6 hilarious ways we try and protect our money while travelling abroad


We’ve gone on enough holidays to observe how paranoid we Indians are about our money. Whether you’re sitting in a tour bus noticing a pot-bellied uncle looking around suspiciously for potential robbers or you’re clicking pictures of a monument and accidentally catch a fellow Indian tapping his pant pocket, you know exactly what they’re worried about. It’s all about the money. So over the years we’ve devised our own ‘smart plans’ of protecting that wad of cash on a holiday.

I don’t know about it’s level of effectiveness, but I can assure you about it’s ridiculousness.

  1. Stitch pockets on the inside


  2. Okay, for whatever reason if this unforeseen robber doesn’t slash your pants, which will in turn rip the inside pocket anyway, let’s talk about it’s functionality. Do you really want to be the guy putting his hand inside his pants while buying Gelato around a bunch of kids? I don’t think so.

  3. Fanny packs


  4. Alas, the style statement. I have been given some serious gyaan on the usefulness of a fanny pack. You may think it’s smart, because it’s right in front of you and no one’s going to open the zip and steal money while it’s attached to your stomach. But honestly, I don’t think a robber is going to wait to unzip your fanny pack. He’s going to slash the strap from the back and run away with it. While you’ll be left in a foreign country finding your fanny.

  5. Split it into different bags


  6. It’s always fun to see Chintu looking for 5 dollars in his backpack, Mom taking out 5 from hers and Dad pooling in his 5 dollars, all to buy a 15 dollar hat. It’s like watching family Monopoly. NOT. Putting your money in so many places is only going to inconvenience you and the people standing behind you at the cash counter.

  7. Put a number lock on your handbag


  8. We’ve all seen this, people putting number locks on their handbags to prevent anyone from getting to the goods. But imagine sitting and unlocking it each time you have to take out your phone or an Id. Also what if you forget your own password? You’ll be locked out of your own purse.

  9. Use your credit/debit card abroad because you don’t want no robbery


  10. That’s all well and good, until you see the bill/balance at home and then you’ll be at your own version of apocalypse.

  11. Only carrying traveler’s cheques


  12. So when you go souvenir shopping, you can’t really hand over a traveller’s cheque for 2 dollars, the vendor is just going to look at you as though you’ve lost your mind, which is exactly what happens when you try using traveler’s cheques everywhere you go. They’re accepted in most places but they aren’t as effective as liquid cash. Especially when you’re paying for bus tickets or postcards.

    Instead of relying on these jugaads, I prefer using Axis Bank Multi-Currency Forex Card, because of its TripAssist feature. What’s so great about it? Well, if your card/wallet/bag gets stolen all you need to do is make one call to block your card. It even gives you emergency assistance to pay your hotel bill, get return flight tickets, deliver emergency cash or even help you with your lost passport. And trust us a lot can go wrong, just like what happened to Purab Kohli in this video.