Day Bag Safety

Susan,

I didn't hear that part of the lecture but he may have been referring to a Day Pack as those are easily pilfered even when the user is walking. Although he frequently uses his Civita Daypack, he tends to carry it with both straps over one shoulder which may make it less accessible to pickpockets.

I use a money belt and a cross body bag. I use the money belt mostly when using a lot of public transportation or traveling from city to city. For daily walking around I use a cross body pacsafe bag. I've never had any issues with it. I certainly wouldn't use any type of back pack or similar.

donna

Susan
He has been saying for 30+ years to put valuables in your money belt-that would be cash, credit/debit cards, passport,
any other valuables.

Yes, in Rick-Land, a day bag is for things like maps, water bottle, sunglasses, guidebook. Not valuables, which go in the money belt. This would be all cash except for a small amount for the day, passport, credit card.

The idea is that a thief can get into a bag by grabbing it, or cutting the strap, or if it's a backpack - just reaching in while people are crowded together. So you use the bag because you need a place to keep the above items, but don't risk it for valuable items.

Personally, I am comfortable with a cross body bag but would never use a backpack in a tourist area. Hiking, yes, but around lots of other people it just seems like it would be very easy to open on someone's back without them noticing. But this is different for different people

I'm sure Rick was referring to the location where you store cash. It is never wise to keep all your cash out in a pocket, wallet or purse. I use the money belt to store the bulk of my money I usually keep no more than 50 euro "out" on me and its in my day bag which I wear cross body. The other types of day bags in my opinion are for carrying picnic materials, raincoats and other non-monitary items.

Simple, anything that is loose has the potentially to be lost, left behind, grabbed from a chair back when you are distracted, etc., etc., We carry a day bag but keep nothing of much value (same value, obviously) but nothing that cannot be replace except maybe for the guidebook. And a wallet in a pocket is nearly as bad. I can give you dozen of anecdotal experiences from this site alone of billfolds disappearing from front pockets. And even one from a bra.

paranoia is rampant on this subject

" I was VERY surprised to hear him say that a day bag was the very worst place to put any valuables ... surprised since RS sells day bags"

Just because RS sells day bags doesn't mean he recommends putting your valuables in it. He also sells money belts and does recommend putting valuables in them. A day bag is for carrying non-valuables (lunch, jacket, etc) that you carry around during the day. I, personally, have never used a day bag, but I do carry a small case with my netbook and a few informative pieces of paper.

Paranoia is defined as delusions caused by hostility of others -- hardly an appropriate description of this discussion. Why be critical of discussing reasonable precautions? We have spent nearly a year in Europe over the past 20+ years but really cannot say I have even seen a pick pocket. Doesn't mean they don't exist or I cannot have a problem on the next trip. And it doesn't mean that you should not take reasonable precaution.

No Frank, it is also defined as "baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others". If you live your life that way it would be really difficult to enjoy a vacation. Forty years of travel, have never been robbed or pick-pocketed. Just be smart.

One of my fonder memories of Paris was watching a guy approach my sister and reach toward the small bag over her arm while she was distracted taking pictures. I'd been sitting on a nearby ledge and immediately called out to her and started rapidly toward them. The guy took off but I wanted to call him back as I would have gladly paid him to have a picture with the elusive European pickpocket. It was my third trip to Europe and our first spotting of the semi-mythical beast.

Yes, be cautious and keep your valuables in your money belt, but then relax. All the guy would have gotten from my sister's bag was her comb, so the joke would have been on him.

Jiminva,

I don't consider myself paranoid. But I do use a money belt to keep my passport, credit cards, and the money I don't expect to spend that day. I think it increases my enjoyment of the trip by not worrying about who might stick their hand in my pocket. And finding someone else's hand in my pocket has happened 3 times now to me. One in the Paris subway. One on a Rome bus. Once in the Louvre. Nothing was in the pockets that had any value so I lost nothing. And yes the same thing could happen in any major city in the US or anywhere else in the world. I just don't really wory about it since I know the majority of my valuables are not easily reached by a thief.

The fact that you have been lucky in your travels does not mean there are not people out there who want to pick your pocket or rob you.

I'm not sure why it's considered "paranoid" to discus securing your belongings. I consider it good advice and an easy way to help you enjoy a vacation without needless worry. While using a money belt I don't need to worry about someone reaching into my bag or pocket to take my money. I can concentrate on the sites I'm visiting and the people I'm with. It's not paranoid, it's taking precautions.

When you say that being prepared is being paranoid it's the same as saying if you use a seat belt in your car you're being paranoid that you'll get into an accident. You take precautions every day to prevent unpleasant things from happening, this is no different.

Donna

I use a neck wallet but I seldom wear it. I use a messenger bag with a cloth lining, and when I'm not in transit (that's when I use the neck wallet as a neck wallet), I safety pin the neck wallet to the lining in the bottom of the messenger bag. It's not easy to get into the messenger bag itself, but the safety pinning gives me a little more peace of mind that if someone does get past the bag's flap, unzips the zipper, and grabs for what feels like a wallet, they still will have a ways to go to get it out of the bag. By then hopefully I would notice something.

As for paranoia, I know some travelers have it, but most just want to be cautious. I like the seat-belt analogy. By the way, I have been pickpocketed twice - in 40+ years. First time I was naïve, second time I was distracted.

There's an old saying: "just because you're paranoid doesn't necessarily mean that someone isn't out to get you..."

I'm one of those people who wears a money belt - as does my husband - when traveling. Of course I realize that you may be just as likely to be targeted in a large American city, where I never wear a money belt. I guess maybe my rationale is that in the US you may be robbed at gunpoint - in which case handing over a wallet is maybe better than not having anything of value - whereas in Europe or elsewhere, violent crime is much less likely. Have I ever been ripped off? Three times - twice in US (being very dumb and not paying attention to my surroundings) and once in Europe - many years ago, pre money-belt. I have obviously been targeted as well - and my husband was once surrounded by a gang of kids on the Paris subway. Knowing that everything of value was stowed away was quite comforting. I guess it depends on your comfort level. And I think RS emphasizes the money belt because he knows that newbie travelers are often quite naive about the safety of their valuables, and especially on his tours, he's trying to minimize any potential problems. On one of his tours, someone had their camera stolen in a restaurant during a group meal - the dude left it with his coat on a hanger in the entrance area.

Hilarious how some folks would have you believe pick pocketing is as rare as getting hit by lightning. Tourists get robbed everyday (if not every hour) in popular places. Not using a a money belt type device or your hotel room safe is akin to playing Russian roulette, minus the the splattered brains of course.

I don't think European large cities are more pickpocket and scam pron than the ones in the U.S. Pickpockets and scam artists choose the easiest most lucrative targets. Those just happen to be tourists. In the U.S. I rarely if ever look confused, am less likely to be gawking at the scenery, and don't look foreign. In Europe, I always look like a foreign tourist, am nearly always looking at unfamiliar scenery, and am more likely to be confused in train stations. So the chances of my being pick pocketed in Europe are higher than they are at home. And the consequences are greater as passports and credit cards are time consuming to replace and the trip days lost are more expensive than days lost at home.

And it's much more likely I'll be pick-pocketed in Europe than that I'll be in a car crash. I've only traveled to Europe five times now (over about 30 years), but in those five trips I've seen pickpockets in action on strangers twice (once in London, once in Rome) and watched someone attempt to pick my husband's cargo pants three times (twice on the Roman subway, and once at an ice cream stand in Florence). My husband and his buddy took a long trip across Europe when they were in their late teens and lost not one but three bandanas to small thieves (yes they knew when they were taken). I have have never been to Paris without hearing at least one other tourist discussing having had their pocket picked that very trip. Hour for hour, being pick-pocketed in a large city appears a far higher risk than getting in a car crash.

So I'm very much a money belt person. I wear my passport, credit card, and debit card in the kind of under the pants money belt Rick Steves recommends. If I need a large amount of cash (for up coming apartment rentals for example) I keep that in the old fashioned kind of money belt that looks like an ordinary belt capable of carrying nothing, but has an inside zipper with a long narrow pocket. I feel safe, and can enjoy taking pictures without worrying about my pockets.

I say money belts are a necessity, and not some sort of "psychological pillow". Travel enough and some sort robbery will happen to you eventually. I'm not risking even one day of my vacation waiting in line at the embassy, or calling bank/credit card companies. If a ten dollar money belt can eliminate the problem, I can enjoy my awesome vacation.

"There's an old saying: "just because you're paranoid doesn't necessarily mean that someone isn't out to get you..." "

Robert, I believe the saying goes 'just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean that everyone's not out to get you'

But, I got the gist!

Cheers

Actually Robert was right, at least according to Joseph Heller in Catch 22.

Neither my husband nor myself have ever worn a moneybelt and probably never will but we have a cross-body Pacsafe bag that has worked just fine, and is 100 times more comfortable. We also bury some valuables deep beneath our clothing - just not in a moneybelt - and only carry in our pockets petty cash that we can afford to lose.

But no, I wouldn't put our passports, credit cards or anything else of value in a non-locking backpack/daypack.

Actually Robert was right, at least according to Joseph Heller in Catch 22.

Thanks Nancy! I did not know that's where it came from. Robert, I guess I should have said, the way I heard it was...

I was talking with a friend a couple weeks back about great books that we had not yet read, Catch-22 was on my list!

I do use a money belt , bag for camera & lens ect.. WHAT I love about the money belt I can forget it and enjoy wherever I am photographing , talking , being distracted by the scenery ,or people ! It only takes one time to ruin your trip and the peace of mind a money belt gives you is worth the money "very little you spend " and time to put it on. I don't want a purse so I do use the bag to put essentials in with my camera and have been doing so for ages here in the US , England, Paris. I normally take a camera bag but this time I am going to try a day bag.

Peace of mind to me says it all.

Wow - I was expecting maybe a couple sentences in response to my question, but your many posts provided a ton of helpful information and insights for consideration. I suppose I only heard Part A of what Rick was trying to explain - that day bags were bad, but didn't catch the other side of this - that money belts were best. Besides the cross-body bag we always had a money belt or neck wallet which I suppose is why we've never had an incident - or just good fortune that we look like people without much to steal! Anyway, THANKS - I'll be reading all of this again before our next trip to Italy.

To the person with the sister with the new bakery in H'ville, I looked on the web - it looks terrific! Definitely will check it out.

I take the Line 1 metro in Paris to work and back home every day-- and several evenings a week, I see the teenage girls who are there to pickpocket. Sometimes they're there in the mornings. It's a simple reality that pickpocketing exists in tourist place because it's a lucrative business.

Just one note: Rick doesn't say that day bags are bad. They're part of traveling, for almost everybody! They're just not the place to put your valuables.

The best benefit of a Money Belt, is that it takes YOU out of the equation. Let us just ignore the Pick-Pocket aspect here for a moment. While traveling, you are boarding and leaving many vehicles, that you can't easily return to. You are Checking-In things at Museums, and eating at lots of different places. You are trying to maximize the number of locations you are visiting with-in a limited time schedual. Forgetting your Day Bag is more probable than being Pick Pocketed or Robbed. That is why you don't put any critical stuff in it. You put the important stuff in the money belt that never leaves your body. The Day Bag contains that which you are willing to lose and can be easily replaced.

Oh, as an aside, Smart Cards will set off a TSA Scanner.... So the only time that belt really needs to come off is at the Airport. :)

I think we can argue this all day but in the end it comes down to whatever works for you. Moneybelts do not work for us but obviously do for others. Pacsafe + other security measures work for us but are not the methods of choice for everyone. It's all a matter of personal comfort and no right or wrong as long as the job gets done.