Money Issues

So a few months ago when the dollar hit near par, we decided it seemed like a great idea to open a US bank account and put all our savings into US $. We figured we could then just withdrawl from the US account, a few hundred dollars at a time, along the way. Taking $15,000 with us all at once would just be stupid, Western Union transfers are inconvenient and expensive, and travellers cheques are hardly accepted anywhere anomore, so it seemed like the best option. We wanted to take US $ since it is accepted almost anywhere, and by transferring it all over to US when near par we would avoid risking the dollar changing against our favour along the way.

Well, a few weeks ago we went down to our bank to apply for a bank card to access our US account, only to discover that in Canada it is not possible to access US $ in a US account via card. So basically we can't access our US $ outside of Canada!! So what exactly is the point of being able to open a US bank account if you can't use it in the US!???

So we had a very stressful day of driving all over the place trying to find a solution to this problem. The bank told us we would have to transfer all the money back to Canadian (losing lots of money of course because the banks hike up their exchange rates) and then as we withdrew it along the way it would be exchanged back into US $ or local currency at that day's exchange rate. This option would cause us to loose about $1,000 in total, so we were pretty upset. Then we went and talked to Western Union, and they offer an online exchange where we could transfer the money back into Canadian at a much better rate, but still lose about $500 in total. Better...but not great.

Finally, we found out about this US $ MasterCard that BMO offers, which we can prepay with $15,000 and we can withdrawl cash advances of US $ or local currency, we will only be charged $3.00 per withdrawl, and it will apparently work pretty much everywhere. We are also going to bring a Visa prepaid with some Canadian money, and if for some reason in any city our MasterCard won't work we can use the Visa to take out US $ or local currency at that day's exchange rate. The only concern is having the credit cards stolen. We would have felt much more comfortable if we were using a debit card, but given our situation this is our best option.

Anyways, long story short, if you are travelling outside of Canada DO NOT open a US $ bank account!!!! Keep your money in Canadian. Would have been SO MUCH easier!  

Places We Are Most Excited To See:

See the Mayan Ruins in Copan, Honduras

See old Mexican culture in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

See the history of Antigua, Guatemala

Relax on Lake Atitan, Guatemala

Snorkel/dive the world-class reefs off Roatan, Honduras

Surf the in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

RELAX in COSTA RICA!

Itinerary

Jan 9 - Victoria to Boise, Idaho
Jan 10 - Boise to Las Vegas, Nevada!
Jan 11 - Vegas
Jan 12 - Vegas
Jan 13 - Vegas to Phoenix, Arizona
Jan 14 - Phoenix to Nogales, Arizona
Jan 15 - Nogales to San Carlos, Mexico
Jan 16 - San Carlos to Mazatlan
Jan 17 - Mazatlan
Jan 18 - Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta (all inclusive)
Jan 19 - Puerto Vallarta (all inclusive)
Jan 20 - Puerto Vallarta (all inclusive)
Jan 21 - Puerto Vallarta (all inclusive)
Jan 22 - Puerto Vallarta to Ixtapa
Jan 23 - Ixtapa
Jan 24 - Ixtapa to Acapulco (depending on current situation in Acapulco may skip this stop)
Jan 25 - Acapulco to Puerto Escondido
Jan 26 - Puerto Escondido
Jan 27 - Puerto Escondido to San Cristobal de las Casas
Jan 28 - San Cristobal de las Casas to San Pedro, Guatemala
Jan 29 - San Pedro to Panajachel
Jan 30 - Panajachel to Antigua
Jan 31 - Antigua
Feb 1 - Antigua to Copan, Honduras
Feb 2 - Copan & Mayan Ruins
Feb 3 - Copan to San Pedro Sula
Feb 4 - San Pedro Sula to Roatan
Feb 5 - Roatan
Feb 6 - Roatan
Feb 7 - Roatan
Feb 8 - Roatan
Feb 9 - Roatan to Tegucigalpa
Feb 10 - Tegucigalpa to Managua, Nicaragua
Feb 11 - Managua to San Juan del Sur
Feb 12 - San Juan del Sur
Feb 13 - San Juan del Sur to Playas del Coco, COSTA RICA!

80 Days Away

So we are leaving on our big trip in exactly 80 days! We leave on January 9, 2011. We are not feeling very prepared yet. We still have to pay off our car (we need title to cross into Mexico), get our vaccinations, pack up & move out of our condo, Nat has to quit her job (Chris is taking a leave from his job, but Nat has not told her work she is quitting yet), buy a whole bunch of random little things we will need, sort out our medical coverage, sort out our bank accounts (our US account for spending on the trip, and our accounts at home need to be ready for mortgage and other payments to come out of when we are gone), Nat has to write her Real Estate exam, and I'm sure there are lots of other things to do that we can't think of right now! We have, however, made up a rough itinerary (we will post it soon!), rented our condo, and saved up $15,000 US (so far...the goal is to get to $20,000). The next couple months will be super busy for us, then we get a 120 day vacation:) Let's hope everything goes smoothly and we actually feel ready to leave when the time comes!