Tips to Keep Your Belongings Secure While Travelling
By Amanda Moore
Travelling is one of life’s greatest joys. Whether you’re hitting the road with a partner, boarding a plane with your family, getting social on a tour or cruise, or embarking on an epic solo adventure, you’re starting a journey that you will never forget. However, “memorable” can mean many things. You want to remember your travels for the awe-inspiring sights you saw, the local meals you tasted, and the wonderful people you’ve met— not spending half your trip panicking and dealing with a stolen passport or wallet.
Though the idea of stolen belongings can be frightening, don’t let it stand in the way of your next adventure! There are plenty of ways to keep your items and money safe while you see the world:
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1. Avoid Overpacking
Not only is overpacking cumbersome, it also leaves no space for souvenirs, and can even result in hefty airline fees, it can open you up to theft. After all, a pickpocket can’t swipe your jewellery from your backpack if it’s safely stored back home.
Is there a specific occasion for you to be wearing your great grandfather’s watch? Then perhaps it shouldn’t be coming on this trip. The same goes for extra credit cards, unnecessary electronics, or other expensive items. Unless it is crucial to your trip, leave it behind for now.
2. Be Discreet
If you are travelling with expensive items, try not to be flagrant about it. Wearing flashy jewellery or withdrawing and counting large amounts of money from an ATM in a congested area, for instance, are both casual acts that can alert robbers that you have things to steal. It’s also important to be discreet and alert while using a smartphone in public— they are easy to snatch out of a pocket, or even sometimes a hand.
3. Travel with your Valuables on your Person
Often when we fly, take a bus, or board a train, we check or stow our larger items, and only take a small bag to our seat. This is much more convenient and comfortable but can leave the items in your large luggage more vulnerable. To avoid trouble, pack your money, jewellery, medications, and any personal documents in your “carry-on” so you can keep an eye on them.
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4. Protect the Contents of your Wallet
Your wallet contains hordes of sensitive information, from your driver’s license to your credit cards. Having it stolen can feel like a disaster, especially because it makes you so vulnerable to identity theft, but there are ways to avoid that happening. Many seasoned travellers carry a fake wallet with an expired card and an inconsequential amount of money to hand over in the case of a mugging or similar crime. It also helps to keep your wallet in a zipped pocket of your clothing— it’ll be easier to see or feel a thief try to lift it.
5. Don’t Be too Confident
For those travelling for long periods of time, the urge to be vigilant can sometimes fade. After months of nobody touching your things, it can be tempting to sleep in a hostel, caravan or tent with your bag out in the open or leave your phone and wallet on your beach towel while you take a dip. Don’t! Remember— you’ve likely been lucky so far because you’ve taken the correct precautions. Keep it up.
6. It’s Called a “Safe” for a Reason!
Theft is often a crime of opportunity. Dodgy hostel roommates, untrustworthy housekeeping staff, or even someone picking your room lock will have a much harder time stealing your things if they’re locked away.
When you leave your accommodation to go explore, don’t leave your valuables out in the open. If your hotel or hostel has the option for a safe or a locker, take advantage of it, even if it cost a few extra bucks to keep your belongings secure. It’s also helpful to travel with locks to keep your suitcase more secure if your accommodation doesn’t have these items.
7. Know What to Do in Case of Emergency
If the worst does happen, you’ll still be okay— but you’ll need to follow the correct protocol. Contact all of your banks, doctors, insurers, and anybody else connected to the identifying items that were inside; it helps to make a list of everything in your wallet before you travel, so you don’t need to wrack your brain during an already difficult time. If crucial items, like your passport, are stolen while overseas, we also strongly recommend contacting your country’s local embassy for help.
Do you have any thoughts to keep your belongings secure while travelling? Share these below in the comments.
- Amanda Moorehttps://www.campingforwomen.com/author/amanda-moore/
- Amanda Moorehttps://www.campingforwomen.com/author/amanda-moore/
- Amanda Moorehttps://www.campingforwomen.com/author/amanda-moore/
- Amanda Moorehttps://www.campingforwomen.com/author/amanda-moore/
Very useful tips here. I need to work on not overpacking!! Hopefully I can implement these tips on my next trip!
Such a useful post! Overpacking is one of the biggest mistakes people make I think. Especially when you have kids. You end up unpacking everything to find one thing which is in itself a danger
I recently went on holiday alone with my daughter, I overpacked – We took 4 luggage for a 3 weeks holiday. Literary took all our clothes. lol Great post.
These tips are really helpful and informative. So important these days, more than ever.
I’m guilty of overpacking. I really need to get better at this and follow the rest of these tips.
We try not to travel with valuables, but of course we need things like electronics and so on. It is good to have ways to keep them protected.
This is such an important post for every traveller to pay heed to.
I’d never thought about the fake wallet – good idea! When I travel, besides wearing my money and splitting up my cash into different places on my person, I always work hard to orient myself to my surroundings and where I’m going BEFORE I go out, and then try to walk/present confidently, like a local. Nothing screams “I’m a distracted tourist, come rob me!” like standing on a street corner, fumbling with a map/subway schedule and looking like you don’t have a clue.
I have never used a hotel safe. I think I am going to have to do it next time. It makes me nervous to leave things in a room.
When I go travel I use only backpacks instead of baggage it’s hassle free and also always keep and presence of mind to safe purposes!
Maysz, I love that. It is good to always stay prepared! Thank you so much for the comment.
Great tips here for those travelling or planning to travel, this is always something that worries me when we are travelling
Samantha, thanks you for the comment. It is great to stay cautious when traveling. However, don’t let it worry you! There are too many beautiful places to see.
These are some great tips to keep in mind while travelling. I usually do not carry much valuable on me while travelling and also try to pack light. The only valuable stuff with us are our camera equipment. But yes, I am usually scared of my wallet being stolen.
Amrita, Thank you for the comment! It’s great that you have a system in place. Making sure you are aware of what works best for you and how to keep things on your person is very important!
What great tips!! I definitely be utilizing them soon for my impromptu trip!!
Tiffani, Awesome! I am glad you enjoyed these tips. Thank you for the comment.
These tips are really useful. I actually put my money in different pockets/bags so I’ll be confident even if I misplace one. LOL. I only use jewelry on special occasions, not while traveling.
Karla, Thank you for the comment. I am glad you fond these tips useful. 🙂
Agree. Even though how safe you can feel, it is always better to secure them. Most things happen when you dont expect it.
Michael, That is a perfect way to summarize it up. Thank you for the comment!
Absolutely correct. Overpacking can make one lose some items. I also agree with keeping valuables personal.
Viano, I am so happy you agree. Keeping your items safe is so important. Thanks for the comment!
These are great tips! And I need to make use of the safe more often. I love to travel but keeping my things safe on the go is always a concern for me.
These tips are super useful. I think what is important is to put into practise tips like these to avoid having bad experiences in travels. Though it may seem like common sense to keep things in the safe etc. but its often forgotten and gives rise to opportunities for thefts.
Adele, I am so glad you found this useful. You are completely right about it being often forgot! Thank you for the comment!
You really leave yourself vulnerable when travelling. But we should never have our guard down. In some countries, crimes happen to travellers because they are easy targets.
Thanks for the reminder. I laughed at your first item: Avoid Overpacking. I’m so guilty!
Crickette, Thank you for your comment. I love your point about how when we are traveling we leave ourselves vulnerable. It’s always better to be prepared!
I usually only carry one suitcase, a small one for my trip up to three weeks! So I believe for camping this is definitely the rule as well for the reasons above. Besides, to be aware of thieves is a pain and headache issue indeed.
Mijia, Being able to only take one small suitcase is amazing! Every trip is different but that is definitely ideal. I am happy you enjoyed this topic and thank you for the comment.
Thanks for the helpful tips. I definitely agree with your first point about packing light. The less you bring, the less you have to watch over and therefore the less chance of losing track of something. I say that but then I just misplaced our gopro on our last trip! Ughh.
Cecilia, Exactly! Even if you are not worried about keeping your things safe packing light is important to avoid misplacing stuff. I am so sorry about your gopro. 🙁
We always use our safe in our hotel room! I also don’t leave anything valuable just laying around.
Neely, That is awesome. Staying prepared is key. Thank you for your comment.
I also don’t bring many valuables when I travel. That’s a great idea to bring a fake wallet with expired credit cards!
Lori, I am happy you enjoyed this topic! Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Even though we have travel insurance, it is still the best way to be very careful at all times. Better not to travel with expensive jewellery, and avoid showing off too much. And always carry your belongings and not expect the hotel staffs to be your assistant.
Lori, Great points! Staying extra prepared is always a great idea. Thanks for the comment.
We travel reasonably lightly, not as lightly as some but our cases usually come in at around 25 kilos between two of us. No jewellery other than the one simple, inexpensive chain and pendant I wear daily, and our wedding bands, also plain. The only valuables we have are cameras and related equipment (which are not as valuable as they once were, as they are all quite old now) and sometimes a tablet-laptop. We always use room safes when available but also have padlocks for our cases and handluggage bags, in case the room safe is too small, or there isn’t one.
Kavita, That is really smart. I am glad you are always thinking ahead. Thank you for your comment.
It’s so important to keep your belongings secure while you’re traveling. I know that we’ve been traveling all summer long, and now into the fall season. It’s important that we keep a close eye on our belongings and have them protected at all times.
Brandy, thank you for your comment. I am glad you are thinking a head on your travels. I hope you are having the best time!
Those anti-theft backpacks are pretty good for this too. I am a minimalist traveller, the less I take the less that can go missing.
Michelle, Great point! That is good to keep in mind when getting prepared for traveling. Thank you for your comment!