Money
Money Belt In my mind a money belt is an absolute necessity, wherever you are going. As well as your money it is the safest place to keep your passport. If you have ever tried to get back into your own country without a passport you will know what I mean.(Another tale another day) :-) The best type of belt is of a thin but strong material (for easy washing, you will not believe how smelly they get after a while, especially in hot or humid countries), with preferably two pockets. One should take your passport and tickets and other valuable items the other just for money. The reason for this is, if you have to show your passport or tickets or whatever, nobody sees your money. I used to keep just a small amount of cash with my passport for general daily use, leaving the bulk of it out of sight. Both or all pockets should have individual zip fasteners with a secure form of fastening around your waist (like a belt), be very careful of those sliding fastener types they always seem to work loose.
Here are some good Money Belts.

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Money Exchanges Always, Always try more than one shop, in some countries the difference is a lot. It also pays to change small amounts until you find a good rate. I rather like the black market but be very careful there are a lot of tricksters out there. If you use these always count the money yourself in your own hands, and Never hand it back after counting if you want to finalise the deal. Never go to any quiet places to do the deal. It is better to miss a "good" deal than lose it all. I had a very near miss in Kenya, I was fortunate enough to be looking out of the window when the guys were coming to do the deal, I saw one of them had a knife, That was enough for me, the deal was missed by yours truly and I paid full price for my beer that night :-) I like to carry both US dollars and English Pound Sterling I have been in places where one currency is worth a lot more than the other. If you only want to carry one I would have to say US Dollar is the best bet. Do not ignore banks, sometimes you will get a better rate at a bank than an exchange shop. On saying all this if you only take cash and it is stolen or lost your holiday is ruined, if you take travelers cheques they can usually get some money to you within a couple of days. No matter which way you take your money always take some small denominations especially in third world countries, a lot of the exchange places in small towns will only carry a little money and if you gave them a $100.00 US bill they would think you owned the world. Always bear in mind even a very poor man from an industrialized country appears extremely wealthy to the average Third World country inhabitant.