If I Had a Dime for Every Time I Heard "Everything Should Work Fine Abroad". . .

This is ambiguous, but for right now it is concentrated on one thing.  Money.  The traditional roadblock to smooth travels is exchanging currency.  This is completely understandable, considering the volatility of exchange rates and such, but still a hassel. However, this was 100% expected, and really hasn't been an issue.  What has been an issue is something I was assured numerous times would work in France.  My debit card.

I live in the good ol' US of A, where we are on top of things technologically, right? Nope, I guess not.  I bet if I were to ask my bank back home about "smart-cards," they would have no idea what I was talking about.  All we have is our outdated magnetic strip cards. So cash it is at most places, which is completely foreign to me.  It's foreign to me in the US to carry cash, I ALWAYS pay with a card, and that makes it even stranger to not use a card over here.

Tonight I planned on recharging my French cell phone, but guess what?  You can only do it online with a French-issued card.  This wouldn't frustrate me if I wasn't assured by everyone that "A Visa card is as good as cash anywhere!"

Though, after thought, this can be good for me.  I need to learn to budget cash.  In the US, I use a card because it makes me more reluctant to buy something (backwards, I know. . .) whereas if I have cash, I tend to spend it.  Spending 3 months using cash will be a good chance for me to learn how to avoid cash burning a hole in my pocket.  Why let something be an inconvenience when it can be a chance to get used to a new way of doing things.

-Zak