Most people only ever think about the need to buy foreign currency when they think about traveling abroad. The idea is to exchange your own local currency for the type of currency used in the country you want to travel to.

Of course, when you buy foreign currency for travel purposes, you would either buy traveler's checks or you'd opt to accept the actual foreign notes used in that country to carry in your wallet. There are plenty of websites offering information about the exchange rates, so you would look up how much you're likely to receive in the foreign money. You'd then take your vacation, enjoy your trip and then head home again.

On your way home, you would then exchange your foreign notes or traveler's checks back again for your own local currency. In essence, you'd buy foreign money back again. That's right - your own local money would be considered foreign in the country in which you're exchanging funds back again.

Wouldn't it be convenient if the price of your own local money had altered during your vacation so that when you exchanged it back again, you actually received back a little more than you originally had? This kind of transaction happens every day, but there is a way to buy foreign currency without needing to travel abroad.

Every day, major corporations, banks and governments buy foreign currency as a form of speculative investment. Realizing the opportunities available in the global money market, many investors also it and sell it back again in order to generate profits. This kind of investment activity is called foreign exchange trading, or Forex trading.

Currency conversion calculators can show you exactly what you're getting. These variances in prices alter every day, which is how Forex traders create their profits. They wait for the pricing to be in their favor, place a buy trade to grab the overseas money they're speculating on and then wait for the pricing to represent a profit. When the price of the foreign money changes, the investor simply sells that currency to buy back his original money again, receiving more money than he originally spent.

Many people are initially skeptical about Forex trading. They seem to believe it's too difficult or too complex for them to dive into the market and begin trading. Yet these same people are just fine to travel across the border and buy foreign currency during a simple vacation.

The principle behind Forex trading is exactly the same process. The primary difference is that you can't buy it online for traveling purposes, yet you're able to buy and sell money from countries all over the world electronically through your Forex trading account.

So instead of believing that Forex trading will be too difficult or too risky for you to get into, think about how easy it is to buy foreign currency whenever you want to travel abroad on a family vacation. Translate that ease of currency exchange to a solid business trading strategy and you suddenly have a very viable way to generate profits from the comfort of your own home.