At a length of 29,800 miles, the Pan American Highway is the longest "motorable road" in the world, spanning from Alaska to Argentina. The one section that is always less "motorable", is that of the 54 mile Darien Gap connecting Central and South America. The highway crosses through an extensive range of ecosystems and road qualities. Every year adventurous travelers literally hit the road to complete some portion of the trip.
Along the way, through multiple countries with various currencies, it is important to have informed knowledge of how to fund your day to day expenses. This article will highlight a few options of how to transfer money to yourself along the way.
If you've chosen to complete portions of the highway within the United States, then using normal means of payment like credit or debit card will suffice. In the US there will be no access or international fees with these payment sources, so they will be most optimal, however, once crossing out of the US into Mexico or any other nation further South, that will not be the case.
When it comes to currencies, there will be many. El Salvador, Panama, and Belize actually use the US dollar. However the spending power will differ from America (most likely in your favor). While Mexico and other countries use the peso, it is important to note that they are not all created equal. Each has a different bill and coin system, as well as valuation. It is these stark differences that make having a flexible method of money transfer for your trip vital.
You can continue to use debit and credit cards along the route, however they will start to incur international fees that range up to 4% of transactions, which is difficult to stomach during a long trip. Compounding the issue is that along desolate parts of the highway there are not many merchants that will be accepting cards in general, making a reliance on cash somewhat of a necessity.
One method to combat this is via a reloadable debit card, that would allow you to transfer money from your credit card, or bank account. With the funds on the debit card, you may use local ATMs to withdraw local currencies as needed. Many travelers can take solace in knowing their money is secure on an intermediary card rather than their credit or bank debit card, which has less barriers to complete a transaction.
You can even send money online to top up the card, which is generally protected via 4 digit PIN code. As currencies differ across South America, having a versatile card that minimizes fees is definitely a tremendous upside. Technology of this sort is new and still improving, but definitely ready for public consumption, in allowing travelers along the Pan American Highway to send money to South America.
To learn more about prepaid debit cards or online money transfer, check out http://www.atmcash.com/.
Logan Lemberger takes pride in expressing his knowledge on the subjects of travel, personal finance, international relations, sports, and music.
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