Carrying a stash on the bike for me has nothing to do with the availability of cash machines. While not being paranoid about all of the possible scenarios that could crop up to bite you in the a$$ I believe in planning for some worse case scenarios. So you get stopped on a main road in Guatemala by some hooded gunmen(exactly as reported by an overlander in a thread on the HUBB in the last 12 months or so) If they actually search you, empty your pockets, pat you down for money belts etc and get what is on you and maybe go through your luggage as well then your pretty much screwed if they get the lot.
Or it could be as simple as some bad dudes in a quiet street in broad daylight with some knives and evil intent, as happened to me.

The stash is for the worst case scenario where all of your cash,cards are stolen and you need that $200 or so to get to the next city big enough to sort out replacement, maybe money wiring etc. Its for gas, hotel,food till all that is sorted out.

Maybe for you thats overkill but hey its not a lot of money if your bike gets stolen, easy to find a spot on the bike to conceal it and provides peace of mind for that worse case scenario where you lose the lot.

Hi Chris!

Man, you are very optimistic person! I guess you know Murphy's Law and if it comes to you, then all at the same time!

In example Iran. No foreign cards are accepted anywhere. No Western Union or moneygram or company has a branch there, as well.....

So if you get rubbed or even just run out of money in Iran, it gets interesting! You have to have good luck to find locals who might donate you some money...


Just in Eastern-Turkey the ATM ate my VISA-card. I had no more money in my pocket. I'd try to call my girl-friend, who was sitting at our host, but I couldn't because the charge of the phone was empty. That was the original reason why I took off and got out of the house. I had my laptop with me and tried to find a place with wifi to do skype for blocking my card very soon and call my gf. But without money no internet in that town. And my fuel tank, was empty, too. Wanted to fill it up on the way back...

It was just in Turkey, 40 km of distance and I had some Euro's left in my wallet, which I could pay wifi-cafe for blocking my credit-card. Everything else was more easy to handle, later. But by imagine such a situation further east, I guess my blood pressure increases tremendously...

And waiting for a new card, which has to be delievered by the local post staff in foreign countries...??? If you are lucky it might just take a few weeks.

Of course it's everybody else to decide. But storing some extra money somewhere at the bike is never a fault, in my opinion.

Hope we never need them!!

Ciao Alex

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