Friday, June 22, 2012

Protecting Your I.D.


Traveling through Europe can be an amazing experience. However, it's never amazing when things fall apart and suddenly you find yourself far away from home and stuck with little to no funds at your disposal. So, I've gathered some tips to help prevent that from happening!

While researching my destination, Pisa, it came to my attention that pickpockets were probably what tourists should be the most alert for. With that in mind these simple steps should help us keep our vacations on track.

1. Clean it out: Before leaving home take out any unnecessary cards from your wallet and/or handbag. It will minimize your loss and hassle in worst case scenarios. 

2. Carrying cash: Chances are we'll carry at least some euros with us. They come in handy for things like cabs and small street vendors. To minimize your losses it's a good idea to never carry all your cash in one location. Splitting it up among your wallet, zippered compartments in your handbag, and a zipper compartment in your carryon are all good options. It's always important for women to remember to keep their handbag closures closed. It's too easy for a pickpocket to grab a wallet out of an open handbag. There are some great tools for keeping your funds secure from places like goplanetgo.com

Security wallets are great options. There are even ones that can be hooked on to a belt loop:


Leather money belts offer even more stealth power for carrying your money:

The number of security products available to keep your money safe while traveling are abundant. Often, they don't cost very much and in the end they can save everyone a lot of unnecessary loss and aggravation.

3. Debit cards: Leaving the debit card at home is worth consideration. Not only is there a chance it can get lost or stolen but they're not guaranteed to work in every ATM abroad. I've even heard horror stories of people's cards being eaten by ATM machines abroad. Luckily there are some alternatives that can take it's place.

4. Prepaid EuroCards: There are tons of offers for prepaid EuroCards. The one I favor is offered by the Post Office here. Make sure to look around for the offer that fits your needs best. Look at commission fee's, cash advance fee's, and exchange rates so there are no surprises. These cards offer a safe, flexible, and limited way to pay for things while your abroad.

5. Credit Cards: I discovered a neat little credit card the Post Office offered as well. Credit cards offer a bit more protection against fraud or your purchases getting accidentally lost, stolen or damaged. If your card is lost or stolen, one phone call cancels the card and a new one is issued as quickly as possible. If necessary they can even give you an emergency cash advance.

I hope these money safety tips can help everyone feel more secure while traveling in the Eurozone! If you have any additional money safety tips that you feel I missed, I'd love to hear them!!

11 comments:

  1. When she travels, my grandma keeps money in her bra. lol
    These are all good tips, but I don't take this matter too seriously really. I just protect myself the way I usually do. Keep my eyes open and my bag closed.
    Love,
    Diana from http://thegirlwhocouldntbeafashionista.blogspot.ie/

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  2. That money belt is cray-zee. Both in the mental sense and in the awesome sense. I'm like Diana, though, I tend to just keep my purse shut and my hand over it when I'm in unfamiliar areas (and sometimes even around people I know... habit) I have learned the hard way, though, not to leave my bag unattended anywhere. The only time I've been stolen from, it was from our employee break room at my old job (though people let strangers in there all the time to do things like fill out applications, so it wasn't necessarily a co-worker)

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  3. I didn't know that pickpocketing is a big porblem. That belt is insane, but is also super cool at the same time!

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  4. ps. I'm having trouble posting comments on your blog... For some reason, I can't actually edit my comments like I used to. I dunno if it's just me or Disqus.

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  5. Ooo...I love the sneaky belt wallet! When I went to Paris & Florence, I was super worried about pick pockets. I'm glad you made it out alright. I miss you!!

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  6. I miss you too! Looking forward to you getting back. xoxo

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  7. It looks like Disqus has finally sorted itself out today. Hopefully it will stay that way!

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  8. The belt would make me feel like a super secret stealth spy out to save the world :D

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  9. See, I liked the money belt more for the fact that it made me feel all super spy like. I too kept my purse shut this time with my hand over it for this trip. The throngs of people around some of the attractions were intense. Weirdly, my purse was stolen from the break room at my old job as well! I'd only stepped from the room to cross back to my office to grab something I'd forgotten. I'd seen the person who had passed, noticed my bag was gone, called the police and they caught him with it still on the grounds. Unfortunately, they never recovered my grandmother's amber earrings which I'd put in my bag while I had a dental exam earlier that day. :(

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  10. lol! I think I'd feel too self-concious grabbing money out of my bra in a busy thoroughfare with a street vendor. Always keeping our eyes open is a great practice.

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  11. I just watched Sherlock Holmes (the newest RDJr one) and am kind of digging the spy thing more now.
    How weird about your purse getting taken at work, too! Most of what was taken from me was cancelled or found half a state over. The two things I never got back and wanted - my wallet itself (it was awesome) and the receipt from my recent air conditioner purchase (because I was screwed if I needed warranty work done! lol)

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