"Helpful Tips on How To Take Care
of Your Money and Documents while Backpacking in Asia"
Last updated on April 23, 2013
All information below is subject to change
Safety Precautions before departure
Someone has stolen your passport? Lost/damaged your passport?
Apart from your health, money safety is the second most important thing during your backpacking trip!
Your travel documents and money are one of the most important things you have to watch while traveling in a new country.
That's why I will guide you through safety precautions before and during your backpacking trip.
It's neither practical or fun to get robbed of all your travel savings.
... Travel savings and stuff you've worked hard for!
You might even end up returning home if you're not careful enough.
So in the spirit of being useful, let's start!
Hope you'll find this guide useful :-)
How do you make back-ups?
Example: If you're traveling with friends, make copies for them. Then exchange. That's a way of separating the original from the copy.
Here are some tips on how to use this 2nd account:
Hide some money ($100 or another amount), in case your wallet gets stolen. At least, you'll have money for a couple of nights and phone calls to your family, embassy and insurance.
Make sure you hide it at the guest house. The point is not to bring it with you. You can hide it in your backpack, or sew it into a small pocket inside your shorts or other clothing.
Just remember to take out the money before washing!
Example: If you gave your VISA code to your mom or dad pre-departure and you text them to get it, remember to delete the message in "sent messages" in case your mobile gets stolen.
Erase everything (received sms, outgoing sms, saved messages) containing passwords, social security number, account number etc.
Thieves and robbers are becoming more aware that "tourists" are carrying money belts. Many guesthouses and hotels in Asia offer safety boxes and these should be used instead of a money belt.
If you're staying at a hostel with no safety box, you should carry a money belt but leave the credit card and passport hidden somewhere in your room.
In your money belt you should carry:
Withdraw money from the ATM, enough to last a couple of days. This way, you won't need to carry the credit card the whole time.
If you leave your passport or other valuables in a hotel safe, make sure you keep it in a plastic bag and tape it. If it's sealed, you'll know if someone has tampered with it.
If you get broke during your trip, here are some options:
Don't know how to balance your budget again? Check out 36 ways of backpacking cheap guide.
If your bag gets stolen or you get robbed, here are some tips:
If you lose/damage your passport or it gets stolen:
Call your embassy and the airline immediately. If some bastard has stolen it from you, report it at the nearest police station!
Example: I met an Australian guy on Ko Phi Phi who carried his passport in the back of his pocket. On New Year's, he forgot to take it out of his pocket, before he swam into the ocean... What do you think happened to his passport..?
Find your country and click on the links for
passport/contact information.
Argentina,
Australia,
Austria,
Belgium, Brazil,
Bulgaria,
Cambodia,
Canada,
Chile,
China,
Croatia,
Denmark, Estonia,
Finland,
France,
Germany, Great Britain,
Greece, Hungary,
Iceland,
India
Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos,Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, The Netherlands, Norway, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey.
Money safety isn't all! Your passport is also important. Check out this page on how to prep your passport for travel in Asia!
Need more tips and information on money and document safety, or other travel safety issues in Asia?
This article is a taste of what you can expect in one of my eBooks called "Ticket to safe backpacking." Read more about Ticket to safe backpacking
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