Advance planning if phone or iPad gets stolen

Pretty much what I would expect that you would do at home-=

Backup everything before you go. Both to iCloud and Dropbox or other cloud based service.

Put a strong passcode on each.

Make sure that if you have banking apps on them that they have a strong memorable word or pin code or passcode.

Use Find My iPhone to locate and disable the device.

Notify the police.

Is that much different from the suggested routine in Chicago?

Yup. The Find My IPhone feature is key - you can lock it or even erase it remotely if it's stolen. Or you can look and see you just left it in your room that morning, don't panic.

Back up before leaving to iCloud, and on the trip too if you use it for pics and have wifi access. At least find some way to back up any good trip photos you take. Email them to yourself if nothing else works.

IMO, DropBox is the best. You can sync all your important information and documents.

If you lose your Apple device, you can still access Dropbox using any PC or any cheap replacement non-Apple device. Just need wifi.

We lost our phone on the last day of our trip. We registered at various places a lost and found claim. About a month later got an email from the airlines they found it. We were shocked, it was only a few months old.