Departure Diaries #5: Thoughts on the Euro

 Dear foreign currency market: You suck.

Or maybe it's the American market that sucks. Or both. Probably.

Either way, traveling to Europe is a fiscally irresponsible thing to do. That's what I thought today for about two minutes as I ordered my foreign currency. Then I promptly put those thoughts from my mind. Because Rome, Jordan, Egypt and Malta are SOOOOO worth it. Besides, do I strike you as the type of person who lets fiscal responsibility stop her from traveling?

Blast. I totally am. I'm fiscally responsible. I totally saved for this trip. That's not irresponsible. Ugh. I'm a grown-up. (Kind of)

A few words of advice on the purchasing of foreign currency: 
Sure, you can buy your cash at the Cambios in the airports, they are very, very happy to take your money and rob you blind. If you want to buy money at reasonable rates, buy it from your bank at home. If you need more while on the road, the cheapest way to get it is with your debit card. You get the cash rate. If you change out traveler's cheques or credit cards you get charged larger fees. I've tracked the Euro, Dinar and Eyptian pound exchange rates now for a couple of months. They're at an all-time low. As in the base rate of exchange for the Euro is nearly 1Euro to $1.30 US. That's really danged good! It had been hovering around $1.50 for years. So once everything is said and done and the bank added it's fees, I paid around $1.40 for each Euro I purchased. Not bad. Not bad at all. If I wait until I get to the EU to buy Euro, the cambios will add larger fees and I'll end up paying nearly $1.80 per Euro. That sucks. Big time.

Well. At least the Euro isn't as bad as the British Pound. Those'll do some serious damage to your budget.