Best Ways To Carry Money While Traveling

As anyone who reads my reviews or thoughts knows, I’m a big proponent of security while traveling. One of the basics is to protect the money I’m carrying. That’s why I thought a recently published USA Today article on the “Best Ways To Carry Money While Traveling” would be interesting to our readers.

My number one suggestion is to always wear a moneybelt. So many people either use them incorrectly, wear them incorrectly, or have used only one type and don’t like it. You can find an article I wrote on the subject here.

Besides the information found in these two articles, what other ways have you found to secure your belongings?

Comments

[D M]

I use a money belt around my waist, safety-pinned to the elastic waistband of my undershorts (for added security). In go my passport, any cash that won't be used that day, ATM card, credit card...all in a ziploc bag so they don't get moist. I only use cash during the day, folded with a wide rubber band around the wad, which goes in a zippered front pocket.

FYI...I only wear garments that have a zippered pocket somewhere on my front. In fact, I once had a pair of pants that I really liked and wanted to travel with, but it only had regular front pockets. So I had a tailor add a "hidden" zippered pocket within one of the pockets...pretty easy to do!

I also hide a small piece of paper with important numbers on it, under the insole of my shoe. This includes: my credit/debit card numbers and the banks' phone numbers, emergency contacts, etc., in case I somehow get robbed or mugged of my moneybelt. I also carry a $50 or $100 bill there too. I either put all the numbers backwards or use some other "code" that only I know, so that even if THAT paper gets lost/stolen, it won't be obvious what my card numbers are. I laminate it with clear packing tape on both sides so it's waterproof/sweatproof.

Now if I REALLY end up with no money belt, no cash, and no shoes...I keep an email file with the same SCRAMBLED/CODED info, in a web-based email account (i.e. yahoo, gmail), that is to be used ONLY in emergencies (i.e. not my day-to-day email account). As long as I can access the internet somehow, I'll be able to retrieve the info, to notify my bank, my emergency contact back home, the local embassy, etc.

Am I paranoid? No. But I have been the victim of online identity theft, have had email accounts hacked, and had my wallet pickpocketed while traveling before (and was left with nothing in the middle of nowhere...thank God for collect calls, Western Union, and some sympathetic fellow travelers). So I'll be a fool if it ever happens again!

[Brian]

I'm a big believer in travel clothes with multiple zip pockets. (currently Scott-E-vest) As i can't always remember where my spare money are in the 22 jacket pockets I think any pickpocket will have trouble finding it.

I also clean out as much as possible of my wallet to make it as thin as possible. Typically only part of my cash, one credit card and an old hotel door card, kept in the front zipped pocket of my pants.

[LM]

I'm not a fan of money belts at all -- or wallets. Love clothes with zippers though! As a small female, I find most money-carrying solutions bulky and uncomfortable. I keep 3 cards (two credit cards & my driver's license), and the bulk of my cash (typically in $20's) folded together and tied with a hair elastic, in a zippered pants pocket. Then I keep ~$20 in ones and fives in a normal pocket or an easy to reach spot in my backpack.

[K-eM]

The old fashioned trick of sticking money in my bra works really well. Kind of a built in money belt, just a little higher on the body. I have a cotton pocket that that I made to hang under my shirt for my passport and anything else too big for sticking in my bra.

I like the idea of a pocket pinned on the inside of my pant waistband. I may have to give that a try.

[Fun Travel]

Does anybody have had to remove them at security?

Or are they only used once at the destination?

[Frank@OBOW]

Fun Travel.....I don't understand what you mean by "are they only used once at the destination." What rae you referring to when you write "they?" (Moneybelts last for years. I recently replace one I had been using for 20 years. I replaced it with the same model, just a newer one.)

If you mean moneybelts when asking if they have to be removed at security, then, yes, if it's a full body scanner.