Getting a thing stolen while traveling can be a huge problem. The last thing you want on your trip is missing items from your checklists and then being pickpocketed in the crowd or coming home and finding that your accommodations were overbooked. In the past many years of traveling, there have been some pretty sketchy places. I’ve discovered some clever ways to keep your things safe while traveling. Here are 11 strategies that I don’t hear many people talking about.
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Secret hiding spots
The first tip is to have secret hiding spots in both your main luggage and your daypack. I like to stash some emergency cash in places like an empty chapstick tube, an old bottle, or in a bag of dirty clothes. This prevents thefts of opportunity when thieves quickly rummage through your backpack just to see if there’s anything worth taking. When they only have a few seconds, they’re probably not going to check in your chapstick tube or in your dirty laundry. Next is the daypack.
Anti-theft carabiniers
Next is to always pack carabiners with you. You can use carabiners to connect and secure your zippers together, making it harder for them to be opened when you’re walking through busy places. I also like to use them if you’re traveling in a group or if you have multiple bags; you can hook the bags together to make them harder to steal. For example, when Diane and I are traveling by bus in some sketchy areas, we have to stow our big backpacks under the bus overnight. It’s a night bus, stopping frequently with people getting on and off and retrieving their bags. I don’t want someone to take my bag while I’m sleeping, so I wrap our backpacks together with different straps and then secure them with carabiners. If someone tries to take off with my huge 15 kg backpack, they’d actually have to take two 15 kg backpacks together, making it too cumbersome to steal. Also, if you can’t fit a carabiner through both of your separate zippers to close it, you can use the little zip ties that come with packages of bread or a big safety pin for security.
Close zippers strategy
Kind of zippers most people don’t think about this, but you should pay attention to the position where you close your zipper. I learned this tip from the fox nomad YouTube channel, and he recommends closing the zippers at the top of your backpack. He says, first of all, you have more nerve endings on that part of your back, so you’re more likely to feel it if someone tries to access something. Also, if you have your zippers at the top, it’s more obvious if someone tries to reach over your shoulder and thread open your zipper, and more people can see it.
On the other hand, I really think it depends on how your bag is set up and how you pack it because with my backpack, I usually put the zippers at the very bottom, if possible. This is because, for someone to get something out of my bag, they’d have to open all the zippers really high to get in there, and the only thing on the bottom of my backpack is packing cubes. They can’t take out a packing cube unless they open the zippered compartment. So, the tip is just to be conscious of how your backpack is set up and use the zipper positions wisely based on your setup.
No matter which method you use, if you’re going through crowded areas and you’re worried about someone sneaking your zipper open and sticking their hands in there, you can tuck the zippers on the inside of your bag when you close them. That makes it harder for pickpockets to open them.
Securing valuable in your accommodation
When there’s no safe where you’re staying, you have a couple of different options. First, you can use what is called a Pacsafe travel safe, which is what we’ve traveled with all around the world. It’s literally a portable safe bag that you can lock up and tie to things in your room. The bag is lined with steel cables, making it highly secure. Another slightly less secure but still effective option is to carry a metal bike wire and a padlock. You can padlock your backpack to something solid in the room and lock the compartments with your valuables. If someone really wants to get in, they could still cut your bag open, but this method prevents thefts of opportunity.
I’ve also seen entire covers for your backpack or suitcase that you can lock closed, preventing people from opening your zippers when you’re not there. Pacsafe also offers actual backpacks with security built into them. These backpacks have wires that you can strap around things in your room. Since it’s built into the backpack, you don’t have to carry anything extra with you. However, this may make your backpack a bit heavier.
If you don’t want to bother with carrying all these security items, you can also hide your stuff in unusual places whenever you leave your accommodation. Places like above the closet, in a stack of clean towels, or inside your pillowcase. Just imagine a thief breaking in and having three minutes to escape and grab all your things. Where would they probably not look? If you think about it, hiding your valuables in these weird places may actually be safer than locking them up. If a thief comes into your room and sees a backpack with all the security measures on it, they’ll obviously know that there’s something valuable inside.
Protect checked bags from theft
Things you can do to prevent theft from your checked bags include choosing the right type of luggage. Your best option is a piece of hardshell luggage that has built-in TSA locks. Firstly, hardshell is harder to cut into than a softshell piece of luggage or a backpack. Secondly, a built-in TSA lock, in my experience, works better than one of those external TSA locks that you can attach to your backpack. Every time I’ve attached those to my zippers and checked my bag, my bags ended up arriving with the zippers torn off because the TSA agents didn’t use their keys to open the zippers.
Now, it’s true that thieves can get their hands on these special TSA keys and open the locks, or they can also use the pen trick to open zippers on luggage. But the idea is to make your bag less of a target compared to other easier-to-steal-from bags. Better yet, avoid packing anything super valuable in your checked luggage altogether and instead keep it with you in your carry-on. As one YouTube commenter famously said, “If someone wants to steal my used underwear, Walmart t-shirts, and moist toothbrush, they probably need it more than I do.
Protect irreplaceable items
To protect your irreplaceable items, most things can be replaced if they’re stolen, but some can’t. Pretty much anything in my background can be replaced, except for my travel journal. If I lost that, I’d be devastated. So, I make sure to make backups by taking pictures of each page. The same goes for laptops; make sure you’re backing them up regularly. If you have any other sentimental items like wedding rings or family heirloom jewelry, it might be a good idea to just leave those at home.
Protect valuable items
Another tip is to connect your bag to yourself when you’re actively traveling from one destination to the next. Put all of your valuables in your personal item and keep it with you, keeping your eyes on it at all times. The exception would be to have some emergency cash, an emergency ID card, payment card, or emergency credit card in your other luggage just in case your valuable bag is misplaced. It’s all about being prepared for all scenarios. Never separate yourself from your valuables bag. If you’re resting or sleeping in the airport or somewhere similar, loop it around your leg so no one can take it while you’re sleeping. If you’re on a bus, keep it on your lap instead of putting it under the seat or in the overhead compartment where people can easily take it.
When you arrive at your hotel and they offer to take your bags to your room for you, you can leave your big luggage, but always carry your valuables with you. The same goes for taxis; you can put your main bag in the trunk of the taxi but keep your valuables up front with you. I’ve actually heard of some nightmare experiences with taxi drivers where the traveler had to jump out of the car because of the situation, and luckily, they had their valuables with them. Always stay tightly connected to your belongings.
Carry daypacks right way
Being entirely connected to your valuables also applies to your daypacks when you’re out and about. It’s a good idea to be conscious of how you’re carrying your backpack or your personal bag. If it’s just in one hand and you’re walking alongside the street with the backpack on the side of the street, you might risk a motorcycle or something snatching it. You want to avoid making yourself easy prey. Hoist your backpack securely onto both shoulders, or if you have a purse, carry it on the opposite side of the street or something similar.
Use air tags or luggage trackers
Another tip for protecting your luggage is to use AirTags or luggage trackers. Just hide these somewhere in your luggage, and if it gets stolen, it’ll be easier to recover whatever was taken. They’ll also help locate your luggage if it gets lost on a flight.
Pro-Tips for anti-theft travel
Well, now let’s move on to some next-level tips if you’re planning to travel anywhere that’s a little bit more dangerous. In order to avoid having your things stolen by thieves, you first need to attract minimal attention. So, if you can avoid attracting attention to yourself, you’ll be in a good position. I recommend trying to camouflage yourself and blend into the crowd. The goal is not to look like you have a ton of money or to wear clothes that make you look super sexy or attractive because that’s going to attract unwanted attention.
If you’re carrying an expensive laptop around in the streets, one trick is to carry it in an ugly or dirty bag. I’ve heard stories of travelers who put a big black trash bag around their normal backpack in order to walk through sketchy areas because it just looks like they’re carrying around trash. I’ve also heard of other people who randomly put duct tape on everything they have on their backpack, on the back of the laptop, on the phone, and whatever else because if someone sees that there’s duct tape on something, they’re less likely to want to steal it. If you have an expensive phone or laptop, you can also cover the branding with the case that you use or cover it with stickers or something.
Speaking of which, the more you personalize things, the harder it will be for a thief to resell them. Another trick that I used when solo backpacking through Central and South America is to have secret pockets sewn into the ankles of my travel pants. This sewing project only cost me 5 bucks at a seamstress when I was traveling in Guatemala. I store emergency cash, passports, extra credit cards, and anything else that I didn’t want to have on me while walking through sketchy areas. Do be careful though because if you have to walk through some sort of security with your secret pockets, they might find it suspicious if they pat you down and find secret pockets in your clothes.
Another way to fight against theft while traveling is to carry dummy items. For example, you could carry a dummy wallet or a dummy phone that you take with you when you’re on the streets. In Latin America, I carry around a dummy wallet with an old expired ID card, a credit card, and a little bit of cash for emergencies, but I never got robbed and eventually got sick of carrying it around. I do still have a spare phone for when I’m in Colombia though. I didn’t actually buy a new phone for this; I just kept my old phone. One warning here is that you don’t want to make your dummy items too obvious. If you get robbed by the wrong person and you hand over an old 20-year-old Nokia brick phone, that might just anger them even more. Okay, so now that I’ve got you all paranoid, there’s one important thing to remember, and that is to consider all these tips but don’t be so paranoid that you let it negatively affect your trip. The trick is to learn to be cautious without actually worrying. For example, there’s a difference between getting in the habit of hiding your MacBook inside your pillowcase every time you leave your accommodation and actually worrying about your MacBook every time you leave. One is caution, and the other is unnecessary stress.
In the end, all you can do is your best when it comes to preventing theft and try to remember that things are just things, and if something does get stolen, you can always replace them. So, don’t let the thought of losing them take away from your trip. Preventing theft is only one safety issue that you need to be aware of when traveling around the world. For other tips, make sure to read this blog. See you later.
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