The comfort of travelling in your own backyard can cause some people to drop their guard, leaving them vulnerable to theft.
Many Aussies are planning domestic getaways over summer and autumn 2021, but may overlook the usual safety measures taken when abroad. To avoid disaster, make sure you follow these four simple steps to stay safe and avoid sticky handed thieves.
Use on-body bags
Your handbag and backpack aren’t as secure as you might like to think. They’re easy to see and spend a lot of time being taken on and off your shoulder, making them easy to grab. It’s best to keep all valuable items including your phone, cards and passport inside a secure on-body bag. This may include a money belt or small, flat, over the shoulder bag that you wear beneath your clothing.
Make use of the hotel safe
While closing your suitcase with a padlock can deter opportunistic thieves, anyone with sticky fingers willing to break into your hotel room will likely get around it. Traveltalkmag.com recommend using your hotel room safe and hanging a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door to reduce foot traffic through your room.
Leave your valuables at home
Whenever possible, leave valuables such as jewellery and technology at home. While a laptop may seem like a useful tool to help you make and manage bookings on the go, your smartphone can do nearly all the same things while taking up a lot less space. Flashy or expensive jewellery can catch the eyes of thieves and make you a target. Make sure that these items are left in a secure place in your home, as thieves are also likely to target unoccupied homes.
Backup your documents
While taking these measures may significantly reduce your risk of being mugged, it’s impossible to guarantee that it won’t happen. For this reason, it’s important to have a backup of all of your documentation and bookings that is easily accessible.
Take photos of your passport and other documentation and email them to yourself. Make sure you have your travel itinerary and receipts for all of your bookings sent to the same email address. Now, if worse comes to worst, you can ask to login to your email from a hotel lobby, and gain access to all of your essential information.
Have you been robbed while travelling? What measures do you take to avoid theft during domestic or international trips?
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Related articles:
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/travel/flying/worlds-most-covidsafe-airline
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/community/driving-with-a-dog-makes-you-safer
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/travel/staying-safe-on-public-transport
