I do not expect anything for free. If such a bank exists I will use that service until it is no longer useful....then if I require services, I'm happy to pay. But I insist on ethical and reasonable charges...no hidden charges....

It must be nice to be financially stable and never bounced a cheque and its easy to say only spend what you have in your pocket. But I live on the edge, self-employed, and far from wealthy. Sometimes it takes me three months to get paid from a contract....and the in-between time can get hairy...., I like to eat food sometimes....Yes, I choose this. I love it. And my trip will be right on edge, cause that's how I live. But there are many lives....and a LOT of people live on the edge of ruin,,,,thru no fault of their own.....and your life has no more value than theirs just because you can afford to pay your bills...

I respect and honor every life. I came from being homeless and wasted to a place of daring, and the means do do so in my older age. I know what it means to struggle. And to be hungry. And that experience gives me incredible strength and compassion for others.

Namaste

Sucks when people don't value your time and effort, and don't consider the work you've done for them to be worth paying for, doesn't it?

I heartily (having seen that it's already been suggested) recommend investigating the likes of the TransferWise borderless account and card. Easy to set up, saves a packet on exchange rates, and you can create a new currency anytime you want to go to a new country.

I know they don't cover all countries but it's getting pretty extensive. I find mine indispensable.

That is true of ANY business, though.

Preparations
 

I like your way of preparing.
Health, traning....

I have the same view and is also preparing.
Regarding eyes/glasses.
I had reading glasses, driving glasses, progressive glasses.
On an off and helmet.....

I invested in an operation to place permanent, multifocus lenses in my eyes.

Best investment that I have done.

Now I do not need glasses any more.

Great advise. Thank you.

I have one ace-in-the-hole for my travels. A good friend of mine is a high level operative at Global Affairs. His advice - register with the Canadian consulate in each country I'm visiting, and if in trouble, I have his work email address where he states....."I may not be able to do anything, but it can't hurt to have a personal contact on the inside".

I will be checking out pension stuff in detail with the Government before I leave so I'll know what, and how to take care of this. During this Covid time, lots has changed in regard to using video - so I may be able to zoom in with them to confirm identity - but I'll know in advance.

I have a person I trust fully who has agreed to be POA. And things are really looking up on a bunch of fronts.

Honestly, the hardest part of all of this is getting ready to let go of everything I have built here....my business, relationships, my band, everything.....this is more painful than I expected....but I'm working hard to make my exit as painless for my clients and band members as possible. I've not announced to the general public my intent yet....as soon as I buy the motorcycle....then I go public.....and start to make KRTW exist.

I don't know how it is in Canada, but in the US, the liability of a credit card holder for fraudulent charges is limited to $50--so I exclusively use credit cards rather than debit cards while traveling.

I also highly recommend bringing more than one, ideally of different types (ie, Mastercard, Visa, Amex) in case one simply doesn't work for no apparent reason (happens fairly frequently), or some card is not accepted, or their network is down, etc. There are various ways to pay credit card bills while traveling, so that's not an issue.

Also be aware that sometimes NONE of your cards will be accepted; in France and Germany some places only accept a different kind of card (Maestro, etc) which is not compatible with Visa or Mastercard. That can be kind of a pain...

I believe that cash is still accepted all over the world. Carrying it is the issue...This is good advice, and as I get further into building my financial structure I'll be looking into this. My first almost three years will be in North and South America so I'll be focusing on that....but you never know. If things in the US continue to worsen, I may start in Europe....sincerely hope not....

Thanks for the post.

Actually, no...

These days some establishments in the US only accept credit cards, even pre-pandemic there were a few that only accepted cards. I would not be surprised if it were the same in some Scandinavian countries, although that is just a guess. I was in Norway for a full week before I spent any cash at all, and that was at a market in a town square.

Perhaps more relevant: one beautiful Sunday morning I was doodling along in the French countryside, but desperately low on fuel...I stopped at several gas stations, but none of them were manned and did not accept cash, although they accepted some kind of card that I didn't have. Finally I had to stop at one of these places and wait for someone to show up, so that I could give them cash and they could pay with their card. That kind of sucked. IIRC I've encountered the same kind of pumps in Italy, but they at least accepted cash.

Yup. I first ran into those pumps (Sundays, France, waiting around for someone to show up and agree to accept my cash to use their card) more than ten years ago. I’ve since seem them elsewhere. Around the same time I started running into difficulties buying European train tickets and such, since the machines didn’t take my cards and the staffed booths which accepted cash were often empty.

The obvious lesson, which has resonated throughout this thread: Be extremely wary of your assumptions.

Oops, I just saw this part. I guess you're right, that it can't hurt, but I wouldn't rely to much on consular officers. You're gonna need to be highly, if not entirely, self-reliant.

Maybe Canadian consular officers are different, but if you read any of the threads here from this year about moto travelers being stuck in Morocco and elsewhere and having to rely on consular officers to find out how to get home, etc., you'll be struck by what appears to be the gross incompetence or complete indifference of consular officials of most or all of the countries involved. And that was a crisis involving thousands of citizens in a real fix. I guess if you get in a real jam (arrested, etc.) you can try your luck, but I would manage your expectations.

Of course. I simply stated that as a third or fourth emergency method, that is not available to most people. As stated, it can't HURT to have somebody on the inside.

For both people who mentioned these gas pumps....Thank you. But in the end, cash got you gas....cash will always be "part" of the solution. Did either of you find out what kind of card the pumps took, and how to get one?

There is no way to be prepared for every eventuality....flexibility, ingenuity, and as stated in the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy "DON'T PANIC". I work in the entertainment field, a lot of festivals, doing sound, lights, video, staging...etc...we in this craft have to develop the skills to think outside the box and quickly....troubleshoot fast and efficiently cause the show must go on, and we get thrown weird and strange requests....and we have to figure it out. These skills are PART of the larger picture, part of the solution....and why I'm doing as much as I can in advance, being as prepared as possible....and also ready to jam.

Didn't find out, because I was in France for a few days and hardly worth the effort. But I doubt you can get one anyway, because generally it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get credit/debit cards from a country of which you are not a resident.

I had a Maestro card when I lived in Berlin, which was linked to my German bank account. Maestro cards are debit cards but have a different number of digits from VISA/Mastercard and in any event they are not compatible with Visa/Mastercard. Many places in Berlin accept only Maestro cards, presumably the fees are lower, dunno. Maybe some Canadian banks issue Maestro cards, but I seriously doubt it unless they are actually used there.

Your trip will probably cost twice what you expect....

Sir - that's why I am planning as much as possible, for as many eventualities as possible. At this time, money is not my biggest worry. What a post Covid world will look like is. Is the USA going to devolve into chaos? Will borders re-open? Will a vaccine be effective and will it be distributed equitably? What will less prosperous countries look like? And will there be a massive economic fallout that will make travel even more dangerous than it may be pre-covid....These are worth considering.

Money is not my biggest worry.

Part of considering finances....How much does your standard of living cost per month....I'm leaving....no rent/bills/phone/internet/house taxes/ etc...

Obviously there are fixed travel costs....but no stationary home costs that I'm paying for. I'm not keeping a place to return to that I have to pay for.

Health insurance is a BIG question. I have read hours of posts from others on this forum and on other forums...It will be VERY expensive for full health coverage and some have suggested that instead, keep 20K for medical - and don't get insurance. If something happens, there's enough there to pay most everything....(not in the US) but I'll not be long in the US and can get fairly cheap coverage as a Canadian.

Thank for the post....