[Klubby]

I was hoping someone can give my DH and I some advice. We have just signed our placement contracts with our agency and noted that during our trips to Russia we are required to carry huge amounts of cash to give directly to the Russian co-ordinator. I am very happy with the agency we are using, they are very trustworthy, but I am very nervous about carrying huge amounts of cash while travelling (it is not a practice my DH and I usually think is very sensible!). I am well aware that this is very common when adopting from Russia. Can anyone give me any personal experiences or advice on the best way to handle this situation?

Thanks so much!

[Mykidsmom]

Use money belts and divide the amount between the 2 of you. We were not accustom to carrying large sums of cash but all worked out fine. Make contact now with a bank so you can get the new/like new money that you will need, banks do not always have this on hand. Keep it simple and take 100's for the Russian Coordinator, less bulk more comfortable.

[Klubby]

Thank you so much for your reply.

[Jessi_76]

We also used money belts and divided the money between us. We also did NOT take them off to go through the scanners. WE just carefully tucked our clothes over and around them. We were never "found out." We will do the same for trips 2 & 3 when we too have to carry a LOT of money.

Best to your new family.

[mlb]

We ordered new money from the bank; it is amazing how small $13,000 is in new 100s. We bought two kind of money belts. My husband and I both had the wait bets where the bulk of our cash was and he also had a neck strap where our passports and oney needed for the airport was (or money for daily use while in country). That way we didn't flash all of the money around. We did however have to take all of the money belts off in Frankfurt when going through security. We just made sure that the belts went through the x-ray machine after my husband was searched so he coould grab them as soon as they went through. Hope this helps.