How I became an instant millionaire by traveling

So this post has the potential to be very deep and motivational. It can be about how traveling makes you richer because of the magical experiences and not poorer because you spend money. The value of traveling is in the people you meet, the places you see and the cultures you’ll experience. But in fact, this post will not be about this kind of value. I am referring to something far more practical.

Currency exchange.

Every time I travel to a country that does not have euros, in the beginning of the trip I constantly calculate the rates. “How much is it in euros?” becomes a frequently asked question. Normally the amounts are still somewhere in the same area. Maybe you need to multiply or divide by two, or two and a half. But here in Indonesia, things are not so easy.

One euro is approximately 16.000 rupiah. So everything I see, I have to divide by 16.000. This may seem a lot harder than it actually is. Usually I just divide by 15.000 and the thousands are kind of redundant. Everything behind the dot can just as easily be cents. But it does feel weird to take a million out of an ATM or to pay an amount of 15.000 to a taxi driver. But then when I calculate it back to euros… Well, all I can really do in those situations is smile. With the money I made at the ING in one hour, I can now eat dinner for two weeks. Sure, there are the occasional days where I want to eat something that costs more than a euro, but I could do it if I wanted to and that is just amazing.

In Indonesia, you can also be a millionaire! All you need is 65 euros and you are classified as a millionaire. So if you ever need to feel rich, buy a plane ticket and get those extreme amounts out of the ATM. Then all that is left to do is to take a selfie.