Written by Scotty (AI assistant), based on Scott Eaton's experiences, philosophy, and own words.

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Money Fears:

I was twenty-four years old, on the road for Alberto-Culver, working small pharmacies in small towns throughout Montana, Idaho, and Eastern Washington. Ordinary motels of the day that served the saleman & others traveling these sparse states, probably without room safes. I barely had enough cash for my traveling salesman expenses which were not reimbursed to me until a couple of weeks after I reported them. Didn’t qualify for credit cards in those days. Probably didn’t have a checking account with any cash in it.

My evenings included a brief dinner and then as a single guy and all that that implies, I hit the bars. (Boy, there's some interesting stories) My greatest fear when I left my motel room was that I might lose, misplace or have stolen the only cash I had for travel.

So I did the obvious. I hid the cash somewhere, but late that night/early next morning I awoke in a panic because I could not remember where I hid my money before I went out. Where I tucked where that I was sure it was safe and I would remember it.

I jumped out of bed and tore that room apart, searched under the mattress and pulled out the dresser drawers. I searched my car’s glove box , seats, … any ‘clever’ hiding place I could think of . Finally, mid-morning I had my epiphany and found my stash just where I put it. (I think it might have been up under the car’s dash. Not sure now.)

Boy, did that experience frighten me … being broke in the sparse lands of Montana far from my quasi-temporary base living on a mattress in the basement of another salesman’s Spokane, Washington home.

No surprise why I, at 86, remain afraid of not having ready cash, everywhere & anytime I might need it. I still suffer dreams almost every week of being somewhere, usually in a foreign country, without money. It is the lubricant of modern life.

That afternoon was the first time I thought seriously about accumulating cash and secreting it where I might need it. Not because anyone had tried to take it, but because I had nearly lost it because of my own bad memory. A hiding place you cannot reliably retrieve from is not a hiding place at all. It is a false hope , a trap. Hiding cash, I started to realize, is its own travel trade craft.

Sixty-some years and many countries on 7 continents of solo travel later, that craft is one of the practical skills I most want every solo traveler to learn. Not for dramatic reasons. For ordinary, practical, survival reasons like when credit cards stop working overseas, or Banks & Currency exchanges close on local holidays you did not know about.

My worst predicament was immediately ion my arrival at the beginning of India’s 2016 government demonetization or, IOW, elimination of India’s most common currency forms rendering them worthless paper (think US $20, $50s, & $100 in USA), and ATMs ran out of money within minutes of opening to long queues of hopeful Indians. I learned about after I landed and I could not convert my US dollars into rupees which meant I could not travel very long, or outside Delhi and a bunch of other major complications – potentially trip-ending & very expensive airline ticket exchange ($1,000).

Anecdote: Converting cash in India’s frozen economy: This anecdote is somewhere.

The trip throws curveballs, and a small stash of backup cash, hidden well and split smartly, is the simplest piece of travel insurance there is.

I don't care about the money. It's the lack of it that scares me.

Not the cash itself, but being without it when I need it. That is the whole reason my ’hidden money strategies exist: to GUARANTEE, as much as possible, that in all circumstances, enough cash is available for any contingency: pickpockets, impromptu tour options, or someone else in trouble.

My foreign travel back up cash was approximately $10,000 carefully hidden.

Here is how I did it.

Daily Money and Backup Money

I carry 3 kinds of hidden money on every trip,

1) decoy daily money,

2) money hidden on-my-body, &

3) money hidden in my luggage.

Each plays a specific & important strategic role. Local currency is hidden in different parts of my daily wardrobe.

A. Daily “Decoy” Money: A modest amount of local currency in small denominations for daily needs like my bus ticket, my entry fee, my bowl of pho, and my bottle of safe water at the market

I carry that ‘decoy’ cash in my easily accessed front pocket of my T-shirt or pants trousers for 3 reasons: 1) easy for me to access when I need it, 2) easy for me to hand to a robber, and 3) easy for pickpockets to steal. Whoa, why am I aiding robbers & pickpockets?

I have NEVER never been robbed or successfully pickpocketed, probably because pickpockets are so good I didn’t know I had been ‘picked.’ Later maybe, I just thought I had used my money or lost it & forgot which.

BUT, if I were pickpocketed & immediately knew it (the Plaza de Armas Santiago bird-poop scam), I want them to get my stash quickly so they think they were successful & run away fast. Also, if they tried to rob my money I wanted them to succeed quickly and be on their way. Why? Because I always have my back-up money on my person.

B. On-my-body hidden money. I carry a substantial amount, maybe $400-$500, in local & US currency on my person for several reasons;

1) to replace stolen money, if any, so no panic & trip easily continues on

2) emergency, like a hospital or doctor’s unplanned visit,

3) a unique opportunity like an impromptu day tour cost or an alluring somewhat costly restaurant I want to indulge.

4) ultimately to insure the trip is recoverable no matter what happens. I have the money to bail myself out of any bad circumstance.

Where is my On-my-body Cash is hidden

Cash hidden on me, is hidden in 7 places. Each one holds a portion of the total, and together they hold enough to recover from most single mishaps.

But never forget that pickpockets are often expert at their trade, just like your brain surgeon. They may have seen it all and are extremely observant & perceptive. So, what I think is clever & novel, they may already know.

Disrespect that skill at your peril.

1. My Tilley Hat: has a secret pocket in its interior top that can hold several fold currency bills.

2. Cargo shorts & trouser’s ‘crotch pockets’: Money pocket (some versions had a larger pocket for my cell phone) sewn into the INSIDE of the crotch of my cargo shorts and trousers reachable only by me only when I loosen my belt or access thru opened unzipped fly. It is the most secure spot on my body that I can still reach myself in a few seconds.

NOTE: I also had a pair of Clothing Arts pick-pocket proof shorts which had excellent security features to which I added my ‘crotch pocket’ sewn inside the crotch for money. I had also bought one of their very early heavy duty rain jackets.

3. Jackets & Vest inside money pocket: Each jacket had a money pocket sewn inside under the left arm, making it easy for me to access, but more difficult for others who might not imagine it is even there.

4. Shorts & pants belt with secret zippered compartment: In this narrow compartment I carried tightly folded $100 USD bills & a few large local currency bills. I also carried a tiny laminated card with my Credit card/Debit card info in case I needed what my memory might not recall.

5. The Rick Steves money waist belt. A flat silk pouch worn [usually worn, just when traveling or mandatory original Passport for access to certain sites] under the trousers against the skin, secured by my shorts or pants waist belt. It contains some larger denominations of local currency and a few USD $100, as well as my Passport and a couple other important documents. I have modified my own Rick Steves silk money belt to include a 2nd compartment, and a redundant closure system. If you are going to use a money belt, beware of alternate designs which may be too dangerous to use i.e. around the neck &/or visible.)

When do you wear a Money Belt?

Conventional wisdom may argue that the money belt goes on in the morning and stays on until bed … believing that wearing it constantly keeps it under your control, and thereby, safest. Perhaps some merit, but I disagree.

My money belt is a transit garment for travel days: airports, train stations, long bus rides, border crossings & on rare occasions when museums may require.

My several reasons.

1. Elastic strap system may fail: strap stretches & becomes loose over time, if you don’t frequently adjust, but, I had no breaks over 20 years of intense use.

You may install it incorrectly; Anecdote: Somehow I put on my shorts & the pouch waist strap incorrectly or loose and it later slipped down below my shorts while I was walking, which of course I noticed and re-installed correctly. Solution: Before next trip I installed two belt loops on Rick’s pouch that I could run my shorts/pant’s waist belt thru as a double-redundancy protection against my own potential mistakes. Caution: Women may need a belt under skirt or dress for same double-redundancy.

Riskier without modified 2 (more redundancy) waist belt loops

A skilled robber may see its bulge and demand it; a stolen US Passport may be worth $1000s on the black market. Common advice: never refuse a robber’s demand.

Uncomfortable when sitting to eat, city bus or lounging. Yes, must endure on long distance bus, train, or plain rides, etc.

I store my 2 luggages in my dorm without fear and no bad history, so I hide passport under my mattress ( I know. I know. I know.) or leave in hostel staff’s safe – best.

Carry 1 or 2 hard copies of Passport instead, seldom unaccepted, accepted at some national museums trying to protect against crazies.

For me, my money belt is a ‘transit garment’. The reason is friction. A money belt worn under sweaty trousers in tropical heat is not a thing I want to access in front of a vendor, and the moment of accessing it in public is the moment its value collapses.

6. The sock’s money split. Cash slid inside each sock on the ankle’s inside so possible bulge is not noticeable. divided between left and right socks on inside of ankles I put large bills on one side & small bills on the other just so I know where to easily find each. It is also very hard to spot or reach in public without others noticing.

Anecdote: In a large Asian market somewhere after having lunch at a food stall, I reached down into my sock to pull out some money. The adjacent stall’s owner saw what I did, looked at me and starting chuckling. I did too.

7. Under-shoe’s-insole stash. Under the insoles or shoe inserts of my shoes I carried 2 crisp $100 bills sealed in plastic(against foot sweat) and in the other shoe, a tiny laminated index card with my ATM PINs, & account numbers, and US embassy number, both of which sit flat under each insole. This is the ‘I lost everything else’ hidden spot. It is not for buying coffee & trinkets. It is the ‘fail-safe’ that gets me to a US consulate or a money-wire-transfer office on the worst possible day.

The principle behind these 7 “hidden places’ is straightforward: spread the risk. No single place holds everything. Each one is hidden well enough that an inattentive mistake or honest accident won’t put you at financial risk. I have written about staying visually unremarkable in Safe 2: Appearance.

Where is Cash hidden in my daypack & rolling luggage?

Backup cash in luggage survives worst scenario: stolen luggage or big emergency.

In my Osprey daypack article I describe how the $5000 was ‘hidden’ in a specially designed & constructed ‘false floor’ between two compartments.

Rolling Luggage Hidden Floor: The rolling luggage solution was unintentionally built into the manufacturer’s soft luggage design. It had a hard fabric floor that folded up into the bag when the bag was compressed or flattened. But that internal fabric bottom folded down to form a rigid floor of the bag when it was full and being rolled.

I firmly locked that floor in the down position with super wide, heavy duty, somewhat hidden velcro strips which made it very difficult to pull apart making it seem like it was actually permanently installed that way.

I kept the $5000 in a specially made black fabric envelope sealed with light velcro to match the bag’s color which, in turn, was hidden beneath the velcroed floor. This system made it difficult to access or see the hidden $5000.

Anecdote: TSA/ICE Atlanta Airport : I was at a US airport once with five thousand US dollars in crisp hundreds packed into my daypack. Routine bag inspection. I told the TSA agents the cash was in there. I helped them open the bag. They had it in their hands, full physical access, knowing exactly what they were looking for, and they could not find it. They handed it back to me, slightly embarrassed.

That is a good check on whether a hiding spot is doing its job. If a trained inspector with the $5000 literally between his fingers and still can't find it.

The hostel ‘safety’ storage routine is its own small system. Passport tucked under the sheets against the wall when I sleep. Daypack & rolling luggage in MY locker or cable-locked to the bedframe. I cover the rural and city luggage storage logic in Safe 7: In the City, In the Country.

The rule of thumb is to match the security level to the day's actual situation, not to the worst-case fantasy.

ATMs, Cards, and Cash Conversion

Hidden money only solves half of the question. The other half is how the cash gets there in the first place, and how it gets replenished.

Local cash on arrival. I buy a working amount of the destination's local currency from my Tucson bank before I fly. Two or three hundred dollars' worth, enough to get from the arrival airport to the first hostel, pay the first taxi, eat the first meal, and survive a day and get to a currency exchange or bank

If, I brought no local currency, I must get some at an airport currency exchange of which Travelex is the most prevalent. But airport exchange rates are higher than an in-town bank or currency exchange. Ask hostel staff for the least expensive local currency exchange or bank.

ATMs in country. A Visa or Mastercard debit card pulled from a bank-branded ATM in town, not a kiosk in a tourist area. ATMs at actual bank branches, in daylight, with people around, are the simplest, lowest-friction place to refill.

Credit cards, debit cards & pre-paid debit cards: I seldom use any of these cards at home except for Internet purchases (Amazon). On the other hand, I carry a credit card & debit card from each of 2 US banks (4 total). I carry those cards when traveling now, Hotels, larger purchases, act as an emergency backup unless a hostel requires/prefers a card. I don’t worry about reloading a debit card, because they are only for foreign travel emergencies. Safe 6: Airport and Hostel.

Customs declaration. Worth knowing if you are traveling with a substantial sum. The US Customs and Border Protection rule is that currency or monetary instruments above ten thousand US dollars must be declared on entry or exit. There is no penalty for declaring. The penalty for not declaring; when caught, is forfeiture.

What the System Buys You

Back in that Montana motel in 1962, before any of this existed, the problem was not really the missing money. The money was where it had been all night. The problem was that hiding it that way had been a lucky guess. I had no system. I had a hunch. The hunch worked once. It would not have worked twice.

Sixty-some years later, the system above is what replaces the hunch. Not because it makes loss impossible, which it cannot, but because it makes any single loss survivable. Return change stolen by an Albanian taxi driver costs me thirty dollars and a story. A misplaced or stolen bag may cost me several hundred dollars and an afternoon of shopping. A card that stops working overseas costs me an hour at a different ATM. None of these are trip-enders, because none of them empty the system.

What my hidden money strategies produce is not a fortress. It is the calm that comes from knowing the trip can absorb the loss of a few dollars on a bad day. Completing the trip is the point. The system exists to keep the trip alive. Knowing there is one thousand US dollars on me and another $10,000 in my bags that I won’t lose in a single bad event, is what makes the system worthwhile.

That is the real return on doing this well. Not security theater. The promise that no single bad moment ends the trip.