The greedy traveler

It’s funny what becomes obsolete the second you touch down in a foreign land. What was once familiar and necessary becomes, as soon as you pass through customs, a mere annoyance and burden. In my case, I don’t feel quite right in my new surroundings until I get a chance to purge my wallet. I remove the student id card I carry around for movie discounts back home, the grocery store bonus card, redundant credit cards, old receipts, and finally, my own domestic currency, which isn’t exactly rendered worthless but (most likely) isn’t common currency in the new place I’m in.

I relish the moment when I find myself alone in my hotel room, carefully arranging my new currency in monopoly-money piles, learning the shapes, colors, and textures of the bills so when I make my purchases I can tell if I’m getting the correct change without being so slow and obvious about it. I calculate the small change in proportion to the large bills, greedily wishing that my small change pile will only continue to grow and thrive, therefore hesitating to come to the aid of a fellow traveler for fear of squandering my small change due to someone else’s lack of proper planning.

I cannot stress the importance of small bills and coins. Small bills are indispensable for tipping, buying popsicles and other street foods, and purchasing incidentals. If you only have larger bills, you are stuck with a) not tipping a helpful person; b) giving that helpful person a sum incommensurate with the services so kindly rendered; or c) buying a cartful of rapidly melting popsicles.

Once you start collecting the change, it’s hard to stop. You’re making five trips a day to the pharmacy or the convenience store to purchase nominal toiletries and drinks because you know those establishments are the ones that are more likely to have change. Your wallet grows thicker and your pockets heavier and bulkier from the change you accumulate. And then, just when you thought you could never have too many small bills/coins, you find yourself with a severely bloated wallet and bag that digs into your shoulder due to the excessive weight of the ungodly amount of legal tender you have succeeded in hoarding.

While travelling abroad, collecting just the right amount of change and small bills becomes my obsession and my art.