How to Bring Money to a Foreign Country

I used to take traveler's checks but after I started using credit cards I normally only bring cards. Credit cards, debit cards etc. However, I wish that all credit cards came with a photograph like the ones we get in banks here. Then it wouldn't be so easy to take someone elses and use it in shops etc. I think I might bring some traveler's checks if I went to Japan again, 'cause it was really difficult to find an ATM that accepted international credit cards. The same in Chicago, but there it wouldn't have helped, as I couldn't find a bank either!

If I go to a place where mugging is common I hide my money in five different places. On my last trip I went to Colombia and had a money belt with a metal waist band. I kept the bulk of my money hidden there. I kept my day to day money in a neck pouch and this had a limited amount of money in it. I advise taking some foreign currency appropriate for the particular country, a debit card and traveler's checks as an emergency fund. Western Union can send money out to a traveler that has lost all his or her money.