Travel Tips - securing pockets, jackets, bags and cars

Access To Emergency Funds

Have access to money so that if you lose your wallet, leave it behind in the hotel safe, or find all the online systems are down, you can still find a source of money. 

I remember as a teenager, I travelled around the USA on a student tcket on a Greyhound bus. I ran out of money. Luckily my father had a business contact in the USA. He was able to transfer money to me on my father's behalf. I expect my father took his friend out to dinner, as well as repaying the money.

Return Tickets, Cancellation

We like to pay a bit more for a return ticket whic is refundable if you cancel.  Often somebody is holding a party or event just after your return. What a blessing to have a journey whose date can be changed.

Have a return ticket. Then if your money goes, or you are not well, you can still get home. 

Also some countries won't let you in as a tourist unless you have a return ticket to prove you intend to leave. 

Denied Entry to India\

My husband arrived in India with a one wway ticket. The travel agent had told him that he could buy a return ticket in India when he knew his return date. However, when he arrived at the airport, he was not allowed to enter the coutnry. 

An anxioud time. Luckily, a member of the airline was able to go landside and buy him a return ticket. 

Security Pockets

You can buy jackets with inside pockets. Ski wear for example.

 If not, or using old jackets without pockets, you can add your own pockets. One easy way is to sew a thin but large zipped pouch into the inside of a coat which fastens securely. Add a second smaller zipped pocket inside, underneath or behind.

Make sure all pocket have a zip or button. Even if you are not robbed, items can fall out. I bought a large number of small zips to add to outside pockets. A quicker way is to use aaa zip up purse and safety pin it into the pocket.

Protect Luggage and Cars

Luggage attracts thieves. It doesn't matter how secure your suitcases are, if somebody steals your entire car. When travelling, secure your car overnight. 

Bags, Jackets and Pockets in Restaurants

Secure your jacket and pockets and bag in restaurants. It doesn't matter how secure your pockets are, if somebody steals your whole jacket. 

A jacket left in a coat check room can disappear. 

So can a jacket on the back of a chair. We lost a wallet from a jacket on our chair back in a busy restaurant in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. We were there New Year's Eve. The hotel wrned us to move our car off the street outside the hotel into a car park.

We could tell the owner. But what could he do? People were coming and going all the time, coming in asking for a table and being turned away because they had no reservation, so there was no track of them.

Watch out for anybody approaching your table to chat. Move your phone off the table. They put down a newspaper on the table, then lift off the newsapaper with the phone under it. 

Chase after them, but they have already handed it to somebody else on foot or a motorbike.

It's not just buyer beware - of pickpockets. It's diner beware.

Bag Loss in London

A friend of ours had her bag on the floor under a large round table in a busy Chinese restaurant in London, England, UK. The strap was around her ankle. Somebody managed to cut the bag off the handle.

Spain - Bag Loss

I had a bag pulled off my arm when I was off-loading the boot of the car (trunk to Americans) in Marbella, Spain. A car drew up beside me.The back seat passenger leaned out of the window and used a Swiss army knife to cut the straps.

Spain - Second Bag Loss 

Later, our car was parked outside the zoo in Madrid. The empty and torn bag was under the back seat with the handle showing. Somebody smashed all the car windows. The first one to get the bag.

The second window smashed out of annoyance when they found the bag empty. We knew it was empty. The thieves didn't. 

It was a nice bag, too. I was hoping to get it repaired.

We had to remove all the broken glass. Drive slowly because of open window frames and wind. Then to wait in Madrid hours to get a garage, order windows, arrange a rental car to get to the ferry. Rebook the ferry, and stay overnight at another hotel waiting for the next ferry with a space. A whole palaver.

Now we leave nothing visible. Not an empty jacket or bag. You know there's no money in it. The thief doesn't.

We made other trips to France, Spain and Portugal this year., 2024 We were very careful. We lost nothing.

So, remember, buyers beware. diners beware, when parking beware.