Business Travel Blog

When traveling internationally, there are a number of monetary and financial considerations you must think about. Trying to understand foreign currencies can be both confusing and frustrating to the first-time traveler, but there are a few simple ways to get a handle on the local money before you start spending.

First, you must figure out what type of currency is used in the country that you’re headed to and what it’s called. The easiest way to do this is by a Google search for “[insert country name] currency”, which should yield plenty of informative results about the currency.

You’ll want to discover what denominations are used, including amounts for bills and coins. Bear in mind that every currency system is a little different, so while you might be used to having a certain type of coin or bill available in your own currency, other currencies may not have these denominations, or may have added denominations that you aren’t used to. For instance, the Euro and many other world currencies have €1 coins, which are very handy and can be confusing at first for Americans.

Next, you’ll probably be itching to figure out how much things cost in said country and how much to pay (or not pay) for certain things, so that you don’t get ripped off. Learning what things cost on average can be a little more difficult.

Start by consulting a currency exchange calculator, such as the XE Universal Currency Converter, which will give you the going rate for your home currency against the foreign currency you’re learning about. Find out how much $1 (or your home currency) equals in the other currency to get an idea of how much you’ll receive when you exchange cash. Remember that exchange rates change daily, if not hourly, so what currencies are worth is different pretty much every day.

Once you know how much $1 is worth in X country, you’ll have a better idea about how much things might cost, though costs of living in different places do vary widely. To get a better grip on this, consult a guidebook for basic info on entry fees, hotel prices, transportation costs, and this will give you a good idea about how much you should expect to pay. Be sure to look at the publication date on the guidebook, and if it is a few years old, compare the prices with today’s exchange rates to get a better idea of current costs.

After that, there is a short period of trial and error, where you might make some mistakes in how much you pay, or you might overpay for some things. That’s okay! For first-time travelers, the point is not to get the very best deal possible – that’s the work of experienced travelers and expats with good language skills and lots of time under their belts.

Newbie travelers should concentrate on having fun and learning about the new culture and customs that they are experiencing!

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