your gate and
Know for certain that is the right one and be alert for possible changes because that can happen they change the gate you know at the last minute or whatever and then when it comes to Flying an important tip is keep in mind that the airplanes can be cold you might
Be flying from one warm place to another warm place but the airplane might be cold if it is longer than you know an hour flight or whatever then uh come with let’s say you’re wearing sandals come with a pair of socks come with a warm hat have some sort of a jacket or
Long sleeve shirt just to be prepared for a cold flight and then one last tip that I will throw in there is to always look behind you whenever you leave somewhere you’re at the airport you’re getting out of a taxi you’re leaving a restaurant double triple check around
You before you leave I have you know lost a few things along the way or almost lost some very important things packing up my backpack thinking everything’s in there getting up and then there was something sitting right next to me or hidden behind the napkins
Or who knows what uh that you didn’t see so just uh double check when you leave a place when you leave a hotel room triple check that uh you really definitely got everything so uh that is enough for now of course I could get into some more
Uh kind of pickier more detailed type travel tips but I just wanted to give kind of a general overview of the basics uh in this video all in one place that is all for now more coming from somewhere still in California here trying to decide where I’m going next so
We shall see have a good one see You Oh
Video “Expert Travel Tips | How to Travel the World (Part 2)” was uploaded on 03/05/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by Gabriel Traveler on Gretopia