Originally Posted by
JayhawkCO
Pardon my naivety, but why do you all hold these currencies? Is it just because you had extra last time you went abroad? For most Western countries, a no-foreign-exchange-fee credit card and a debit card to pull out local currency seems to be plenty.
A debit card via a local ATM is indeed how I get the local currency in the first place.
For me, the difference is whether I try to spend down the local currency before I leave (home being the US) -- the two that I
don't spend down are Canadian dollars and euros, because I go frequently enough that I like not having to go to an ATM first thing upon arrival. Before leaving the foreign country to come home, if my cash reserve is less than CA$100 / €100, I'll make a stop at a local ATM and "top off" the cash so that I leave the country with that amount of cash.
(It is true that in Canada and France, which is the eurozone country I visit the most often, credit cards are accepted pretty universally, but in places like bars or outdoor markets it's often easier to pay in cash.)
All other foreign currencies I try to spend down before I leave, because I travel elsewhere infrequently enough that I don't mind going out of my way to find an ATM upon arrival.