My husband I will be in Italy this fall. I am not really worried about being pick pocketed, but I have a few questions. We are staying in places without safes. Will our exta cash, credit cards, airline tickets, etc be okay in the room (private rooms)? Is there a need to have our passports on us at all times? Will a photo copy work? If we need to carry all that extra stuff with us all day I hate to have it all in one place just in case. We are careful, but you never know. Just looking for some advice. The last time I was in Europe I didn't wear a belt of any kind. I had a small bag that I wore across my chest and had one hand on it at all times. I didn't have any problems.... not sure why I am worrying this time.
I agree with you about not worrying too much, but don't leave your stuff in the hotel room! I carry a small purse under my arm, too, and have never had any trouble. BUT if i'm going to be in particularly crowded places, I do have one of the pouches that goes around the neck. Expect for the string around the neck, it's unobstusive and holds passport and credit cards. Another thing I've done is carry a shoulder bag to put purchases in- it doesn't look like a purse, but has inside poskets that I can keep my camera and some money in. A friend of mine was pickpocketed in the Vatican a few years ago, but she was carrying a big purse with just a button clasp, and wears a lot of jewelry.
I have never and would never consider wearing any sort of money belt and just use the same caution I would anywhere. Re leaving things in a hotel room - I have never had anything stolen from hotel rooms - and they would usually be 2 - 4 star. For example I would regularly leave my laptop in the room.
That said, I would usually have all cash and credit cards on me - as well as any jewellery of any value at all. I think it might be tempting fate a bit to leave that around - maybe the room has a safe or you could leave in a locked suitcase?
I do not carry my passport with me all the time either - that would usually be in the room.
When traveling I ALWAYS carry a photcopy of our passports! Should you be involved in any sort of accident (god forbid!) this will be the first thing the autorities ask to see.
I can't stand money belts and other "precautions" that are popular with many folks. I've traveled extensively in Europe and elsewhere, and while I've sometimes been targeted, so far I've never been hit (knock wood!). Maintaining situational awareness and being especially careful in crowds has always been enough.
I carry everything I need in my wallet, just like I would in the States, moving it from rear to front pocket depending on time and place. My wife either does the same or carries a small bag which can be carried in front if necessary. This has worked for us here in the famous crime capital of Naples as well as anywhere else we've been.
I agree that you shouldn't leave cash or cards in a hotel room unless it has a safe (and I'd be careful even then). Here in Italy you're supposed to carry your passport at all times anyway. if you don't want to do that, consider leaving it with the hotel front desk.
Posts: 767 | Location: Virginia (but still missing Naples!) | Registered: 05 October 2005
1. Theft in hotel room. I once had money stolen from my room in a 3-star hotel near the Vatican. I would not leave valuables in my hotel room since then. But all hotels offer a safe either in room or in the reception's office, no? I have never been in one that doesn't. In many of the rentals too - especially in apartments in city center - the owner also has a safe - or, once, a secret copartment in the flat ! - for such purpose. You may want to re-inquire with your hotel or rental people.
2. Carry ID? A few times in Venice as in the French Mediterranean and routinely in Barcelona, I have been asked to show a photo ID when I used my credit card. That would seem to preclude just a photocopy of an ID.
3. money belt I got my husband a 100% silk money belt from a travel store for our last trip (to Barcelona). Silk is not bulky and does not make one sweat excessively. My husband wore it only on the first day, when he had to carry a big wad of cash to pay the rental owner. The belt was worn inside his shirt, which he found very comfortable and convenient. It also made him feel like a nervous traveller, certes, but what a cybaritic nervous traveller. And this brings me to my last point.
4. Panic Our forum discussions do seem to have an effect of reinforcing each other's anxieties about theft. For my last trip to Barcelona, I became extra careful about my bag and about theft in general. Once I got there I realized that Barelona - like always, doh! - is not that different from Paris Rome Nice etc., when it comes to petty crime. All the everyday precautions that I take in Paris (well-closed zippered bag, that's all) suffice for Barcelona.
Last night I was walking home from the metro station to my apartment in Wash DC and looking at the various unsavory people around. I don't think that the precautions needed in European cities are much different than those in American cities. One thing I do at home is know just where I am going and walk quickly and purposely. I try to be attentive to what is going on around me. When I know I am coming home late at night I wear jeans and try not to look like a person who would probably have jewelry or money.
Some issues in foreign countries are different but I also leave my laptop in my hotel room or rented apartment. I also leave some other things I don't want to carry and try to "hide" them. I hate to print this, and hope thieves aren't reading, but a couple of good places for a spare credit card are a box for tampax or a container for laxative suppositories. I carry a photocopy of my passport. I do not use a money belt at home or when travelling, I like to wear clothes that fit well and it would show. Also, I know someone who was robbed wearing a money belt, the pick pocket just snipped it. I do not travel with expensive jewelry.
I think bottom line crime is a big problem, especially in the USA, but I don't want to lead my life in fear.
I always take my Magellans vest when I travel. I have a flat nylon zipper pouch (actually it’s a money belt without the belt) that I pin to an inside pocket of the vest to hold an extra credit card, some cash, and my passport. That way I can get at it if I need it, but it is pretty well protected from anyone grabbing it -- unless they manage to rip off my whole vest! The vest is also very handy for carrying on a few extra items when getting on the plane.
Then I keep my main cash and credit card in a flat wallet that goes in another inside pocket of the vest. I do usually carry a bag as well, but it has only nonvaluable stuff like a guidebook, tissues, etc. If I want to leave my hands free, I can always leave the bag behind.
Since I'm not really concerned about being a fashion plate when I travel, I pretty much wear the vest every day. The black one looks better than the tan one pictured on the web if you’re not traveling in hot weather. It is listed under Men's, but it's really unisex. (I bought a medium).
I carried a messenger bag with a pocket along the back that was zippered. You wouldn't even know it was there since it was always against me plus it was kind of hidden in the bag. It was great and I stuck my camera, and small coin purse with cards in there. There was also a small zippered pocket inside the flap and we stuck extra cash in there. That way if someone did reach inside the flap they would just grab the junk I had in the bag, which was worthless (like wipes and a phrasebook). Also, my tip for you, if you are not too modest. Just to cover all our bases, I stuck a wad of cash in my bra. This way when I paid for stuff I didn't even have to dig in my bag. I could have put credit cards in there too, and I have done that at home before like when I go to concerts. But I felt really safe at most places with my system and would have been fine going in the back pocket of the bag (without the bra cash!). The only times I was aware of my bag and really kept my hands on it were on crowded buses and at the Trevi Fountain.
I hate the waist money belts too - they always get sweaty! I sometimes use the around the neck pouch, and recently got some travel socks from the National Geographic store that have a zipper pocket. It's not big enough for a passport but works well for a wad of cash and/or credit cards. I also have a wonderful black travel trenchcoat from TravelSmith. It has inside hidden velcro pockets, a liner for colder weather and is so waterproof and with a huge hood that I don't have to carry an umbrella.
I've also used the in-room hotel safes, but....most hotels will have a disclaimer somewhere that they aren't responsible for items placed in that safe. They'll only take responsibility for things placed in their office safe.
my tip for you, if you are not too modest. Just to cover all our bases, I stuck a wad of cash in my bra
Fantastic tip, hitting so many birds with one stone. And don't worry about ol modest me. From now on, I am going to stuff my bra that way ... whether I am in a safe or unsafe place. And I can't wait to perfect the gesture of getting cash out.
I usually do wear a money belt while I travel (not a waist pack, a/k/a fanny pack that's an easy target, but the underclothes kind). I can entirely understand people making the choice not to do so, but I'm not living in fear. I routinely put the belt on when I get dressed in the morning, I go into it at most a couple of times a day because I keep money for the day in my wallet, and I don't think about it. And I can go to the ATM less frequently and withdraw larger sums than I otherwise would without worrying.
When I ended up in a Palermo emergency room after a motorbike rider snatched my bag and knocked me into the street (and it only takes a brief moment of inattention to be a crime victim--a fact attested to by the police), I was very happy not to have to worry about replacing my passport, ATM and credit cards, and plane ticket while rather traumatized and far away from home. At home it's different: I don't normally carry my passport and a plane ticket, I can easily walk into my bank or borrow money from friends, and I wouldn't be using up precious vacation time dealing with the replacing things.
To me, the logic of it is a little like using a seatbelt, though of course the consequences of not wearing a money belt would be far less severe. Even though I've never been a car accident, I always use a seatbelt.
As I said, others may make a different choice, but I wouldn't characterize my choice as paranoid.
Posts: 691 | Location: San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 28 June 2006
As we were the victim of a pickpocket this trip to Rome, despite all the precautions and care, it does happen!!
1. Leave stuff in a hotel room? Never, even here in the states. My cash and credit cards are always with me. Copies of the credit cards front and back are at the hotel... in the HOTEL safe.
2. Passport.... with us always and a copy is back at the hotel again... in the HOTEL safe
3. Money belt... rarely and only when I have no option like a travel day from one location to another.
4. Room Safe in the hotel... not to use... Why? Because the hotel knows how to get in them, even the electronic ones. When someone screws up and they have to get their stuff out of those safes, they know how to open them. Secure... not really.
I like hotel safes... they put all my valuables in an envelope, seal it and have me sign across it. I get it back the same way.
To think you are being cautious sometimes just doesn't work as we found out. Nothing valuable was taken (according to Judith it was... her makeup mirror and her retainer case) but it still is the violation. Why risk it?
Just be safe... simple.
Doug
ANCORA IMPARO
Posts: 2096 | Location: Winter Park, FL | Registered: 18 May 2005
If you do wear a money belt, they are much more comfortable if you put the pouch part of them in the small of your back, rather than in the front. This assumes that you're just using one to keep passport, extra credit card, plane ticket etc. safe and won't be needing anything else out of it for the day.
I used to wear one all the time, before ATMs were everywhere. I don't think I've used one in ages, but I did like knowing all was safe - relatively.
Callie
Posts: 655 | Location: Maine | Registered: 23 November 2002
I wear a money belt the whole time I am in Italy. I wear it on the plane on the way there also. I carry a bag for my camera and assorted supporting equipment, tissue, change purse with coins, and my medicine. http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/showphoto.php?photo=23625&cat=3834 My money and credit cards I keep in money belt under my clothes. I often carry enough euros with me on the plane to pay for my apartment. I don't like the uncertainty of gettting an ATM to work for the large sum of money one needs for the lodging.
Maybe the reason I carry my money and credit cards in my moneybelt is that in Rome and the Bay of Naples I travel on public transport. The metro, Buses, and the train stations are crammed with people day and night. You can't help being packed into a small space like sardines with people you don't know. I travel in the off-season Dec-April when it is not a crowded and I wonder about how crowded it gets duirng the summer. The wife of a coworker had her wallet taken in a crowded train station.
I also keep spare money in my shoe under an orthodic for when I go to aq place that has a VISA sign up and has a "broken Machine" when I try to pay with my credit card.
Thos Rick Steves money belts "breathe" and don't get as sweaty.
My passport doens't fit very well in the money belt and it is stiff and hinders bending. I travel with a photocopy and it was been sufficient. I hide my passport at the apartment and not in the luggage.
Posts: 3762 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
I don't think that the precautions needed in European cities are much different than those in American cities
In my American city anyone who robs me isn't going to get much except for my credit cards. At home I know jsut how to contact my credit card companies to inactivate the stolen card. The city I live in doesn't have much for public transporation. I travel in a car with my husband to work and back again. even at the shopping places nobody gets as close to me as the people on the Italian buses, the Metro, and the Sistine Chapel.
At least in Italy the theft crimes are nonviolent. In the US in places I have been more worried about being hurt than being robbed.
I took a neck pouch with me on my recent trip to Europe, but I never used it, though I had several times before. My husband used a canvas waist pouch - not a belt, but a flat one with loops that attach to a belt on pants - or a skirt - and then flips inside. Apparently it was quite comfortable. Magellan calls them hidden pockets or secret wallets, and here is an example of one of theirs.
One thing you will notice about the endless stories of people who were pickpocketed in Europe ( many of them well traveled people who never had a problem for years) ....
NONE of them talk about a moneybelt being stolen.
You always here it about purses and wallets etc. ( even ones with zippers and clasps and such).
We think it is best to error on the cautious side and have had no problems in eleven months of travel. We DO, however, use money belts and other precautions just for peace of mind.
I wore a very slim money belt in Italy - not during our stay in Positano, where I felt completely safe, but during our transits (flights, trains) and also during our days in Rome. I am a slim girl who only wears bulky clothes in the colder seasons, so I worried about how to make the money belt invisible. The answer was simple: I didn't wear it under my shirt but rather under the lining of my skirt/pants (across my hips, not my waist, so it worked even with very low-rise pants). No problem, very comfortable (as in "I didn't feel a thing") and completely invisible.
I probably wouldn't have needed the money belt, but it was invaluable to me to feel so safe and not have to worry about someone snatching my bag. It's definitely coming with me on the next trip too!
My wife and I are going to Florence next week and we are not planning on using money belts etc. We have not had any problems in the past and I'm sure that we will manage this time as well. I also think that the pick pocket problem is exaggerated but that is another issue. I don't think that I would have carried everything with me when walking around town...will there be an option of putting your stuff in a safe in the reception? That is what we normally do if there is not a safe in the room. If there is no safe in the room and so safe in the reception then I normally lock stuff inside my suitcase.
If there is no safe in the room and so safe in the reception then I normally lock stuff inside my suitcase.
When my family vacationed in British Columbia, our room was robbed while we were at the pool. My husband had his money and Travelers checks locked in his suitcase and briefcase. All of his money and traveler checks were taken by breaking into the bag. None of my money or the receipts for the Travelers checks were taken because my money and the receipt were in a sewing case under beads, in the insert under my shoe and under the mattress for the bed. Your suitcase is the first place a thief will look for money.
One of my apartments in Rome had a loose floorboard in the kitchen that I used for hiding money and our passports.
Posts: 3762 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
I never carry a money belt and carry anything of value in my front packets. Much harder to get at there. We use ATMs, so never have a ton of money on us. Never use travelers checks, so do not worry about keeping up with the documentation. As for our hotel rooms, I never keep anything of value in the suitcases. Even here in the states. I always those items somewhere else. Sometimes in the pockets of clothes hanging in the closet.
Posts: 306 | Location: Waco, Texas USA | Registered: 31 January 2006
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