....dosh, loadsamunny!

When I go on trips for work I’m shocking about putting my head in the sand and denying I will be going away. This means I never prepare anything before setting off and I get to the airport in a flurry of worries about getting local currency and travel plugs etc.

This trip was no exception and I went dashing up to the currency exchange in Heathrow Airport and asked for a couple of hundred quid’s worth of Korean dosh. The chap behind the counter said ‘we don’t sell Korean money’. I was petrified because I’d been told to expect to pay around $60 for the taxi into the city from the airport and most taxis in these far-flung places (well, let’s face it in any city really) don’t take credit cards.

Help!

What to do next? I asked him if there was anywhere in the airport I might be successful in finding some currency and he directed me to another Bureau De Change on the other side of the terminal. Fortunately they had some! I asked for my two hundred quid’s worth and this was stretching it too far as they could only supply £160 of the Korean Won. Ah well, I thought, I’ll probably be able to eke it out for the three days.

When he got the cash from the drawer, I was gob-smacked to find I needed a suitcase (well a slight exaggeration but nearly…) to carry the stuff. The wad pictured above is worth around £130 as I only spent £30 while there. My car from airport to hotel was put on my hotel bill and I got a bus back so it was a relatively cheap journey. The only other cash I spent was at the palace where I spent the paltry sum of £3 to gain entrance for myself and my new friend Bo as well as about £5 on taxis to and from the palace from the hotel.

I felt like the Queen of Sheba with such a big bundle of the folding stuff on me but when I got home I forgot all about them in my jet-lagged fuzz. When I was sorting out receipts for my expense claim today, found the bag in the bottom of my handbag and now need to find somewhere to change them back to UK currency. I don’t know how difficult that will be but I have a sneaky feeling it won’t be possible everywhere! Still, for a short while, I dreamed I was loaded.

Last year I was also currying favour from my folks after missing their anniversary (nothing changes there then) and the year before, I was ranting about parental responsibility!