Wow - the helpline seems to have an unusual # of postings about "safety" - moneybelts, ATM fraud, protecting your electronics.
Doesn't anyone feel safe during their European travels? Maybe being from Atlanta is the problem, but truly - I love the freedom that I have in the European cities that I don't have at home.
Freedom to walk, all day, no need to take a car with the great public transporation available or just the general size and layout of the cities.
Freedom to talk to strangers. Can't tell you the number of people we've ended up having dinner with, exchanging pictures, exchanging travel tips. Add to that those who help us with our poor language skills, gently "correcting" our French, translating the German menu, encouraging us in our poor Italian, and laughing with us when we get it completely wrong.
Freedom to get lost. Without meetings & appointments & daily routines it doesn't matter as much if it takes a little longer to get somewhere. And you often see something you might not have with your "unplanned" route.
Freedom for my children to roam a bit. They were wandering Oslo by themselves long before they were out of our neighborhood on their own.
When you get tired of reading about how to protect yourself against everything bad revisit the post titled "What was your most inspirational moment". It's a great reminder of why we go through any and all hassles just to travel!