Carry an envelope to keep every charge slip you accrue — but before filing them away, write the date, location, and reason for the charge on them.
Your monthly statement will likely list the charge detail in the language of the country where you traveled. Having your own notes on the receipts will give you a way to reconcile to your statement and provide extra assurance that all charges were legitimate.
[Photo: Flickr | Tim Morgan]
The five happiest countries in the world have two things in common: their all pretty far north in Europe, and money generally isn’t a problem. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands top the latest list of the world’s happiest nations, due in large part, it seems, to the fact that basic needs are covered by sufficient incomes. Spain, on the other hand, ranked seventeenth of 21 European countries … it must be the relaxed lifestyle.
Gallup, which conducted the study, found that money is good for a certain kind of bliss:
“Money is an object that many or most people desire and pursue during the majority of their waking hours,” researchers wrote in the report. “It would be surprising if success at this pursuit had no influence whatsoever when people were asked to evaluate their lives.”
Denmark boasted a per-capital GDP of $36,000 last year, putting it ahead of 196 of the 227 countries for which the CIA collects data (don’t go down the conspiracy road – it’s for the agency’s “World Factbook”).
Now, monetary satisfaction only addresses how happy people are about future prospects. When it comes to day-to-day smiles, having basic social needs is much more important, which is why Gallup found that Costa Rica finished sixth:
“Costa Rica ranks really high on social and psychological prosperity,” says [Jim] Harter [chief scientist at Gallup]. “It’s probably things systemic to the society that make people over time develop better relationships, and put more value on relationships. Daily positive feelings rank really high there.”
So, there are two keys to happiness: being rich and being loved. How do you measure up?
[photo by dotbenjamin via Flickr]
The meal was delicious, and the atmosphere was divine, but then it comes time for the bill. As long as you know numbers in the native tongue, dealing with the bill should be no problemo. Perhaps you know your basic, uno, dos, tres… but try learn more numbers in the native tongue.
Parts of Italy are especially notorious for using some fast-talking to try and overcharge for even your basic bowl of penne. Make sure you have no problem asking for correct change or asserting that your meal was trece (13) euros — not treinta (30).
Pro tip: When you arrive in-country, look carefully at the money from that place. Learn what the different colors or sizes of the bills indicate. Later, when you’re feeling rushed — perhaps you’ve been drinking? — you want to feel comfortable with the cash and not throw down the equivalent of $100 when all you ordered was two beers.
Like it or not, the gold standard for international currency payment is now the Euro.
The United States Dollar is still being used, but it doesn’t hold the prestige it once did. There was a time when you could purchase goods at a great discount if you paid with hundred dollar bills. However, nowadays, merchants will increase their base price and round up figures to give you can even dollar amount. Merchants do not want $5 dollar or $10 bills. Whatever you pay will be rounded to the next $20.
So pay with local currency — or pay with Euros.
Counterpoint: Bring American dollar bills – International travel tip
When traveling abroad, get at least a small amount of foreign currency for tips and other unexpected cash expenses before leaving the airport or crossing the border. Although many countries in Europe are now using the Euro, there are still some that are not.
Imagine our panic when we drove across the border from Switzerland — where we had been using Francs — and hit a toll in Italy before we got a chance to find an ATM for Euros. Luckily, there was an option to charge our 1 Euro toll, but other countries may not have that option.
[Ed’s note: this is a great way for train conductors on cross-border trains in Africa to earn extra money. The second you cross the border, the currency of the old country is no longer valid, and the trains will only accept currency from the new country. Changing money right at the border offers very poor exchange rates. Therefore, it’s wise to try to have currency for the destination country before boarding the train.]