<p>Just curious about what folks here do about securing valuables (passport, airline tickets, rail pass, credit cards, debit cards, cash) they they travel. Have read some heated debates about the pros & cons of money pouches of various kinds. The only time we were in Europe, we did wear money belts & I’ve had hubby wear a pouch that attaches to his belt when he travels overseas as well. Just wondering what the folks here recommend and have experience in.</p>
<p>We’re particularly interested in what they’ve gotten their young adults to use/wear. We remember that years back in Rome, hubby was incessentaly pestered by the gypsies until he stopped carrying around his wallet & moved all his valuables to a hidden pouch under his clothing.</p>
<p>Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I seem to have lost all the money pouches we have acquired over the years, so I’m back to square one. I hate things around my neck, so would NOT want anything that hangs from it. Have never trusted hotel safes & we’re staying at some more “rustic” places that I’m not sure have safes anyway.</p>
<p>Check out the Travelsmith website, they sell several bags and options. I just ordered the small micro hands off bag (a purse that hangs across the front of your body with some security features so it is difficult to cut the bag or straps). It hasn’t arrived yet, I can post again once it is here.</p>
<p>I’ve suggested to my Ss that they carry their plastic cards (driver’s license, credit card, insurance cards) in a different place from their cash. Never leave their wallets in their jackets or put them in their back pockets. I like pouches that attach to belts. My S wears cargo pants with numerous pockets, so he can keep things separate.</p>
<p>Thanks–I HATE things around my neck; seems to literally weigh me down. I have read that cargo pants aren’t really much of a solution, as thieves can rifle through much more quickly than you can imagine (I had my pockets picked in London tube on that same trip–neither I nor hubby realized it until we were back at our hotel). I just had 10 or 20 pounds and an old theater ticket taken, but it did take us aback! Fortunately, at the time I had all my valuables under my clothing in a travel pouch.</p>
<p>I travel to Europe with the whole family often and I’m the one to carry all of the valuables. I prefer to use a zippered Longchamp nylon over the shoulder tote bag. It has a sturdy zipper and a leather flap with a snap that covers part of the zipper, which would be virtually impossible for a pickpocket to get into. I’ve never had a problem, even in Palermo or Naples - both cities notorious for petty street crime.</p>
<p>I’m not into fanny packs or belt packs - I actually think that this sort of thing signals that you are a tourist. I always use the hotel safe and again, I’ve never had a problem, although I can understand some hesitation in leaving things there. We occasionally leave valuables at the front desk for safekeeping in the main hotel safe.</p>
<p>Never used a money pouche, carried same purse as at home. We, as a family of four, have never been pick pocketed. We have traveled to Italy, UK, Spain, China, Sweden…We also never exchange money before we go. We get local money at their ATM machines, and pay for almost everything with credit cards(even coffee). What I’ll do before I leave a country is to use any cash left over to pay my hotel bills and keep ~20 to go the airprot.</p>
<p>I usually carried our passports with me (sometimes we need it to get VAT back), or I leave them in the hotel safes.</p>
<p>I’ve used the around the waist, inside the pants in the front type money belts and found them awkward and uncomfortable. I prefer the pouch you attach to your belt and tuck into your pants or pull out as needed.</p>
<p>Either way, I’d recommend keeping a small amount of cash more readily available without having to access the secret stash.</p>
<p>I am probably less careful about using money belts than I should be, probably because I am general trusting of humankind. I have never had my pockey picked, but I’ve seen it happen, in Paris, Rome, and Beijing.</p>
<p>We’re very trusting too, but have had people try to pick hubby’s pockets in Rome, had mine picked in London, had brother’s picked when he was travelling internationally, and had a friend walking in the midst of all of us had her pocket (with a piece of paper with a phone number) taken while walking on a sidewalk a few hundred feet between the hotel & restaurant in Hong Kong. </p>
<p>Hubby does like the pouch style you mention, where it is on a loop, attached to the belt and worn into the pants. Yes, it is recommended that the “walking around” cash be readily accessible and that one does NOT access cash pouch in public (go to a restroom stall or dressing room instead).</p>
<p>I do appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this, as we would prefer not to have any of our vacation marred by pickpocket nightmares. If they get some of the daily spending money, it is an annoyance and inconvenience. If they take more, it will take away a hunk of time from our vacation. </p>
<p>Even in the US, I prefer to be without a purse whenever possible. It just tends to end up the repository for everything & I feel like a pack animal. It also ends up getting heavier & heavier.</p>
<p>One of my Ds is doing a semester in Europe right now and I sent her off with an old fashioned money belt and a lecture about pickpockets. She pretty much tuned me out until another girl on her program had her wallet stolen with passport, money, credit and debit cards. After that, my D has used her money belt on several trips. I got it at REI and it’s a super thin, flat cloth container on an elastic belt. I think it might have been Eagle Creek brand.</p>
<p>There are several reasons I suggest to my Ss that they keep cash separate from credit cards:
it’s a real hassle to deal with the loss of IDs and credit cards, especially abroad. I had my wallet stolen in NYC while visiting from London where my bank account was located, and transatlantic calls were incredibly time-consuming (especially with the time difference) and costly.
you do not want to keep on taking out the wallet with all your plastic every time you want to settle a small bill.
If you get mugged, the mugger may be happy to take a small sum of money from you, but if you have nothing to hand over, he may get angry.</p>
<p>We do this a few times a year and have tried it all. Here is what my hubby and I are down to. I also hate things around my neck, but since I don’t like stuffing my pockets I bought a very small across the body purse with slash proof straps. Try Tumi or Pacsafe. In it I carry my drivers license, credit card, passport, cash, Tylanol, lip gloss, cell phone, coins for public bathrrom and a business card from our hotel. If my purse was any larger, my H would try and stuff things into it. Grrrrr…My H wears a money belt with excess cash and everything else he puts in his two front pockets. Sometimes he wears a Travel Smith type shirt with a zippered breast pocket. </p>
<p>We also have photo copies of our passports in our carry on luggage and do not use the hotel safe. ( I have a fear that I will forget to unload it). Our laptop gets locked in a suitcase when we leave the room. This is not fool proof, but the maid might look suspicious wandering down the hall with our bag and it is less tempting than leaving it in the open.</p>
<p>There is NO way our 16 and 18 years old boys would wear a neck or waist pouch so one of us always carries their passport and they keep their cash in the front pants pocket.</p>
<p>Yes, I have frequently read the advantages of having a small sum of cash in a convenient location (like a pocket) as well. I also agree that it’s best NOT to keep bringing out your wallet and do not relish the thought of international calls to sort out the fallout of theft.</p>
<p>While not being a paranoid person, I know that theft does happen and feel it’s naive to pretend otherwise. I’m just hoping to have all of us secure our most important valuabes somewhere convenient and unobtrusive so that we can have only wonderful memories of our vacation.</p>
<p>If a thief makes off with a bit of cash, we can handle that and it will just be a bump along the way. If they take our ID & “plastic,” it will be a much bigger issue. :(</p>
<p>Thanks for all of these thoughts–they are helpful.</p>
<p>Be careful with cash or credit cards in the front pockets. My H almost had his front pocket picked by a little girl on the Metro in Paris. Fortunately for us, a French gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed her out to me. This sweet little 7ish year old girl had her hand under H’s coat reaching into his front pocket. Her lovely father came and snatched her away once he saw that we had become aware of her actions.</p>
<p>Yes, we have heard a lot about those light-fingered folks on the Paris Metro and elsewhere. My kids are pretty careful in LA, where they’re attending school. Their friends have repeatedly told them NOT to have anything they can’t afford to lose in any of their pockets or on their person. It can be quite crowded & confusing in public transit and I got my pocket picked on the London Tube, unbeknownst to us until we got back to our lodging late that night!</p>
<p>The man may not have been “father” but perhaps Oliver! Fagin? Who knows?</p>
<p>Credit cards deserve extra protection, because there is significant liability and hassle factor if lost or stolen.</p>
<p>I have concerns about charging many small items overseas. On one trip our card # was used fraudulently to order all types of internet items from abroad. Although we were not charged for these things, if your card is cancelled while you are away, that can be a problem too. I don’t recall seeing amex travel offices abroad like there used to be on my most recent trip. I also find that no one like to cash traveler’s checks, seemingly due to fraud on that account, although you can find places to do that. </p>
<p>When we were in Paris, there was a scam involving a “gold” ring. A girl would ask if you dropped the ring, and I guess wanted to get a reward if you said it was yours. Since we said the ring was not ours, and how lucky of her to find it, we did not find out if you got mugged when you took out your wallet or what exactly would have happened. Our traveling companions said that this happened to them as well, and they also did not claim the ring.</p>
<p>also i’ll tell you that you should be careful when you’re sitting next to an open train window with a necklace or something because just as the train moves they snatch it right out and its gone like magic</p>
<p>I think they offer to sell it to you & it’s plastic or some base metal and not “gold.” They also distract you while someone else is trying to steal your valuables. They also watch to see if you look at your valuables so they know where to try to get them from.</p>
<p>There are quite a few scams around. It is interesting how creative some of them are and a pity folks don’t go into theater instead where they can earn a lower paying but honest living…I guess they prefer the income they generate in their chosen careers.</p>
<p>The worst and most aggressive folks we encountered in our trip many years back was in Rome, when hubby insisted on having a wallet in his pocket and refused to use the money belt. As soon as he switched to a money belt, he was totally ignored by the gypsies.</p>
<p>I do not take jewelry other than a simple gold band wedding ring (that is very difficult to remove) when I travel–don’t want to have any worries. May also bring my old cheap Timex and won’t be sad if it disappears.</p>
<p>Himom, I also don’t wear jewelry while traveling. Yes, I remember that we were advised also that the pickpockets create these distractions so that while you are watching them, someone else picks your pocket. I lived for years in NYC, and I did have my wallet stolen on a bus there - purse unzipped on a crowed bus, and wallet passed off to a partner. I went right home, and as I was calling the credit card company, they were trying to use my card. The merchant thought it was fishy, and was asking for ID, and a man bolted from the store.</p>
<p>I’ve had luck carrying small shoulder strap purses you can cover with your hand. I tend to leave my passport in my room safe. I’ve been to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, London, Paris, Rome, Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Barcelona, Venice, Naples, Sorrento, Florence, Athens, Munich, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg as I travel frequently. It helps if you look like a) you know where you are and b) you know what’s going on around you.</p>
It also ends up getting heavier & heavier.</p>