Another one who accepts that my no suitcase lock is going to prevent my luggage from being harvested by anyone who wants to. And who doesn’t bother with the safe when available.
But then again I don’t travel with anything too valuable or even very much.
True, any backpack may look like a tempting target to a thief, but I would hope that a thief would be savvy enough to move on to more prosperous-looking targets. My backpack, from Lands End, is at least 10 years old, and I bought it at a thrift shop. My husband’s, an Under Armour, is a thrift shop find too, and after 3 years of everyday use and travel on a commuter train and subway, it’s gotten beat-up and grubby.
Of course, I realize that there are lots of dumb thieves and that I may be a tempting target not because my backpack looks expensive but because I look distracted or something.
Same, and mostly the same places. I’ve been jostled by pickpockets, and a friend caught a hand in his pocket. But i don’t put valuable in loose, visible pockets. And again, the only valuable i travel with are small, my passport, two credit cards, and my phone. I also usually keep ~$50 cash in an accessible pocket for random transactions. Haven’t lost that yet, but it’s intentionally little enough that i won’t weep if i do.
I once stayed in a hotel in Japan that had no locks on the door. Asking about that was challenging because i spoke no Japanese and the hotel staff spoke no English. But i succeeded, and the guy told me not to leave valuables in the room.
Oh, and I used to leave my luggage at paid “left luggage” places, back when that was a thing. Sometimes the clerk would ask if i had anything valuable in the bag. No matter what was in the bag, i always said, “no”, often laughing and saying my dirty laundry was valuable to me.
When my wife and I travel, we bring a laptop PC and an iPad, so we really prefer to lock these up in the suitcase when we’re not in the room.
When I take a road trip on my motorcycle, anything valuable is on the bike with me; the only things left alone in the room are clothes the toiletries, so there’s not much incentive to lock things up.
Reasonable. Still from my perspective either someone has broken into my room, in which case a luggage lock is relatively not a major hurdle, or they are an employee who has access. The latter usually doesn’t want to risk their job for a laptop and would be caught if they did it regularly.
Ha. Just remembered this. My wife and I received mostly money for our wedding shower. Cash. We put it in our carry on on the plane. It wasn’t a huge amount, but for a couple just starting out, a nice bit of cash.
An older Japanese couple mistakenly grabbed our bag. And started down the aisle of the plane. Took me a second to realize that it was our bag. Looked just like theirs.
Confusion was king for a minute as this couple thought I was trying to take their bag. But it was our bag with about 2k of cash in it. I do not speak Japanese. Nor them English.
A laptop/tablet will stay in my day pack that is under the seat in front of me.
Good point. Since my wonderful wife is on the opposite end of this spectrum than I am, I’m very understanding that there are a range of appropriate views. And while I’m pretty laid back about risks of theft, I have no quarrel with people who want a few more safety measures.
Very true. And sadly, women have to be more fearful.
When younger, I was 6’4" tall (I’ve shrunk a bit). Big guy, athletic, strong. Now, that is changing, because I look like a retired guy.
But I think my stature has helped deter crime against me when just on the street. At least when I was younger.
My wife is a foot shorter and 80 lbs lighter than me. She was very fast and played high school basket ball. Her talent was to swoop in low, steal the ball and pass it to a team mate.
I said “other”, because while I’ve got a TSA-approved lock built in to my luggage, I don’t use it, but I do use the hotel safe.
I figure the TSA approved lock is next to useless; you can buy TSA approved luggage keys on Amazon for like $6. So why bother with it? The legitimate airline luggage people and TSA can officially get in, and anyone else can too for $6, so why bother?
The hotel safe is probably a bit tougher, in that it probably requires some sort of master PIN or physical key that the cleaning staff probably doesn’t have access to. And if something does get stolen out of the safe, I’d imagine I have a bit more recourse than if something goes missing in my luggage. Fewer throats to choke in that particular chain of events anyway. So I use it, but do things like put a shoe in there with it, or some other thing I can’t easily leave behind. And generally really valuable stuff stays on me anyway.
You have no recourse whatsoever against the hotel if anything is stolen from your room, including from the provided ‘security’ safe. Read the fine print on the agreement you sign next time you check into a hotel and you’ll discover that you completely indemnify the hotel for and loss, damage, or injury which occurs on their premises, even if it was due to malfeasance by a member of their staff.
You should have little to no concern about the cleaning staff (at least, at a ‘name brand’ hotel) stealing your stuff; they are way too busy just trying to clean around all of the junk people leave out, and (in my experience) too worried about being accused of anything to take as much as loose change. But, again, hotel security is a joke; it takes minimal effort to bypass hotel door locks (or just to force the unmonitored door), and little ‘technique’ to open the typical hotel room safe.
Stranger
I wonder if any hotels still have a hotel safe at the front desk or in the office where guests can leave valuables.
I don’t travel with anything of much personal value. I don’t think a lock would likely stop determined people, and I don’t often use them.
Some high end hotels have the equivalent of a safety deposit vault where larger items and jewelry can be secured, and of course if you are in a hotel with an attached casino, the casino will have several vaults, albeit only open to customers who are staying in one of their top floor suites or are a known ‘high roller’. Your typical chain hotel will have…a locking sheet metal cabinet with the keys stored in the manager’s desk drawer.
Stranger
If your hanging at the resort pool for a day or two, well what about credit cards and your passport? Those, I don’t take to the pool, and I consider them valuable.
You know what I mean. I generally put my passport in the safe, if there is one.
When traveling internationally, my passport stays on me at all times, without exception.
We left them in the room while at the pool, tucked deep in the zippered, unlocked suitcase. As mentioned, housekeeping are very busy and highly disincentivised from stealing. And anyone else breaking into the room, while possible, is rare. Relax and enjoy the pool.
Telling people you’re leaving the country really brings out the xenophobia in older boomers and, even moreso, their parents.
My mother was constantly reminding us about pickpockets, and how I needed to wear a money belt and a fanny pack (but worn in the front, with the metal-reinforced strap looped around my hand at all times).
Well, when we announced we were going to Slovenia, she went so far as to buy me and my wife matching “front sling packs”… could stop a bullet or a knife, with multiple “huddled-masses-proof” features. I never even packed mine.
But my mom’s always been afraid of “The Have-Nots”.
The landscaper that speaks Spanish, even though he’s in America? The black UPS woman? They’re watching. She’s convinced they’re just waiting for her to lower her guard, so they can rob her blind.
Which explains her politics, as well…
I spent a lot of time wandering the poor parts of the world.
The last thing I’d want is a pack that’s firmly attached to my body. I’d much rather carry valuables in a handbag they can snatch and run with versus one they need to slice open my torso to get away with.
I lock my passport (if traveling internationally) in the safe along with my nice watch (if I traveled with it). That’s it though. The rest is my socks and underwear and pants which I doubt anyone wants.
If I have neither of those then I have no use for the safe (I barely carry any cash anymore).