The Bank, your money and the Gap Year
"Travel is glamorous only in retrospect." Paul Theroux
Stopping your card
On the first leg of the trip my bank card was stopped because the bank was suspicious that it was being used from a foreign country. Even though my branch had been informed about the trip not every division knew about it so I called my banks and told them my itinerary and asked to make sure the cards weren’t stopped if used in any of those places unless I reported them stolen.
It would have been a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle had I thought to make the phone calls before I left.
Bank Accounts and Online banking
Before I left I set up three bank accounts. The main one being Nationwide as they didn't charge for foreign withdrawals. Over nearly six months these can add up to a lot.
I arranged a small overdraft on this account in case of emergency. My other bank account was where I held my main funds with a substantial overdraft facility in case of emergency,
(travelling as a single parent is CONSIDERABLY harder than doing it all on your todd) and would use the online banking service to transfer into my Nationwide account. This was if my cards weren't nicked I wouldn't be maxed out.
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