I've travelled through Europe, lived in the Netherlands, and visited and briefly lived in the US. Only place I had bank difficulties was the US. In Boston, couldn't even find a bank that would change Canadian dollars - eventually found one, apparently the only one that does, and they treated me like I had visible cooties. In the Netherlands, dressed like a raggedy art student, I could walk into a bank and cash a hundred dollar personal check from a relative in Canada, in Canadian dollars, with no account and just a passport for ID. No questions asked, just hand over the guilders with a smile.