Five years ago I agreed to sell a watch to a trusted dealer/friend in Aruba who was trying to get a client the watch I had but was no longer available. He was travelling to Las Vegas for a dealer show and he said he would pay $40k cash at the show and I would give him the watch, and he would pay an extra $1k for my expenses. Flew out with the watch, had lunch at his hotel, went up to his room and I counted the $40k in $100 bills, gave him the watch and left. Somehow I got twisted around at the hotel and went out the high roller exit where a couple of Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and a Rolls Royce or two were parked. They asked where I was going and I said the airport, they drove me over in a house car and I gave the driver a nice tip. My only concern was going through security with that much cash in my carry on but figured if anyplace was ok with cash it would be Las Vegas. Sailed right through with 4 thick bundles of bills clearly visible on the x-ray machine, no issues, no questions asked. Changed plans in Salt Lake City (same concourse, no more security) and got back to home airport in Texas about 11pm. Took the bus to the car park, put the bag in the back seat, locked the doors and drove the 80 miles to home. The next day put $10k in the bank (the max you can put in without triggering the need for the bank to report a large cash deposit) and lived on the $30k cash for the next 18 months or so. We were doling out $100 bills at the grocery store every time the wife went to buy a loaf of bread. Didn't use an ATM machine once in that period. I have no issue taking large sums of cash if that is the preferred method of transaction. Cash is king to me.
