Ah, but you can. Many banks offer ATM cards that charge NOTHING for withdrawals overseas. And in fact, many will even rebate the ATM fees charged by the ATM owners (although those fees are rare outside the US). See the wiki linked from post #10 above for a list of such cards, as well as the forex fees charged by credit cards.

I use my CapitalOne Cash Rewards Visa (interbank rate, 1% cash back) whenever it's possible to charge something without incurring additional fees.

I use my Commerce Bank (of NY/NJ) ATM card to withdraw cash from fee-free ATMs overseas (interbank rate, but no rebate of ATM owner fee), and my Umbrellabank.com ATM card to withdraw cash from ATMs with fees overseas (interbank rate + 1% fee, but rebate of ATM owner fee).

And I carry a couple hundred bucks in greenbacks just in case I can't find an ATM and get stuck with the hotel concierge or a bank. But that rarely happens.