TravelsWithSheila recently received an e-mail with a fantastic new method to keep local currency rates at your fingertips while traveling through a country. Currate.com has access to daily updated conversion rates, and you can see the actual images of over 180 world currencies. Anyone who travels with a mobile phone that has built-in browser capability can access.

A case in point is our recent trip to the Baltic States with two weeks in three countries, each with its own currency (actual rates as of September 2009). Estonia uses the Kroon (EEK – don’t you love that world – EEK?) 1 = $10.65, Latvia uses the Lat (LVL) 1 = $.47, and Lithuania uses the Lita (LTL) 1 = $2.35. Totally confusing! EEK’s, Lats, Livs…how much easier it would have been to have this on a mobile phone instead of trying to find out what the daily changes were.

Below is a list of Currate.com’s features:

– Daily updated conversion rates keep travelers in the know on costs of money conversion.

– Easy calculator allows travelers quickly to make conversions in any amounts. Whether trying to calculate a tip, or the price of a hotel, this calculator is ideal.

– Images of over 180 currencies allow for quick and easy identification – a great feature for when traveling to an unfamiliar country or multiple countries.

– Real-time access to all this information is available via Internet, or mobile phones with built-in web browser capability. Two versions are available.

Tallinn sweet rolls in EEKS, 20 equaled $1.88
The group’s frustration level would have dropped to zero with an application like this. You should have heard ex-Marine and I having heated arguments on the street over exactly how many Lats to enter in the ATM. Give it a try and simplify your life…
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