Have you quit using money belts or neck wallets?

I haven't quit because I never used either.

I haven't quit because I never used either.

Do you think this is because you live closer to home in Europe as I never have used these traveling in the USA, or to do so has been overly cautious?

I have not simply because I went to Europe one time with a woman who lost her passport day one and it was the biggest hassle. It was eight hours at the US Embassy so after I get through immigration, I put my passport in there so it’s secure and generally, there’s one credit card in there and then when I get to the hotel, it goes the safe. For me it’s worth the sanity check while I’m going to the hotel. Because she did lose it between Heathrow and London. I think it was just lost. When you get off that plane, you’re tired, your disoriented etc. so I came up with this method to make sure I don’t have that same problem.

Do you think this is because you live closer to home in Europe as I never have used these traveling in the USA, or to do so has been overly cautious?

I've been traveling to Europe from the US for over 30+ years and wore a money belt on my first trip only. However, after I lost that money belt with all my money, credit cards and passport in it (the clasp came undone and fell off—I didn't notice as I was wearing a raincoat over it), I swore I would never wear one again, and never have.

Now I wear a small crossbody bag that I keep zippered and closed when I'm out and about. I generally don't look like a tourist in most European countries, which helps, but I've never had a problem with security.

And I did eventually get the money belt back (2 weeks after I got home with a new temporary passport) as a student found it and turned it into the police.

I haven't quit because I never used either.

This +1

I quit after one trip and especially after living in Rome for several years. I was “local” and felt secure. I still do, especially now that we use our phones almost 100% of the time to pay. I do have a phone leash attaching it to my very tiny cross body bag. Losing the phone would be a nightmare exceeded only by losing a passport. I do carry my passport in my tiny crossbody purse. Not willing to leave it in my lodging. So far so good!

I've never used them anywhere - and it's not like Europe is particularly high risk. I don't use them at home, so why would I use when when traveling? But it comes down to what you feel comfortable with.

On my first big international trip, I used the "round the waist" type moneybelt and hated it.

I switched to a "Hidden Pocket" type in 1993 and never looked back. I still use it.

I've never used one (been traveling to Europe since 1998). I don't use one at home when in my local big city either. I find it easier to keep track of my belongings and keep them safe if I stick with the same methods abroad that I do it home.

I wear a Stashbandz on each trip since Lo introduced them to the forum. Comfortable, stretchy, no bulk since passport, back up credit cards and spare cash are spread around four pockets.
If I lose my purse I can still get home since I have my passport and a couple credit cards in the money belt. Last thing I want to do is leave something in the room safe so I don’t use them.
Phone is tethered inside my crossbody purse when it’s not hanging around my neck.

Like Mardee, I've had a clasp failure. Luckily I was still in the hotel room, but didn't realize it was gone until later that morning. I was in a panic, but hotel went up & checked my room and kept if for me until I returned. After that when I wear one I also pin the ends together as a double safety. I don't wear it as often as I used to. Mainly I use in big cities like London or Paris. In more rural areas I use my cross body bag with a hidden zip pocket or my Eddie Bauer jacket with inside zip pockets.

I still use the hidden pocket style that attaches to my belt. I carry our passports,
spare credit cards and some cash in it. I don't even notice that I have it on.

After I lost my passport in Vienna some years back, I started wearing a neck wallet. I have not lost my passport since. Coincidence? I think not!

Happy travels!

Do you think this is because you live closer to home in Europe as I never have used these traveling in the USA, or to do so has been overly cautious?

Hmmm, that is a good question Jazz+! Maybe indeed because I am closer to "home" here. And if I really think about it, I am sure I can think of a time or two when I used a money belt - but that has to have been 30 years ago.

Another never used it either

Just back from 20 days in France……use either a hidden pocket that attaches to belt or to a neck wallet lanyard depending on what I’m wearing. Very comfortable, very secure, holds passport, debit card and extra credit card. It’s been my system for years and works for me and what I consider secure solo traveler practice.

This trip a fellow traveler had one of those double infinity type scarves with a pocket for her debit and cc cards. You couldn’t detect it at all. I’d never seen one before but she liked it.

I bought a silk money belt and later a bra clip pouch thing, never used either. I use a cross-body bag and hold onto it the way Sarah Murdoch taught me to. I also avoid heavily touristed places where pickpockets are likely to be around, and I'm not too proud to hug my bag on crowded transport.

I have not quit, but don't wear them all the time. I judge by where I am and what I will be doing that day. I take the point that they're really not "money" belts anymore, as they are mostly for hard to replace documents and cards.

There are a number of clothing companies that sell travel shirts and pants with hidden or extra zip pockets built in and I find these much less cumbersome than using a money belt or neck wallet.

Stan makes a really good point- the days of traveler's checks and carrying large amounts of cash are over. I think the RS concept, though, is really sensible no matter where you are.
As several other posters replied, phones, besides your passport, are now #1. I have a tether for my phone and a tiny crossbody just large enough for it, if I'm not wearing a jacket with inner pocket (still tethered!).
I do like using the Stashband style of waist pocket, too. I had to pay a guide in (a lot!) of euro bills so those for sure were in it.
Lastly, I have slowly acquired some travel clothes with really good pockets- i.e. a sort of swirly skirt with deep pockets on each side that you'd never know were there with the pleats. I'm always aware but it's great to not be clutching a bag.
I do have a cheap shoulder tote for a water bottle and etc. I may be wrong but if nothing else is visible and I end up a target a pickpocket might opt for that over reaching down the front of my skirt.
Also- irony! On my first RS tour my RS money belt clasp came undone on the tour bus! Fortunately I noticed, it had everything in it!

I wear mine religiously every single day of my trips to Europe, except in the UK when I’m often staying with friends and can leave everything at their house.
I’ve had a clasp failure too.. nearly dropped it down a loo in Rome, so I’ve gone back to my all in one elastic band with no clasp version that I’ve had for 25 years.
It holds my passport, a tiny copy of my travel insurance details, my debit and credit card, and $100 worth of whatever currency the country I am in uses.
I wear it in the small of my back and don’t even notice it.
Everything is in a small ziploc bag with a paper towel around it for moisture.
It works for me as I am often solo.
I would never leave those particular things in a hotel, hotel safe, or vacation rental.
One reason I wear it is because my frequent travel companion always loses and forgets things.
By wearing mine I have , by example I think, got her to be more careful about stowing things away.
She has a neck wallet version now.

I may not carry much cash now, but on our 3 week trip last month, I still wore my neck wallet daily. It had my extra credit cards, debit card, and passport in it. It's comfortable- I don't even notice it once it's on. And since I could be at least a day's travel away from the nearest embassy - and that travel might require a flight, it's a small price for peace of mind.

I love using ApplePay!

I do wear one and have for all 18 trips since our first RS GAS tour in 2003. The style I use is the RS around the waist one. I wear it all day and place it in my Tom Bihn bedside tray/bag at night. (If there’s a fire alarm, the tray/bag I grab has everything essential- moneybelt w/ passport, credit cards, cash & my phone, reading glasses, flashlight & room key.)

I lived near Seattle for 30 years and never wore a moneybelt downtown. Why would I wear one in Europe? Well, Rick Steves taught me in 2003 during one of the weekend travel classes in Edmonds that it’s much easier to recover if your purse is stolen in the country you live. But, if my passport or credit cards are stolen in Europe, there goes a day (or more) of my special vacation time that I’m already wanting to maximize. We had a post within the past year of a woman traveling solo who ran into all kinds of problems trying to recover from her items being stolen. She was without money for a few days. We were all trying to give her ideas to help obtain some cash.

I brought my adult daughter to Italy in 2022. I had two stipulations to not waste any of our exciting time together - only bring a carry on suitcase & wear a moneybelt. She heartily agreed. Her purse was pickpocketed in the crowded Rome metro our last full day. She lost nothing but gained a good story to tell!

This is probably TMI, but I wear my money belt inside my underwear, not just under my dress or pants. So, if the clasp came loose, it wouldn’t fall on the floor. Obviously, I am not opening my moneybelt any place other than my hotel room or a bathroom.

I've never used a money belt or neck wallet. But I grew up outside of Chicago, started taking public transit by myself when I was 11 or 12 and worked in one of the most notorious housing projects in Chicago. I do take precautions, am careful where I open my wallet and keep my hand on my cross-body bag when in crowds. I will probably get a phone lanyard after reading about that woman who hung upside down for hours after dropping her phone. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/australia-rescue-woman-stuck-boulders-dropped-phone/

I wear a neck wallet when I am in transit via air or train but not out locally. I don’t use one at home because as others have said, losing ID at home won’t impact my expensive vacation. I tuck my t-shirt in so I don’t have to worry about losing it. I don’t use my phone to pay for everything as I don’t like having it out in busy areas so I also have a small wallet with a credit card and some cash in a zippered pocket of my purse.

This was our solution to the problem of a clasp coming undone. We removed both parts of the clasp and attached two split ring o-rings to the loop where part of the clasp was located. We threaded the long "belt" through the o-rings, took up the slack, and tied them off in two places on the body of the "belt'. We also tucked part of the pouch into our underwear in the back. Might not be a solution for everyone, but it works well for us, and we've never had a problem using the money belts for "deep storage" that way. At times we will also use a neck pouch for stuff we need to have handy, but don't want to put in a pocket or purse.

No. And I advise against the cessation of using money belts or neck wallets.

In 2013, my wallet was stolen in Lisbon. I brought a money belt, but got lazy and figured keeping my money in a wallet in a bag would suffice. One day I retrieved my wallet to get a transit card so I could ride the streetcar and put the wallet back in my pocket. There was jostling on the car. When I looked down, my wallet was gone. I then had to call Visa's emergency number to cancel my cards.

Two weeks ago, I was in Turkey and was glad I had my money belt.

I last used my pouch that fastens inside my jeans waistband when I went to Rome in 2023, along with a Travelon purse as I was super paranoid--I continued on to Budapest and changed to my usual LeSportsac travel purse and no pouch, likewise for Edinburgh and London that year, and London this year, the first time I had someone with me so between us we had several payment options. It's a small pouch and not uncomfortable, so I generally do like to keep my debit card, spare credit card and copy of passport and important numbers in it, just in case.

Small, purse-sized messenger bag. RFID secure compartments. Zippers that can be locked if I feel it necessary. Wired should strap that can't be cut with a knife. Finally, I always have the bag in front of me with my hand on it or under my jacket carried over the shoulderand through one arm.

Additional advantage is no backpack. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go. At most museums, etc. they also let me carry this rather than requiring a locker.

Absolutely not. My Eagle Creek neck pouch goes back to 2002. It goes without saying I still use it on every trip. It's the place for the cash, ie Euro bills are placed there but not the passport nor credit cards.

I have also the updated version of the hidden pocket made by Eagle Creek since the one I got in 2002 started to show wear and tear. More cash goes there as well as one reserve credit card.

Like others have mentioned, I found that the old around the waist money belts lacked the kinds of pockets I needed, didn’t feel very secure and were both awkward and uncomfortable. I tried both the pants pocket and neck wallet types and found them even worse. So I continued to religiously wear a waist one until...

I switched to the StashBandz style money belt. That was so many years ago that it was an early version, not the same brand and only listed as a running belt. I switched to the StashBandz brand because I liked its design better. It's even better now because I usually have very little cash to sequester.

Like Horsewoofie, I find it very comfortable. It's easy to wear properly -- under my clothes. Even though I'm much thinner than I used to be, I still wear shapewear -- the right way it's supposed to be worn. From the skin out that means bra, shapewear tank, StashBandz, panties, pants, top.

Like she also said, I always have my passport and emergency information in it along with a credit card, a debit card and maybe a bit of folding cash. With some serious medical concerns, I depend on redundancy to make it easier for me and my medical issues to be identified in case something happens that renders me unable to communicate and my small cross-body purse goes missing. Traveling solo perhaps makes me more cautious than most.

On my first trip to Europe in 1977-78, I knew nothing about money belts. Did they even exist back then? I used a very small cross-body pocket-like bag for my passport. Those were the days of traveler's checks and on the advice of Let's Go Europe, I hid them in several places in my packed clothing, in my very small backpack and on my person. It was fall and winter, so I always was layered up and that cross-body bag was underneath. I made it through that 4-month trip without ever losing a thing in hostels, among crowds or on any kind of public transportation. Traveling is much easier these days. ;-)

Fast forward to 1982-85 when I worked for the US Army and lived in Nuremberg. Like Laurel, living there, having my own apartment for 3 years and having my car, I wasn’t quite so diligent, even when I traveled. But I still always carried my regular passport as well as the red one I had that would get me on a plane back home in a hurry if needed. The Czech border wasn't all that far away.

Personally, these days as a solo traveler I'd never depend on any kind of bag outside my clothes to put my passport in, even with my hand always on it. And I will never quit using my StashBandz money belt when I travel.

It really is a complex question.

Some folks travel to high theft risk locations, many dont.
If you do lose your documents in Europe its a hassle and you have no support group to assist.
The odds of theft are pretty low in even the worst locations.
The law, as often as not, will require you to carry your passport.
No solution is as comfortable as no solution.

If you were coming to visit me, I would say wear a neck pouch with the passport and an extra credit card in it. Cram everything else in your pockets.

Put copies of everything you may need in a cloud folder. That way even if you lose your phone you can reach the information.

Now I just wear layered track suits multiple zipper pockets to conceal things

I only wore those on our first 2 trips to Europe. When I am in the bigger cities I usually take this one particular crossbody purse that has a flap to close it. At the top of that flap though is a zipper and you can our your passport or money in there so it goes down and then zip the flap and then fold the flap over to close the purse.

Otherwise most of our trips are to Iceland and I don't bother doing anything there. We have left wallets and passports in the car many times while hiking etc and it is fine. Everything there is so casual that I don't even bring a purse. Either just my daypack or a fanny pack diagonally across my torso.

We continue to use a neck pouch. In it we store important docs, necessary credit cards, big $ train tickets e.g. and whatever else we deem truly important. I use the small inserts from my wallet in my pocket for metro tickets, a few dollars of local currency, oddball notes to self and little else. It’s sort of stash and forget. The pouches are comfortable and hardly a nuisance for the peace of mind they provide me. Safe travels.

I always travel with my husband and he used one a few times in our early traveling years but he perspires very heavily so it really didn't work well. Now he has one of those hidden pockets that attaches to his belt. I've always used a Pacsafe purse.

To the question....yes. My safe and comfortable solution: travel shirts with a zippered chest pocket and button flap. Such secures my passport, credit and debit cards and some cash.

After I lost my passport in Vienna some years back, I started wearing a neck wallet. I have not lost my passport since. Coincidence? I think not!

David, ha ha! I could say the same thing in reverse. After I lost my passport in London some years back, I discontinued wearing a money belt. I have not lost my passport since. Coincidence? I think not. ;-)

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-) That said, I do think that wearing a money belt or neck wallet is a very personal decision, and what works well for one may not work for someone else.

I think the first and possibly only time I used a money belt was in the early 1990s during my first trip to Europe with friends and no family. I carried way too much in traveller's checks, paper airline ticket, rail pass and possibly my hostel pass. The papers became damp with sweat each day.

These days for most European travel there is little need to carry much hard cash, most tickets are e tickets, though I still have paper back ups.

On travel days I carry a large bag, and try my best to keep items organized and know which pocket has my passport shortly before I need it.
On days, spent within a city, I carry a small flat LeSportsac bag - it has my phone, passport, ID and essentials only needed for that day. It's small and flat enough that I can wear it under my raincoat. I make the strap very short so it's sitting under my armpit and have it so that except for the top zip opening, the two small zip pockets are facing my body. When I need to access it, I try to be aware and careful of my surroundings and as much as possible avoid doing this in a crowded area and be aware of who is around me..

I have used a neck wallet for many years and advocated for them here. However I just returned from Europe, and while I packed my trusty neck wallet, I never once wore it around my neck. Instead, I wore travel pants that I had purchased from Scottevest that feature several deep pockets and secure zipper pockets, and I felt very comfortable relying on them for securing my valuables.

I did not use the pockets on the back side of the pants, still don't trust that, just the ones on the front of the leg.

I can still see instances when I might want to use the neck wallet for "deep storage", but I never did do it on this trip. I also did not carry my passport on my person during the stay (London and Paris), which had been my original motivation for neck wallets. I used the room safe to store passport, credit cards, cash, etc, despite my misgivings about them, generally. In my travel pants, I carried my iPhone that I used for virtually all payments, a bit of local currency, and a single credit card...and I never once need the physical credit card except at hotels. Contactless payment is literally everywhere now (I know there are still exceptions, and I did carry local currency, but never needed any for a purchase).

One habit I developed: I only carry one item per pocket, out of the fear of reaching in, grabbing my phone, and accidentally raking out something else and not noticing I had dropped it....and I consistently used the same pockets for the items I did carry.

I just returned from a 13 day trip to greece/turkiye. My neck wallet never made it out of my suitcase. On flight days my passport lived in my vest pocket. The rest of the time it , my credit cards and cash lived in my cross body bag, and i had no trouble with that. Only exception was the day we were doing the blue Mosque, cistern and spice market. Tour director e did encourage us to leave passport that day in our hand luggage. I 'd been carrying passport in a Rfid wallet with my credit cards, so I left all of that on the bus
(Sorry, didn't mean to reopen the rfid conversation

This topic comes up pretty often but we rarely discuss our sartorial choices when it comes to clinginess or tightness and how that ties in with or doesn't tie in with using various pouches and pockets and such.

The jeans I wear usually trend towards the Brooke Shields end of the spectrum, leaving little room for inconspicuous stashing.

That's why I like overshirts and blazers and jac-shirts and shackets and cardigans and such. They slightly complicate access to my pants pockets and fanny pack.

Traveling in the US is no different from what I use as the "security" wear, ie, the Eagle Creek hidden pocket and the Eagle Creek neck pouch.

Pre-pandemic whether I was in New Orleans or Memphis or Washington , DC , those two items were on me as if I were traveling in Europe. They are part and parcel of the traveling period. Instead of Euro bills they carry US currency and the reserve credit card.

Used a money belt once, and after the fourth-day, I ditched it.

I don't carry a large wallet but a money clip with compartments to hold ID & CC. Most of the pants I wear when traveling have separate zippered pockets geared for traveling. Large amounts of cash (which is rare these days) I split up between myself and sticking some in a shoe or, other compartment in my luggage/pack.

I've used a money belt for a few years. I tried a neck wallet but didn't care for how it felt on my neck. When I was preparing for a trip last month I realized the money belt wasn't going to work for me anymore. I have started wearing a back brace and there is no room for a money belt. On flights I wear an Eagle Creek waist pack and I just put everything important in there. Once we arrived at our first hotel I put everything in my small Sherpani purse. I made to sure be very mindful to be situationally aware, esp. in crowds and chose not to worry about not wearing a money belt. Everything went fine. Had a great trip and didn't miss wearing the money belt. Maybe I'll try a neck wallet again in the future. It's too soon to tell.

Happy Travels Everyone!

Traveler Girl