Ready cash is always an issue when you plan an overland trip: how much should you take with you, in which currencies and how do you handle money on a day-to-day basis while you overland?
During our seven month overland trip in 2015, we found that the US Dollar is a universal and safe funding backup – not that it is accepted on the street everywhere however. We had enough US Dollars secreted in various places in our vehicle for emergencies only. We took 1500 for our trip and returned with about half as we only used this when all else failed. We learnt that one should not take large denomination notes like 100’s as they are difficult to change. Also, that one should not accept dirty or decrepit USD notes as change as they are difficult to pass on, especially at border posts, where we mostly needed our dollars, for buying visas and paying fees.