Nicaragua - So Money

Peeking Out, originally uploaded by Mat Honan.

I'm going to have a lot to say about Nicaragua. A lot. To say. But I'll start with this: although you can certainly get cash in plenty of places there now, in a good many others the idea of an ATM machine is still as foreign as a sound Republican fiscal policy. They do not exist, and you gotta plan ahead.

When I was traveling in Asia for six months, and on trips to Mexico, I had used a standard money "belt" that's really more of a pouch that you tuck into your beltline and then subsequently appear to have either a distended abdomen, or a money belt tucked into your pants.

I happened to see this one at REI just before I left, and it's pretty much exactly what I've always been looking for in a money belt. I can keep my documents safely hidden elsewhere, thanks much. But for carrying cash through pickpockety or banditry prone places, this sucker is tops. Demo below.