Get a home sewer to put a couple of unseen pockets in a couple of your garments. Also have them sew you a portable linen pocket you can safety pin inside any garment.
Fool proof.
Here’s another tip. I always wear shoes when traveling, never sandals or flipflops. I’ve pulled out the tongue, slashed a 1/2 inch slit in the bottom of the lining of the tongue, and shoved a couple of $100 bills up in there, wrapped in plastic. Then put the tongue back in place, and you have a perfectly hidden stash of cash for emergency.
The presumption is, even a mugger will leave you your shoes. Ive carried money there for 30 years, never lost it, but never needed it either.
As for the belt/neck question, Ive always gone with the belt. I don’t care how thick and cumbersome a belt gets, even with an extended passport, up to 30 bills, several credit cards, and plane tickets. I sleep in it – it only comes off in the shower, and there, I keep it in view.
The quality of the belts has declined considerably in the past few decades. Now, they have stretchy strap and flimsy plastic latch. But mine has made it around the world twice to every continent in five years, with no real signs of wear.
That cash must smell awfully ripe by now.
Where are people travelling that it’s a legit threat that people will cut a strap, reach under your shirt, grab your pouch and run away before you’re aware of anything?
I have travelled extensively and have never been stolen from or even witnessed anyone being pickpocketed. Sure, I’ve seen gypsies trying to work crowds, but anyone who is aware enough to put there stuff in a neck pouch is smart enough to avoid these people.
Get a neck pouch, be sensible and have fun!
Why is it an either/or? Money belt or belt band for passport and major card/money storage and neck pouch for spending money and minor card. If someone grabs the neck pouch and gets away it’s an annoyance rather than a big problem.
Wow, the first time one of my threads has been zombiefied. That has do be some kind of personal milestone. Especially considering how few threads I start.
I travel internationally to Europe and Asia several times a year and have been for a long time. I’ve never had an issue. You don’t need money belts or neck pouches. Use a cross shoulder purse and wallets stay in the front pockets for men. Keep one debit and credit card with you and a second set in a separate location for backup. Make copies of your passport as it’s easier to get replaced if it becomes necessary. Personally I put my passport in the hotel safe and carry a copy when I’m about. While it’s not strictly legal in most countries I’ve been to I consider it to be a safer bet albeit with some risk.
And even if they’re worn under you garments … trust me I can tell they’re there most of the time.
There have been several threads regarding pickpocketing, with Dopers detailing their experiences being pickpocketed. Look them up. It is a real threat in some cities.
Barcelona, for one. The wife was attending a conference there, and while she had no problems, she said several of the conference attendees did. And while she was standing at the check-in counter at the airport to fly home, the man standing right in front of her in line was pickpocketed by a guy ostensibly just passing through the lines. He lost money and his passport. The police said it happened all the time. And she saw a well-dressed businessman type grab someone’s bag and leap through the door on mass transit just before closed. (That last one is not pickpocketing though.)
I recall of the top 10 pickpocketing cities in the world, nine are in Europe, with Hanoi being the odd man out, although we never had any problems in Hanoi ourselves. I also knew someone who had valuables removed from his person on a train in Morocco.
Im thinking there’s a good reason hotel rooms in Cambodia often include a safe where you reset the combo.
How do you get your passport and money out, if you forget the combo or the lock malfunctions? Please don’t say nothing ever malfunctions in Cambodia.
YOU set the combo, YOU remember the number. I expect if you fail to record it or remember it, you buy a replacement when they have to wreck it, to open it. I think there was a warning, to that effect, on the first one I used possibly. They were in several rooms I stayed in. Pretty consistent system for you to set a number so it was pretty easy once you’d used one.
That’s pretty common in lots of countries. I see it more often than not when I travel overseas.
sew·er(1)
ˈso͞oər/Submit
noun: sewer; plural noun: sewers
an underground conduit for carrying off drainage water and waste matter.
sew·er(2)
ˈsō(ə)r
noun: sewer; plural noun: sewers
a person who sews.
Wow, I had to read this a couple of times before I realized you weren’t talking about some type of container where you hide your important documents inside the toilet.
I’ve traveled quite extensively and have never been pickpocketed. I’ve also never used a money belt or a neck pouch.
I carry my purse across my shoulder, and when I remember, I’ll zip it closed. We leave our iPads and passports in our room. Sometimes in the safe, if there is one, sometimes just buried in our luggage.
We’ve probably just been lucky, and in fact, every time we travel I think to myself, this time I’ll take more care, but I don’t.
We are going to Italy next week. Rome for 5 nights, and then down to Sorrento for 3 nights, and passing through Naples on the way. Which I’ve heard can be pretty bad.
I wonder if petty theft is more of an issue or less of an issue in the off season. I’ve considered running a chain through the strap on my purse so it can’t be cut off, but I think that if there will be less people about maybe I don’t need to worry.
Neck pouch for card and passport. Belt for large bills. Decoy wallet with small bills. Put some not valid credit cards in it (like those samples they send int he mail or that AARP card) a few pics, business cards and a alternate but kinda valid ID that you can afford to lose. Whip that puppy out to buy coffee, tips, etc.
Yes, I see them pretty often everywhere now. And no need to wreck the safe if you forget the combination, as management has some sort of pass system that can get it open. One time in I think it was Vietnam, something went wrong as I was trying to reset the combination, and management came up and got it open pronto.
Heh, there was an instance in Bangkok where a lowly bag carrier in one hotel smeared his “nose oil” (one shudders) as it was reported on the keys, then entered the room when the occupants were gone to see which keys they had pressed. He would then try different combos of those keys until it opened. He said he got the idea from MacGyver (the original series, as this was about 20 years ago). Ever since, I’ve been wiping down all the keys on any set in a hotel room I’m staying in.
Yes, there is some kind of master passkey but when I needed it–the previous room occupants had left the safe closed, albeit empty–I had to wait until morning when the big boss manager was on duty.
Here’s a question, do you lock your carry-on bag when you put it in the overhead compartment for a long flight? Overnight flight? I do, I remember reading a couple years ago of a Chinese passenger on a flight to Vietnam, arrested for stealing out of bags when everyone was sleeping.
I agree with this poster … Experience speaks … be careful of the hotel safes too. Employees whisper to family and friends.
Yes, I do. If nothing else, it’s a habit formed from long overnight bus rides in Southeast Asia.
We are in Rome now. There are a surprising number of tourists for the time of the year. I wasn’t expecting it to be so busy.
I haven’t done anything different than what i usually do. But i am carrying the keys to the apartment in my pocket instead of my purse, in case it gets stolen. Police and carabinieri are everywhere though, so I’m not too concerned…she says stupidly.
We leave for Naples and then on to Sorrento in a couple days. Ill probably be extra mindful on that leg of the trip.