During the last two months I have been trying to find out why I am being charged erroneous ATM fees by my bank. Last month my statement showed a “foreign ATM transaction fee,” which normally would result if I had withdrawn money using an ATM that was not owned by my bank. When I insisted that I had only withdrawn funds from ATM’s owned by my bank, they researched the fee and told me it was levied when I used my debit card to pay my AT&T cell phone bill online. Even though my bank graciously agreed to refund the fee, I was determined to make sure it didn’t happen again. I logged in to my online account with AT&T and read over all their policies regarding the fees they charge for various payment methods. Of the online payment options, their website states:

We accept the following forms of payment: * ATM debit cards – STAR, Pulse, ACCEL, NYCE * Credit/debit cards – Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Network, Diners Club

There is no other distinction made between credit and debit cards and no notice that any fees will be levied if a debit card is used. I assumed it was a one-time mistake.

This month I again used my debit card to pay my AT&T cell phone bill online. Two days later, the monthly phone bill showed up on my bank statement, along with yet another “foreign ATM transaction fee.” This time I called AT&T. Since the customer service rep that I reached was unable to answer my question, she accelerated my issue to the supervisory level and then Read the rest of this entry »

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that I am a fearless solo female traveler. The bad news is that I am a fearless female traveler. I used to be fearless to the point of taking foolish risks, until a few years ago, when I was camping on the island of Kauai – my tent was slashed while I slept in it and all my stuff was stolen. Fortunately, I was not harmed, but it was traumatic – this occurred about a year after 911 and it was nearly impossible to get a hotel room without any ID, credit cards, or money, not to mention that I lost my camera, keys to the rental car, glasses (without which I could not read a menu or drive), cell phone, passport, etc. The experience taught me a lot of lessons, the most notable of which was to never ignore my inner voice. I KNEW I shouldn’t have been in that campground – it was full of negative energy – but I ignored what my gut was telling me because I wanted to “wake up to the sound of the waves.”

Following that disastrous vacation, it took a monumental effort to let go of my fear of traveling solo. Before leaving for my next vacation I made exhaustive preparations, created lists after list and layers of backup safety precautions. It took about a year, but the fear subsided and I am back to being a fearless traveler, albeit a much wiser one, and I decided it was worth sharing my hard-won wisdom in the following list of precautions I take when traveling: Read the rest of this entry »