My best souvenir
Since I can’t go anywhere due to the coronavirus pandemic, I figured why not tell some of my favorite/most memorable travel stories. Next, my best travel souvenir.
Many of you may not know this, but I’m actually a multi-billionaire… in Zimbabwe.
In 2008, Zimbabwe was in the midst of a massive economic crisis from years of financial mismanagement and controversial land seizures. Throughout the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the government took many farms owned by the white minority and gave them to black citizens. I’m all for decolonization, however, Zimbabwe did it without providing training to these new farmers, so the output of the farms dramatically decreased and food became scarce. The GDP started to plummet and the country entered a deep depression.
So, what’s the first thing you do when your country is losing money? Print more, of course!
No, you don’t! When you start mass producing money like Zimbabwe did, the entire monetary system loses any sort of value. It started out small, with 650 Zimbabwean dollars equalling 1 US Dollar in 2006. (For comparison, today, 857 Chilean Pesos is equal to 1 US Dollar, and Chile is one of the strongest economies in South America).
But then it just started getting worse. By 2007, 200,000 Zimbabwean dollars equalled 1 US Dollar. Eventually, it just got crazy. The money started losing value BY THE HOUR. You would get a paycheck in the morning, and it would be completely worthless by the afternoon.
In July 2008, 758,530,000,000 (seven hundred and fifty-eight billion, five hundred and thirty million, [I bet you didn’t even read that number]) Zimbabwe dollars equalled 1 (one) US Dollar. Finally, in February 2009, a mere 7 months later, 300,000,000,000,000 (three hundred trillion) Zimbabwe dollars equalled 1 (one) US Dollar.
However, with runaway inflation, comes ridiculously high bills, like a 100 trillion dollar note. (You would need 300 of those to be worth even 1 US Dollar.)
At this point, the government decided enough was enough and allowed the use of the US Dollar and Euro as the de-facto currencies. In 2015, the currency was officially discontinued and the US Dollar became the official money of Zimbabwe. The government decided to offer a generous exchange rate of 35 quadrillion to 1 US Dollar to ease this transition.
So, yes, I am technically a multibillionaire in Zimbabwe, but at the height of the hyperinflation, my 30 billion and change in Zimbabwe dollars would only be worth about 1 six thousandth of a cent. (I paid 2 US dollars for my 5 Zimbabwe notes, so the guy I bought it from gave me a horrible exchange rate.)
Ironically, the Zimbabwe notes are now worth more than they ever were as actual money because of how much of a collectors item they became. One 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill routinely sells for over 30 US dollars on eBay. I guess the moral of the story is to devalue your currency so much, it’s worth more as a collectors item than as legal tender.
