Actually I cringe when I look back on some of the dangerous things I did, so safety wasn't really one of my top priorities, I don't think (although, fortunately, nothing too horrible has ever happened to me traveling). I grew up in London, so I suppose taking certain precautions is second-nature in some ways? Provinces of poor countries actually feel much safer to me that big first-world cities do.

Money-wise, I was lucky enough to have no debts coming out of university, and to actually have some money (not a massive amount, probably 3/4k dollars) saved up from a student job at a call center. I set up a bank account with the lowest international transaction fees available, and set-up £400 (maybe 500 dollars?) to wire into this every month (so I wouldn't have to track my spending too much, or worry too much about bank-card theft/ATM kidnapping etc.). I only carried this card (debit! only carry debit cards!) with me. I always carried a 100 dollar bill and a 50 euro note, as well, for immediate emergencies.

Where are you planning to go? Have you bought crazy numbers of maps yet?