Having discussed my money strategy last post I realised that I had left the topic only half covered. Here's the other half.
Dispersing my cash and cards to different hiding places is only my first level of DR. In fact my strategy is based on defence in depth. Before I go into detail on that, let's lay out some scenarios and decide what I need to be prepared for and what I can do to prepare for it. I'll deal with worst cases first because what works for a worst case will generally answer lesser disasters as well.
First, the two worst-case health scenarios.
Scenario 1: Death.
Mitigation: Nothing will help me here — I'm dead! However, I have enough funds at home to cover the cost of burying me where I die (no need to ship me home) and to settle my estate.
Scenario 2: Serious illness or injury.
Mitigation: Flight home. Probably financially wiped out by it but that's nothing new and money is probably the least of my worries.
Lesser health scenarios not sufficient to require cancelling my trip merely require time and/or money and can be dealt with if or as they arise.
Now for worst case scenarios other than health.
Scenario 3: Drugged, robbed, stabbed, beaten and left naked in the middle of the road with nothing.
Mitigation: Borrow some clothes. Get medical help. Go to nearest NZ Consulate or Embassy (Australian or British if no NZ one available). Use internet to retrieve cached DR information. Cancel all my cards and request that new ones be sent to me care of the Consulate. Survive somehow until they arrive (a week or at most two weeks), after which my money woes are over. Apply via Consulate for a replacement Passport. Replace essential gear. Then decide whether to continue the journey or whether to fly home. The lost cash and the expense of regrouping is a serious blow but probably not sufficient to cancel the trip.
Scenario 4: As for 3 but my main pack is still back in my hotel room.
Mitigation: As for 3 except that I already have spare clothes, cash and cards in my pack, and a place to hole up while replacing everything else.
Scenario 5: My pack (day pack or main pack) is stolen.
Mitigation: Cancel lost cards, write off lost cash, replace pack and contents, and continue.
Scenario 6: My Passport is stolen or destroyed.
Mitigation: Go to nearest NZ Consulate or Embassy and apply for a replacement. Stay where I am till it arrives.
Scenario 7: A country falls into disorder while I am there.
Mitigation: Contact nearest embassy or consulate for advice. Try to avoid riots and fighting. If the banking system is down, survive on cash reserves (hard currency will be in demand so I won't have trouble finding someone to exchange it — though I'll have to be wary of being robbed by them). Get out ASAP.
Scenario 8: A country I must cross falls into disorder or closes its borders.
Mitigation: Assess situation. If country is closed or too dangerous to enter, fly over it or work around it.
Scenario 9: Arrested or accosted by corrupt police.
Mitigation: Brazen it through or bribe my way out as seems appropriate.
Scenario 10: Arrested for breaking the law.
Mitigation: DON'T BREAK THE LAW! If I do somehow commit a crime, it's my own fault. Deal with it.
So much for the scenarios. Now for how the defence in depth works.
First of all, as mentioned, I don't store all my cash and cards in one place. Obviously when moving from one place to another I have to carry everything (posting stuff ahead is too risky) but I spread it between my packs and my person, as well hidden as I can contrive. Loss of a cache containing money and cards is a nuisance but not a showstopper.
The second line of defence is that my card-accessible "road money" is split between three transaction accounts (accessed by four cards) and two credit cards, none of them containing critical amounts of money. If one card or account should be compromised, the others will tide me over. As long as I have even one card, the journey can continue. If I am in a place where my cards won't work (e.g. Iran) I carry enough hard cash to last me till I reach a place where they do work, but not enough so that its loss would ruin me. Also, I generally rely on one card at a time for ATM withdrawals, so that the other accounts are less exposed to risk. The card I normally use is one of two Travelcards connected to a single account, which are designed for just this sort of operation. The other card I sometimes use is my Visa credit card, which is accepted more places than the AMEX card. The AMEX credit card is kept as a backup, but I also use it to pay for an internet account, my mobile phone, and the rent on the locker storing all my belongings back in Melbourne. That way losing my Visa card doesn't screw up all my automatic payments.
My third line of defence is that my main store of money is in a high-interest bank account that is only accessible by internet banking. I have set up periodical transfers from that account to my other accounts so that I shouldn't need to log into it very often while on the road, unless my expenses are much higher than expected. If the main account is somehow broached, Australian law limits my liability as long as I have taken reasonable precautions — which I have. Apart from this main cash account I also have a substantial number of shares, again accessible only through a separate internet login, which I can sell at need for quick cash.
Apart from all this, I carry a stock of Passport photographs and photocopies of my Passport pages and other documents, again split between a number of caches. I also send myself electronic copies (to separate internet accounts held with different organisations in case one is unavailable) and leave copies with friends. In the event that all else fails, I can start my recovery as soon as I can get to an internet connected PC with printer.
Independent travel is risky. No amount of preparation will remove all risk. The above preparations are designed to mitigate disaster should it happen. But the best defence of all is to try to travel so as to avoid the disaster happening. I have broken my experience of this down into convenient bite size chunks.
1. Don't break the law. If a country bans chewing gum, I leave all my gum at the border or just don't go there. I don't buy illegal stuff, even if it's cheap, unless the worst penalty is confiscation. I bargain hard but pay my bills, even if the bills are unfair. I don't point my camera at sensitive objects. I validate my bus and train tickets. If despite all this I still find myself in trouble — I smile and put on my best dumb tourist act. Why not? After all, since I'm trying to obey the law, if I do break it then it's because I AM a dumb tourist!
2. Don't joke or argue with Immigration and Customs. Don't scowl at them either. I smile and jump through their hoops. I cheerfully answer questions fully and honestly, though I don't volunteer information that hasn't been asked for. I open my bags wide if asked. I enthusiastically declare all my cash and goods, if I have to. I do draw a line at paying bribes, unless it's obvious that I can't outwait the corrupt official.
3. Count your change. Count your change. Count your change! Bored, low-paid men and women who work behind little windows with bars in them get very good at manipulating money and people. If someone shoves a ticket and money at you and tries to move you on, don't budge till you have counted the money and know it's right. Once you leave the counter the transaction is finished. Oh, and count out the money you give them too. Let them see you count it. Say the total out loud. It's amazing how smoothly things go when you each know the other knows how much you're handing over.
4. Avoid risky situations. If your "danger" antennae quiver, don't stop to argue — get out of there. Don't sit in on a game involving money unless you can clearly identify the sucker. If you can't see the sucker then YOU are the sucker. If you're only only foreigner playing, even if it looks like someone else is the sucker, then YOU are the sucker. In fact, best of all is not to play games involving money. If an offer is too good to be true, it isn't true. Buying diamonds or other expensive things abroad to sell at home for a profit will not be profitable. Drop-dead gorgeous girls don't schmooze fat middle-aged men out of love or lust. A new friend met in the street who tries to steer you to a nice little bar or club has his mind on your wallet, not your conversation. The roar of a crowd in the next street is a good hint that you should move away from that street, not go there to rubberneck. If a bomb goes off nearby, duck down behind something solid and wait for the second explosion before going rapidly elsewhere. Parks and dark alleys at night are cliches, but you can lose your life by walking through a cliche just as fast as anywhere else.
5. Alcohol releases rage. I am a happy drunk, but many people turn mean under the influence. Be careful around alcohol and avoid arguments with drunks. Also, remember that getting drunk means you're temporarily surrendering your alertness. Don't take your life savings out on a night on the town with you.
6. Never argue with a man who has a gun in your face or a knife at your belly. Your money or your life? What an easy choice to make! At the same time, if you accidentally drop your money and he bends down to pick it up, kneeing him in the face or kicking him in the neck will either save you some money or get you killed. Try to make the right decision.
7. You are smarter than most crooks. Think it through: if they were really smart, they could make more and easier money legally. They are dangerous to you only because they know the ground rules and because whereas you are concentrating on having a good time, they are concentrating on "having" you. Use your brain! Think ahead! Learn the ground rules. Read up on the scams and games going on in the countries you are visiting. You can anticipate most situations. Pickpockets? Don't carry a lot of money in your wallet. Bag snatchers? sling your bag over the shoulder away from the street, or carry it in front of you, with the straps wrapped around one arm. Rip-off taxi drivers? Find out reasonable fares for the distances you are going and agree a price up front, and refuse to reopen negotiations later. Muggers? Avoid that shortcut through the park. Scammers? Don't let greed overrule your brain. Fake Police? Take a really good look at that ID; stay in the open where others can see what's happening; don't let them put their hands in your pockets or get their hands on your ID or your money.
Case study. In 2007 I visited Russia. At Volgograd I turned the wrong way out of the train station and found myself crossing a bridge. A man brushed rudely past me going the other way, and as he did so, there was a meaty slap as a thick wad of US dollars bound by rubber bands "fell out" of his pocket and hit the pavement. The guy kept going. Another guy going my direction swooped with a practiced arm and scored the wad of notes almost on the rebound, concealing them in his sleeve. Then he hesitated and his eyes swivelled conspiratorially towards me.
I just laughed. "Don't even think about it," I told him, and walked on with a big grin on my face. A few metres on I passed a policeman in a suspiciously new uniform coming toward us, who looked a bit startled but said nothing.
Unfortunately for this gang of crooks, I had read up on scams in Russia. This one was normally played in Moscow, but had been around long enough to spread itself around. In the classical version, the guy who picked up the money was about to offer to split it with me. While we were divvying up the loot, the wad dropper would return and demand his money back. Behold! Some would be missing, and the scammers would join forces to extract it from me. The policeman I passed may have been innocent and genuine, but why would the scammers pull this stunt with a cop in sight and coming? In all probability the cop (who would be either a fake or corrupt) would have arrived just as things got good and loud, and would have either "arrested" me or "confiscated" all the money (including my own). No matter what course the little drama took, I would lose. The only way for me to win was not to play — so I didn't play.
Could it have been a genuine case of lost money? Come on! Even at home, how often does someone drop thick wads of money at your feet? How much less likely in Russia, a much poorer country than most Western ones? Even if the drop had been a genuine accident, how likely is it that honest men are wandering the streets with thick slabs of foreign currency stuffed carelesly in their pocket? Did I really want to risk getting tangled with the Russian Mafia? Common sense says it was a scam and the odds were I was more likely to lose money than gain it.
Case study. In 2007 in Naples, I went down to Stazione Centrale and enquired about the cost of an excursion to see the ruins at Paestum. The guy in the ticket booth was very helpful. We discussed my plans. I needed to take the train to Salerno then catch a bus to Paestum. The Unico Campagna tickets he sold me for the train were €3.20 each, and I gave him €10. He dextrously zipped the tickets and some change across to me then turned round to check the departures board for what service to board. When he turned back my hand was still outstretched, showing the sad paucity of the change. Apologetically he discovered and passed over a €2 coin that had somehow slipped to one side, just out of my line of sight. Not at all, I murmured sympathetically; I was sure it happened all the time.
He then made amends by writing my train details on a notepad — 8:22, binario 17. I was expecting the 8:28 Regionale, because I knew from interrogating a ticket machine earlier that the 8:22 was an express service that demanded reservations. But I smiled and thanked him nicely and then, just for laughs and because I had plenty of time in hand, I went down to binario 17 and showed my Unico Campagna ticket to a conductor, gesturing at the express train standing there. He shook his head. I wasn't getting on that train with that ticket! My ticket was indeed valid for Salerno but I must take the 8:28 Regionale from binario 25 — as I had expected all along.
Imagine the ghastly scene if I had boarded the express without checking my ticket's validity. I would have been forced to buy another ticket, perhaps even pay a fine! I was sure the man at the ticket window would have been most apologetic when he heard about it.
Case study. In 2002, I walked the land walls of Istanbul. At one point I walked between the inner and outer walls, but as I approached one tower where the path ran by a dark doorway, I suddenly felt unsafe. I immediately turned around and retraced my steps. The feeling of unease departed as soon as that doorway was out of sight. Was there danger hidden in that dark opening? I'll never know — but I have learnt to trust my instincts, and all my instincts were yelling at me not to approach that doorway! It may be that nothing would have happened, but my curiosity about the walls did not extend to risking my life to explore them when my hackles were up.
Case study. In 2007 I walked up the hill to the castles in Buda. At one point three guys were playing some sort of guessing game involving cards and money. I watched curiously for a moment, but felt a bit uneasy when they looked my way. I looked around, couldn't see the sucker — and walked on.
Case study. In 2007 I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing. At one point I had to push my way through a crowd to look at a throne room though a doorway. As I started to work my way out of the mob, someone pushed roughly past me into the gap I had made. The contact felt odd, and I instinctively grabbed the guy's arm to stop him leaving while I worked out what had happened. There had been a blow against my wallet (which I do not carry in my hip pocket). Now my pocket felt light. I patted it. Sure enough, my wallet was gone.
I pushed the guy against a wall. "Where is it?" I demanded. He had a heavy face, thick lipped, with a rather sullen expression — not an honest line in it! He didn't respond to my question. "Who has my wallet?" I asked the crowd, wondering if it had already been passed on. Impassive faces looked at me uncomprehendingly. No response.
I frisked him. He didn't struggle, although he had to know he'd been caught dead to rights. Eventually I found my wallet, hidden in a fold of the jacket he held beneath his arm. I held the wallet up in front of him and matched him glower for glower. Then I looked around for a policeman. Inevitably, there were none in sight. I started to drag the thief in a likely direction, but then I had second thoughts. The thief was going along too willingly. I spoke no Chinese and would be at a disadvantage when it came to explaining what was up. There would be paperwork. If the cop was crooked, I could even find the situation twisted against me! Also, the thief might have accomplices, which would explain his willingness to go along. I could get stabbed or beaten up.
I turned him loose and stepped away, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. "Bugger off." No doubt he would simply find another victim, but trying to turn him in simply wasn't worth the risk. I had my wallet back.
The cream of the joke is that after paying for entry to the Forbidden City and the refundable deposit on an audio-guide, my wallet held just 43 Yuan (less than $7) and nothing else of any value. Thin pickings for a hard-working pickpocket.
In the above examples I am the hero, triumphing over the crooks. It ain't always the case. But that, as they say, is another story. This post is long enough already.
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