Wrist-strap your cash when you travel

by Abha Malpani on


As pick-pockets get smarter and quicker, it’s hard to avoid getting robbed when you travel unless your money is stashed in your underwear. It’s especially difficult for women as we always seem to want a purse/bag when we head out and don’t want to wear jeans — mostly just to keep money.

Which is why I was thrilled to find this wristband-wallet combo where you can hide your bills in funky punky bracelet form.

Newly introduced by Amsterdam-based accessories store – RoB – that specializes in leather and rubber products, the wallet is available in all sizes and a variety of colors and stripes.

CAUTION: The store is otherwise totally skewed towards male erotic and S&M products (so don’t freak out when you explore the homepage), but it does have some neat and offbeat items like this one. And, you can order and buy on line, so you don’t have to visit the store!

The Thai Women’s Guide to Scoring a Foreign Man

by Martha Edwards on

I love Thailand. It’s a great place to travel to and is brimming with gracious people, good food, rich history and amazing scenery. But one of the most disturbing things about Thailand is the sex trade, which is literally everywhere. Beautiful Thai women (and ladyboys) crawl over one another for the chance to ‘entertain’ fat, balding foreign men (or women!) who they believe can be their passport to a better life. It’s really heartbreaking.

A new book is coming out aimed at Thai women, which gives them step-by-step instructions on how to get — and keep — a foreign husband. The book, called “Foreign Boyfriend, Foreign Husband”, paints a romantic vision of Western men, claiming they are respectful and kind, unlike Thai men. Um, right. The point of the book seems to be this: Old, Western men might not be handsome but they’re loaded.

This is a tricky issue — on one hand, I think it’s appalling that women would be encouraged to marry for money and a passport. But at the same time, I’ve never known the desperation of poverty, and as a Canadian, I’ve always enjoyed all the benefits of a first-world passport. Is marrying for love a luxury that people in poorer countries can’t afford? Call me a romantic but I sure hope not.

Big in Japan: The Myth About Money

by Matthew Firestone on

Let’s start off by dispelling a common myth – are you ready for this?

(I know you’re not going to believe me, but just bare with me for a few moments).

Japan is not astronomically expensive. There – I said it. In fact, compared with most major cities in North America and Europe, I’d argue that it’s a bargain.

Are you still reading this? I fear that I may have already lost most of my audience with such a seemingly absurd statement, but if you’re still reading this post, let me explain.

In March of 2007, the Worldwide Cost of Living survey released by the Economist Group lists Tokyo and Osaka as the 5th and 6th most expensive cities in the world. Truth be told, this year was a marked departure from previous lists in that Tokyo and Osaka weren’t entrenched in the number one and two spots. According to experts (who know way more about economics than I do), this year’s chart topping cities of Oslo, Paris and Copenhagen were given a boost thanks to a strengthening euro and the declining dollar.

So what’s going on here? How can I, in the face of experts, still argue that Japan is a bargain? Bear with me for a few more paragraphs – I’m almost there.

The biggest expense that most Japanese contend with is the soaring price of real estate, which is made all the more absurd by the total lack of developable land. The term ‘shoebox apartment’ has a whole different meaning in Japan, where 100 sq ft is arguably a palace. Indeed, when my Japanese friends first came to the states to stay with my family at our modest – by American standards – house in suburban New Jersey, they seriously thought we were oil moguls.

Assuming you can get over the lack of space, it’s possible to live in a shared apartment in central Tokyo for only a few hundred dollars a month, which pales in comparison to the money my friends pay in New York City, London and San Francisco. Sure, a lot of the buildings in Tokyo are asylum-esque concrete monstrosities built in the 1950s and 1960s (hardly the Golden Age of architectural achievement). But, it’s possible to find some great places out here if you know where to look.

Case in point – I’m currently renting a room in a two-story traditional Japanese house just a few minutes from Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s most fashionable entertainment districts. My room has wooden floors and picture windows, and enough space to put on my writer’s cap on and hammer out this column.

(Next week I’ll go into detail about apartment hunting, and give you some tips on what to look for).

Of course, I haven’t even touched on how affordable it is to eat out in Japan, particularly if you know how to avoid the expensive spots. One of the themes of this feature column is going to be Japan’s unique (to say the least) cuisine, so we’ll return to this issue several times in the near future. And finally, with the world’s best public transportation system, and a bike-riding culture to boot, you don’t need a car to live in Japan, which is a significant savings if you’re moving here from North America.

Are you sold yet? If not, tune in next week for a posting about apartment hunting in Tokyo. And don’t worry – there will be plenty of time to delve into the full culinary spectrum of Japan!

Keeping Valuables Safe While Traveling

by Willy Volk on

You recall that recently, Justin treated us to a tutorial on how to make an underwear safe. That, of course, was an excellent tip for keeping valuables safe while traveling. However, for those of us who DON’T feel like slipping our fingers down the crotch of our pants every time we need to tip the bartender, let’s go over a few others:

  1. Carry only small amounts of cash at any time.
  2. Use the hotel’s safe.
  3. Considering making a “throw-away wallet.”
  4. Keep any briefcases, suitcases, purses, backpacks, etc., in sight when in public.
  5. If you must carry large amounts of cash, try to split the piles up, so if somebody picks one pocket, the remaining cash is safe.

Looking for other tips? Check out these travel safe resources:

Help us with your favorite tips.

Send Your Kids to Money Camps this Summer!

by Adrienne Wilson on

Instead of singing the same sing song tune on how money doesn’t grow on trees send your children packing this summer to a theme camp. Chances of the kiddies hating your guts for trading in their summer vacation at Disney World for a lesson on trading stocks at some educational, economics summer camp runs fairly high, but in the long run they’ll thank you. MSN Money runs an interesting piece on how more parents are giving traditional camps that focus on fun, swimming, and archery the boot, for camps that will sing their sing song tune for them and teach their children how to get more bang for their buck. Things like passive income, leverage, the real estate business or the stock market are topics camps like The Money Camp will cover for more than 600 kids at The Money Camp this summer at its original location in Santa Barbara, Calif. Other camp locations include Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Mexico City and North Carolina.

So what’s the cost of sending your youngin’s away to learn about needs, wants, and basic economics? According to the article The Money Camp starts at $260 a week for teh first child, but there are several other camps that will teach them all the same and for a lesser price. Millionaire Kids Camp has a two day summer program for $300 and others like the ones sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association will send 800 kids to camp courtesy of the state’s banks.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have been begging my parents to send me to a money camp. How lucky is the child that gets to go to Mexico to learn about finances? Ugh!