An official mugging!

Photomouth three – The ramblings and rants of an opinionated photographer raising photography-related issues – hopefully thoughtfully and sometimes controversially. It is one opinion, which will hopefully resonate or entertain, but is only one viewpoint. Feel free to disagree!

I’d consider myself pretty streetwise and an experienced traveller. So just recently, when I started travelling again, and I got caught out I’m left kicking myself for it. A short break in April to Marrakech for my son’s first experience of an African country came the day after the 2022 TPOTY launch and London exhibition install. Needless to say I was exhausted and distracted after finishing all this work.

Arriving at Gatwick for the flight I was in a zombified state. Check in was surprisingly easy and just before going through security and passport control my son, nervously excited, saw the bureau de change and asked to change money so he had some Moroccan Dhirams. Non-zombified me wouldn’t have done this at the departure airport, especially for a weaker currency than the pound. As an experienced traveller I know I’ll get a better exchange rate in Marrakech, even at the airport there. But, exhausted and brain-dead, I went ahead and did it without even checking the exchange rate! I only changed £200 Sterling and accepted that the rate would be worse.


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Published

By Chris Coe

Chris is a professional photographer, and the founder of Travel Photographer of the Year. He has been working as a professional photographer since 1992, shooting both editorial and advertising photography, and has published over 50 books. He lectures on and teaches photography, mentors and is a competition judge.