“Can you make change for this?” (Holding up a coin or a bill)

Thank you for sharing. It is always good to know what the latest attempts are. I too prefer to go inside a bank to use an ATM, so thank you for that reminder as well.

Thank you for the info, Lola. On the few times I use ATMs, I too only use an interior bank ATM during banking hours. As a solo traveler, I don’t have someone I trust watching my back so I tend to be very cautious and risk adverse.
I’d rather spend more at my home bank to take foreign currency with me. Anything beyond Daily Cash stays in my money belt for security and my peace of mind.

I’d rather spend more at my home bank to take foreign currency with
me.

This has always felt safer to me and is what i do.

Thanks for sharing. The "using inside the bank ATM" tip is an excellent reminder.

Thank you for the warning, Lola! I appreciate your post, especially when traveling solo. It’s a good reminder to think about when in my day I am getting money at the ATM. I usually plan it to go inside a bank ATM, stash it in my money belt and go directly to my hotel afterwards. But, there’s been times when I have seen an inside bank ATM while out heading someplace and stopped at that time.

I have started frequently using Apple Pay for restaurants, etc. to need less cash when traveling. Withdrawing cash from an ATM is probably my most stressful task during trips since, as mentioned by others, being solo involves being extra careful during that process.

Thanks for the reminder about being aware of your surroundings at an ATM, and to be aware if others are watching you when you take out or put away your cash. And to be prepared to tell someone to go away in the local language. Several years ago in the Florence train station, a man asked me for some money for food. I told him no one time, but he kept asking me again. So I said loudly “Basta, vada via!” (Enough, go away!) and he left.

Well, in some cities and countries you won’t be using an ATM because they no longer have inside the bank ATMs. Matter fact, they don’t have one like that anywhere near where I live.

I go to a bank affiliated ATM near my hotel and then I go directly back to my hotel and put some money in the safe, put some of my money in my wallet etc. I don’t walk away and go sightseeing. A lot of times I just have my debit card in a zipper pocket and put the money and the debit card back in the zipper pocket and go back to the hotel. I’m pretty sure I would notice somebody trying to unzip a pocket in the front of my pants on that walk since there’s nothing else in my hands to distract me

This goes along with another recent thread. And fully shows that while traveling in a foreign country you never interact with anyone beyond a waiter or store staff. No one. Do not engage with any person on the street. A hello is suspicious. It is only a means of distraction. Best to keep walking. Be in your bubble. If you are on a group tour so much the better as you can find refuge with them. Never try and help anyone as it could be a ploy to steal from you. Leave any sort of interaction to the immediate needs you may have.

Treemoss--I do't think one needs to be that extreme. The times that I have been alone in Europe, I have had many lovely interactions with people that were not out to scam me. Two ladies walked me to my designated twice, and they were 10-20 minute walks. Another time I was having a mug of mulled cider in Dresden when a local lady was as well, and we had a lovely conversation for about an hour before she had to return to work. Yes, we need to be alert, but there are some wonderful people out there as well.

I am hopeful treemoss was simply being a bit sarcastic. I know I have so many new friends as a result of random interactions.

And fully shows that while traveling in a foreign country you never interact with anyone beyond a waiter or store staff. No one. Do not engage with any person on the street.

Not just foreign countries, I do not interact with folks on the street in New York, Austin, San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and most rural areas in the USA.

Another scam is a person yelling “pickpocket” in a crowd. Naturally, your first reaction is to check to make sure your money is still the. Once they see where your money is, they follow you at a distance and approach you when it is convenient for them to steal your money. The moral to this is don’t reach for your money when someone tells “pickpocket”. It lets them know where it is.

I wonder why we travel if we aren't allowed to interact with anyone but the wait staff.. And we have to travel in a group tour to protect ourselves... how sad!

Some advice should just be ignored. Use some common sense and you should be fine IMHO

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I agree with horsewoofie, get your local bank to order foreign currency for you. Im currently on a group tour in greece and turkey. I got euros and lira thru my bank. Yet, we still have spent a lot of time stopping so folks can use the atm. Either about how much local cash they want (,,they could have figured that out at breakfast) or trying to find a local bank to change USD cash into local currency ..... oh, the humanity. The assorted 21 yr old tellers in my bank at home all wanted to gather around to see the lira/euros and to ask me about destinations and wish me bon voyage!!!
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Most of the time I prefer going solo, depending on the country. I see traveling in a group makes more of a target than less, since the bad guys will presumably spot you out a mile away. Group travel is what I don't do, except for the guided tour of a chateau or Schloss.

I take the normal mundane perfunctory precautions, the neck pouch and the hidden wallet and I carry foreign currency, not concerned about getting picked...it won't happen. Waded through numerous crowds in Paris last summer and this summer. Never came close to an "incident."

I haven't used an ATM for several trips now, probably last in Budapest in 2019 at an OTP and it was inside the bank during business hours. I recall getting cash at street ATMs in Prague and Warsaw and while it wasn't a huge amount, I felt best just sticking the cash in my bra until I could get to a restroom and distribute it properly. I don't tend to look approachable but if anyone did I would dispatch them firmly.

I just left London after several days. I arrived with 20 pounds I got 50 More out of an ATM because I was going on a tour and I knew I would need to tip a couple of people. I still have 40 pounds as I left

I can’t imagine what my bank would charge for 50 pounds but I feel certain it is much better just to go to the ATM at the grocery store across the street from the hotel and get them.

I don’t want to waste money at a bank for euros or pounds , etc. I just get money out of the ATM where I am.

A few times last summer I had to go to the ATM since I unpleasantly discovered I had neglected to bring enough cash. This summer no such stupidity on my part.

Dealing with the possibility of a bad guy after hitting the ATM is one thing but the transaction also includes fees that could have been avoided if one had carried ample amount of cash to begin with.