I Have a Money Problem...

Which camera?

Music during the video:

"Bet the Ocean" by Jones Meadow

Gabriel is a traveler, outdoors enthusiast and travel writer who has been adventuring around the world since his first trip to Europe in the summer of 1990 when he was 18 years old. He is author of "Following My Thumb", "Gabe's Guide to Budget Travel" and several other books.

[GabrielTravelerVideos]

A couple things: First, Happy Victory Day today, August 30th, to the country of Turkey. Victory Day celebrates the decisive victory in the Battle of Dumlupınar on August 30th, 1922. Now, to be perfectly honest, I can't include a congratulations on winning the battle itself since it was against the Greeks and the whole thing is super complicated. But I'm glad that the locals here on Bozcaada are having a nice time here today, as you'll see in the next video. And on that point, that probably explains why my hotel room was so expensive at $157, when I paid $31 for a room in Canakkale a few days ago. I didn't know anything about Victory Day until either yesterday or maybe sometime today. But considering that today is a public holiday, as well as the last weekend of August, it makes sense that there would be record demand and sky high prices.

As for the subject of the video and solutions to avoid this situation, the first thing I need to say is forget about being prepared for everything. As I mentioned in the video, it did occur to me that the hotel might not accept a credit card and this could present a problem. But considering that I was going to somewhere that was described as the "Mykonos of Greece", I figured there would be a solution one way or another. If it had been a truly remote island I was going to where I didn't know if there would even be an ATM, in that case I would definitely have made a point of withdrawing cash beforehand. There are certain things you should try to prepare for when you travel, and other things that you can figure out when you get there. And it's a matter of making efficient use of your time and energy to distinguish between the two and not waste too much time trying to figure everything out in advance.

But if you check the comments you will see one particular suggestion, which people have been mentioning to me for years, which is the Charles Schwab checking account. Apparently they don't charge a fee for using international ATMs on their end and they also refund the fees charged by an ATM. So it does sound like a great way to go. It's one of those things that's been on my list to look into for a long time and maybe one of these years I will finally get one. In the meantime, the reality is that in the grand scheme of things, ATM fees don't end up adding up to a whole lot in the course of my travels, so it's not a huge enough deal that it has motivated me to go through the process of getting one. But it does sound like a perfect checking account for travelers.

[TheSourcealpha]

The Greek population of the islands were actually exempt from the population exchange of 1923. According to the Treaty of Laussane, they were to be administered by Turkey under a special adminastrative status, but that was almost immediately revoked. The majority of the ethnic Greeks slowly left due to a combination property confiscation, the banning of the Greek language in education and general intimidation (eg the opening of an open air prison on Imbros/Gökçeada) and the islands were repopulated by settlers from Anatolia.

[RedSpiralHandTV]

Your hair looks great, btw. Change is good.

[gareth]

Charging 157 $ a night and they don`t except credit cards is crazy for a hotel ,

[DamienYuen]

Why do you not have a debit card with no international ATM fees? I use Charles Schwab that has no fee and unlimited international ATM fee reimbursements worldwide. So you get your money for no fee at all.

[njsmith]

Gabriel, the master of turning a 30 second explanation into 30 minutes.

[unknown-user]

Me personally I will not spend $150 a night on some rundown island no matter the thrill. Last month I visited Nantucket (bucket list item) where hotels are super expensive, I just did a day trip with same day ferry round trip rides which saves me a ton of money by staying inland Cape Cod. Sometimes you have to consider the cost to make your travel sustainable. I’m on the road 6 months at a time and $150 a night is going to destroy my budget.

[SandraJolley-kt]

You are a real traveler...not these influencer and bloggers...

[RovexHD]

When you visit more ‘remote’ areas, these kind of things happen. It’s easy to take for granted and assume everywhere accepts card.

[ValentinaMitchell]

10:19 “ High Roller Gabriel Traveler Mode “ 🎉🎉🎉

[Allexander]

I think Limnos, Samothraki, Lesbos, Chios are Islands with wonderful landscapes and match so good for Gabes hiking styles! Hopefully he will come to this Islands in Greece!

[unknown-user]

The reason these mom and pop accommodations don’t accept cards is because they’re trying to dodge paying taxes. That’s usually great because tehy pass down the savings to the guest, but obviously not in this case. This establishment is a blood sucker. $157 a night for that!! Give me a break! I wouldn’t pay more than $30 a night in Turkey.

[mizdamazda]

i was in greece in 1980 when the currency was drachma. it was so inexpensive, while i was there i met a couple of girls who had just come from the turkish islands and they said the turkish islands were far cheaper than the greek islands, how times change

[ggauche]

In the context, why quibble over a few $. Just pay the fees and get on with your travels a vlogging. Sometimes we get lost in the weeds and lose sight of the objective!

[Michael-psvn]

I’ve been in a similar situation before, when I hitchhiked all the way from Germany to Istanbul. It was a constant thrill not knowing if the ATM would give me enough money or not. Fortunately, everything turned out fine in the end.

[AmericanEnglishBrent]

I was in Turkey two months ago and booked a room on Airbnb with no problem while in Turkey.

[pavelavietor]

I got money problem too, my dentist want more money. saludos

[dv]

"HIGH ROLLER GABRIEL TRAVELER MODE" You did invent it! ;) Thnx again for all these years vlogging and let us see the world thru your camera.

[elterrifico]

You got money problems? Join the club

[rajm]

It's pronounced "boz-ja-ada" because the letter "c" in turkish always sounds like the english letter "j" as in "jam". Looking very nice with the new haircut gabriel!