Let’s be honest: money is a major issue when your goal is to aimlessly backpack around the world. Sure, some people were born into the lap of luxury, and they need only gas up their family yacht to visit the world’s exotic destinations. But a much larger percentage of the population has to make a conscious choice to forego career development if they want to experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of the world. From the moment his baby beard grew into a full-blown biker beard, The Bearded Man knew he was destined for travel — he just loved meeting new people way too much. And he’s always had an affection for the varied ethnicities of the world. On year 5 of his first world tour, he ran into a serious problem: no more money. This was, of course, a long long time ago, before vlogging was a thing. He came up with this brilliant plan, and he simply handed a slip of paper to the first shopkeeper he couldn’t afford to pay: “IOU”. What a ridiculous concept! But he assured the shopkeeper that he was good for the money. So doing, he pioneered the fractional reserve banking system (although he never exploited that particular loophole). Life was fine and dandy dishing out IOUs, until the day he tried to extend the same concept to a girl. Boy did that blow up in his face…