So with all my traveling one thing I have learned to do before I leave is to exchange my dollars for whatever the local currency is where I am headed. I know there may be people who feel differently about this and that is okay. I merely like knowing that I have one less thing to do when I land. I have gotten to places and made the mistake of taking money out of an money machine without doing proper research. There are several companies that charge you a large fee to get money in that local currency. So my advice is to always us a machine that is attached to a bank and do your research. Most of the time you can find machine that will only charge you a small fee and the current exchange rate. When I screwed up and used the first one I found after getting off a train in Prague I was charged a fee of eighty dollars extra for no reason other than me not doing proper research. Fool me once shame on you and I will not make that mistake for a second time.

Another tip is to make sure you have enough small bills like tens and twenties because in many places at least in Europe it can be frowned upon to pay with much higher notes than what the bill is. You can often exchange some of your larger bills at banks without issue.

Another money related tip is to not have all your money in one place. When I go walking around I usually keep a small amount of money in one pocket in case I am going to find something I may want. This is helpful so you can not only pay fast, but lets be realistic pickpockets do exist and sometimes people will watch to see what is in your wallet. Always better to be safe than sorry.