Anti-theft tips

Hold onto it. Probably the worst thing you can do is sit next to a door, hold your phone loosely and not pay attention to your surroundings. Equally as bad is keeping it in your back pocket, like a wallet, when you are in a crowd. I saw plenty of people carrying their phones in their back pockets - so any effort to keep it secure will make you the harder target.

I'm interested in the find your phone app. Mine is activated on my phone. I hope I'm wrong but I think you have to look from another computer/device that you've already set up. When you're traveling, you're not likely to have access to your other computers/devices. I was rearranging my room this weekend then realized I'd lost my phone. I tried to go on my computer to use the app, but setting up a new PC was part of the rearranging. I finally gave up trying to use the app and just had my son call me from his phone, my phone was in a stack of books (fortunately not in the stuff I had put in my garage for charity, or, worse, the trash).

Keep your gadgets in your pocket with your hand on them, if you are not actively using them.

That's the best advice I can give you, and the bit about activating your passcodes and backing up photos if possible.

So many people are in the habit of laying their cell phone on the table next to them in restaurants or cafes...myself included! I have to consciously remind myself NOT to do that and keep it put away unless I'm actively using it. It's very easy for someone to swipe the phone off the table - happens all the time.

You might contact your carrier and find out if you will face roaming charges.

I put my phone on a retractable cord (phone case incorporated this cord) which was attached to a web loop in a dedicated front pouch on my cross-body purse. I never took my purse off, and when I pulled out my phone, I pulled enough slack on the cord to do what I needed - type, talk, or take photos. Then push the button to retract the cord, stuff phone back in its purse pouch and carry on. There was nothing else in this pouch, fit my 6s+ perfectly, so nothing else was pulled out and lost in all this in-and-out action. This approach was partly to avoid pickpockets and partly to avoid dropping it from heights, leaving it behind, etc.

My friends thought I was a bit obsessive until it did actually fall out of my hand near a castle parapet, and then they thought I was just smart. I was very happy with my solution from the start.

Unfortunately, the company I bought the case from appears to be out of business, but there may still be some available on the web. Here's a picture: Beeline Case

Keep your gadgets in your pocket with your hand on them, if you are
not actively using them.

That's not particularly helpful advice, as people generally are using their hands and not walking around with them stuffed in pockets. Maybe while on crowded trains or buses, but you still have to hold onto handles.

Situational awareness is another almost useless piece of advice. Pickpockets are good at creating distractions when needed. And tourists have a habit of gawking at things they paid a lot of money to come see and are already pretty distracted.

I keep my phone in my belt loop pouch - it's one reason I love this method over things like waist moneybelts. My wife carries a secure purse and her phone goes in there.

You can use one hand to hold onto a handrail, while keeping your phone in your pocket with the other hand on it. That's what I have always done.
Too many people just hold their phones out there, not using them, and have them stolen.

It's like a security blanket...

Using a code will not be helpful to you. Your phone will be stolen the
same and the thief will just have to unlock it. How does that help
you ?

Although you lose your phone, the passcode keeps your information safe. The thief is unlikely to have any means to unlock the phone beyond guessing. The FBI had to employ a team of encryption experts to unlock the phone belonging to the San Bernardino shooter last year. Passcodes are very effective.

Do they say in the podcast that French also eat children ?

No, but they do eat frogs. Maybe even baby frogs.