Quote: (09-08-2016 09:30 AM)ElFlaco Wrote:
Quote: (09-08-2016 08:09 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:
My wife has an acquaintance that was flying to the US for the first time. Chick took over 30,000 in cash with her and got stuck in customs.... Yeah, you heard that right. A quick Google search could have told her that you cannot legally walk around with more than 10K in the USA.
True enough, but you'd have to suspect that such a law exists in order to be curious about researching it. To someone from a different type of society, a law like this one wouldn't even occur to them. I'm a foreigner where I live and I run into similar issues from time to time. Want to cancel your gym membership or your cable TV? You have to bring a letter in person; you can't just call or tell them verbally and sign a form. Want to update some information on your bank account? You need to do that at the specific branch where you opened it, not over the phone or at a different branch. These things seem obvious to locals, but someone from a place with a different system wouldn't even guess that the procedure might be so different.
I might walk around with 200 dollars at the most in my wallet in the US. Maybe the occasional 300. That's with carrying a handgun. Anymore than that, and I refuse. The risk is too high in my opinion. 200 hundred dollars might be way too risky in some European countries. Pickpockets and muggers cannot be shot there, like I could do here. Heck you might not even be legally allowed to chase them and fight them for your money back! Would Canada allow you to chase a wallet thief and punch him into giving your money back?
A few people in China warned me not to keep my phones in my pockets because of pickpockets on the subway are allegedly so good, you cannot feel it. As a result I usually keep mine with my passport in a pouch inside my pants. If they want to steal my phone they will have to tickle my balls in the process.
They risk having phones snatched, but walking around with a giant bank bag (with large characters that say Bank of China) with 20K down the street is OK. China is weird as hell like that. They take this mindset with them outside the country as well. Smart ones get a credit card, but many refuse to carry plastic because they only trust cash and are stubborn. Like Scotian says they will attempt to bring all kinds of crazy stuff with them.
I lost count of how many times I have seen them forced to throw food away they brought on a carryon. Like Scotian says, their bewilderment is hilarious. It's like their arrogance cannot believe you are preventing them from bringing food into another country. The flight attendants try hard to pass instructions or dig into their things to show them what is allowed, but even then, some will ignore the attendants. That's why the government and this magazine are doing what they are doing.
Food is one thing, but we talking about money here. Getting robbed. Money is lifeblood. Every country has robbers, even China. Every traveler has a responsibility to do their own research to find out what will get you robbed for, in which countries. Even 50 dollars is enough to get robbed for in the wrong area of a 1st world country. Expensive watches can be a no-no, even if all you have is plastic credit cards.
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1 John 4:20 - If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.