Wherever you travel, safety is key, and that includes protecting your stuff.
If you’re traveling with a group, carrying luggage, holding a guidebook, and/or speaking a different language, it can point you out as a tourist. And depending on where you are, this could make you a target for pickpockets.
You don’t want to always be looking over your shoulder when you’re traveling, but taking some simple precautions could help you breathe easier and avoid a loss that could derail your trip.
Here is some time-tested advice for how to keep your belongings safe while you’re traveling:
Protect your luggage
At Explorica, we always make sure the hotels where you stay are safe and that you can trust that your belongings are protected. Most will either offer a safe in your room or the option to leave your luggage with the front desk. However, there are still a few things you can do if you’d like to take extra precautions.
Never keep expensive belongings in your luggage, but if you do, or if you’re concerned about theft, you can invest in a hard case with a secure lock.
When you’re at the airport, make sure you keep an eye on your luggage at all times. If you’re holed up for a while or you make a stop and sit down with bags or luggage, try to keep a hand on it or tie one of the straps to your clothing.
Secure your wallet or purse
When you’re abroad, it’s best to carry cash in a money belt or neck wallet rather than a purse or a wallet.
If you do wear a purse, be sure to wear it across your body, not just on one side, shorten the straps, and make sure you have a hand on it at all times in crowded areas. If you carry a wallet, keep it in your front pocket. Never leave these items unattended.
Another measure to keep thieves from opening a bag is by using a carabiner to clip a bag to your body or to keep the zipper closed.
Use a decoy wallet
You should definitely use a money belt or a neck wallet for your most precious items, like IDs, passports, credit cards, and bulk amounts of cash. However, you also don’t want to have to access this secure spot every time you pay for something. It’s annoying, and it also exposes your hiding spot.
For that reason, we recommend using a secondary wallet—even a Ziplock bag—to store items that you’ll be accessing all the time but that you wouldn’t miss if you lost. Put small amounts of cash in there, plus other things like chapstick or tissues.
Secure your phone
While traveling, chances are you’ll want to have your phone in your hand or in an easily accessible pocket for taking pictures. While this makes it more likely to be stolen, if you want to take lots of photos then your only real option for protecting it is to be vigilant.
Make sure your phone is password-protected so a thief couldn’t access your information, and back up photos and other saved items whenever you get the chance.
Avoid putting your phone on the table at a restaurant—especially an outdoor one—and, if possible, wear a jacket or a shirt with a zipper so you can keep it secure while also being able to access it easily.
Bonus tip: Know what pickpocketing looks like
Anyone can be a pickpocket, even a child, and they can discreetly unzip items even while you’re wearing them. Thieves will also do things like pretending to bump into you and apologizing while they pull a wallet from your pocket, or using children to create a diversion.
Pickpockets wait until the opportune moment, which is usually when you’re distracted by something else. Your best bet is to stay vigilant and make your things a lot more difficult to steal for a no-worries trip!
Great tips Cora:
One bag I found that is so far a good pick pocket deterent is the Hengren nylon bag that literally wraps over your shoulder so the zipper is under your arm. I use a carabiner as well to hook my wallet inside the inner zip pocket. It takes a bit longer to get my money out but it’s worth it. It also has a fair bit of room but packs flat if you need it too. But I think your solution is definitely more entertaining!
– Cathy
Hey Cathy,
I tried to google “Hengren nylon bag” without much success. Do you have a website that I can access so that I can see your anti-pickpocket bag? You can never have too many of these bags. 🙂
Cora
Cora, one thing I use often are safety pins…the bigger the better, but not diaper ones. I use them to hook the zipper of my purse to it (yes, I use a cross-body purse that I carry only a day’s worth of cash).
I also use safety pins to pin my money belt in 2 places…it makes it hard for anyone cutting the belt off.
(ps-the only time I don’t use the safety pins are through air-ports as they could set off the metal detectors)
Safety pins work to make sure that your money belt is secured to your clothing…
Safety pins … why didn’t I think of that!! Thank-you for the recommendation. One more way to make life difficult for those pickpockets!