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Theft on your holiday – do’s and don’ts

Written by Katja 27 July 2010 7 Comments

So girls,

Some serious BS has happened to me this past week. Last week in Amsterdam someone stole my bag from the back of my bike (while I was riding it) and then dropped it somewhere after taking out my laptop, an external hard drive with tons photos and 300 euros cash. That…..sucked. But life goes on so I bought a new Macbook and told myself that I was lucky to at least still have my phone and my camera. Until yesterday at 6am on the night train from Milan to Rome when someone got my bag AGAIN, this time stealing my brand new Macbook, my cherished Canon 5D (€3000 with the lens) and €100 in cash.

The whole thing is such a tragedy that I am literally at a loss for words. I think I lead a pretty great life and have always been lucky with stuff, so things like this simply don’t fit into my world as I live and understand it. I also believe in karma, so I’m kind of questioning mine right now. However, to put things back into perspective, I am still lucky in many ways. I have the job I always wanted (which actually allows me to go out and buy yet another laptop and another camera and lets me travel through Amsterdam and Italy within 2 weeks), I have friends who show their support offering help and I’m healthy. No one threatened me at gunpoint, or gave me drugs or hurt me. And I suppose it’s even some luck they didnt simply take the whole bag with my i-D’s in it (strangely enough, the train thief didn’t take my iphone, err, thanks for that).

Karma means believing that everything happens for a reason. For now, let’s just say that the reason this happened to me is that I can write about it on Travelettes and maybe put out a sign of warning for those among you traveling with valuables.

When traveling, never be fooled into believing you are safe because you’re traveling Europe (that’s what I did, i’m way more careful in South America or Asia).

- If you take a night train, sleep with your bag on your bed using it as a pillow or putting your arm around it and/or wrapping it in your sheet. It also helps to ask for the upper bed as their harder for thieves to reach.

- When riding a bike, do not leave your bag in the basket behind you as someone can take it without you noticing. Better wear a bag you can wrap around your body or find a bike with a basket on the handlebar.

- Do not leave your valuables in a cotton tote bag. Thieves might cut them open from behind and take our your wallet.

- Refrain from wearing bagpacks, I have often watched thieves freely opening them and taking out whatever they pleaes without the wearer noticing.

- In restaurants, internet cafes and anywhere really, never ever put your bag next to you, between your feet or anywhere where your eyes can’t see them at all times. Always carry your bag on your lap.

What I have learned is to simply cut down on traveling with valuables. If you have a lot, you have a lot to lose and vice versa. Carry your cash and i-D in your money belt and refer to internet cafes rather than bringing your computer. If you have a hotel safe, leave it there. Never carry more cash than you can handle losing and keep your credit cards in separate places so you have a backup if your bag gets snitched.
If you do travel with your laptop, make sure it’s password protected so the thief cannot access your data or even reinstall a new software without your password.

When you do fall victim to theft, go to the police instantly filing a report. When you return to your home country you must see the police there, too. Before you leave on your trip find out if your valuable are insured and to what conditions and if necessary get a good insurance. If you take your computer make sure you make a backup copy with all your files which you leave home.

Please share stories that have happened to you, so other people can learn from them.

Save travels,
Katja

Me at a bar somewhere in Argentina. Back then i owned nothing of value that wouldn’t fit into my money belt.

7 Comments »

sebastian said:

“If you do travel with your laptop, make sure it’s password protected so the thief cannot access your data or even reinstall a new software without your password.”

If youuse windows, that means you need to have your harddrive encrypted by Windows or thirdparty-sw like “Safeguard Easy” or TrueCrypt (its free).
Simply using a passwort for your windows-account dont work, because the thief can´t start your windows and login, but he can read all your data by starting your laptop using a linux-cd or put your harddrive in an external case and connect it to another computer.

regarding your iphone: isnt there a function to trackdown your phone when it was stolen? maybe thats why the thief left it alone.

# 27 July 2010 at 3:38 am

Krissi Molina Grant said:

I will never make the mistake of thinking that just because Im in supposedly First World Countries im more safe …?! Not!

When living in Latin America I had no problems – because i was smart and carefull , Europe isnt safe and has alot of poverty , I was robbed blind in New Zealand of all places , relaxed a little and look out!

In Argentina its considered “bad luck” to put your bag on the ground.

Not everyone is nice , people are more and more desperate , travelling educates you in ways that are sometimes good and sometimes bad.

I agree , travel light , isnt travelling all about switching off the Mobile , Blackberry and Laptop anyway , you can still travel with your basic camera and get some good shots for your Face Book page , we dont need all the technology we have these days , just makes for a harder blow when we are robbed of it all.

# 27 July 2010 at 4:27 am

mifi said:

You also have some anti-theft software available … the one I know utilizes wi-fi positioning to provide the accurate location of your device in the event of theft, without the need for GPS or additional hardware. When you report you laptop stolen the software will activate and start sending you emails with the specific location and network environment of the system, as well as use the i-sight camera to take a photo of who is using the system every 30 minutes. (this is for mac-book laptops) …

# 27 July 2010 at 4:40 am

jaclyn said:

yes, the software mifi mentions is called mobileme. you can backup all your files on a remote server and access your computer remotely as well. this allows you to track the computer, send emails from it, open up the camera applications, etc..

# 27 July 2010 at 10:46 am

Teresa said:

night trains in Italy are always dangerous… I really don’t like to take them because something happens every time.

# 30 July 2010 at 2:25 am

kendra said:

Thanks soo much for this article. I travel alot to the Carribeans since that’s where my family is from (Dominican Republic) and I am ALWAYS careful as well since it’s a really poor country and all; and I am planning to go to Europe and never would I imagine that I have to be just as careful as well….

Wow, now I know.

# 3 August 2010 at 9:50 am

Ivy said:

In Vietnam I was so stupid to gave my bag to a boy, thinking he was the luggage-boy from train company. While he was putting my bag in the cabin he stole my camera en mobile. I was so angry and of course I cried. All those beautiful pictures I took. Well it was a hard lesson.

# 8 August 2010 at 3:07 am