Keeping Your Luggage Safe

RULES #1, 2 and 3: The very best way to keep your possessions safe is to NEVER, NEVER, EVER put down ANYTHING without a hand, leg, arm, foot or whatever on it. At worst, if you must put it down, don’t take your eyes off of it.

(True stories: I know a traveler that put down her eyeglasses to try on a t-shirt and when she went to put them back on, they were gone! Eyeglasses, for heavens sake! Who would have thought? And then there was the young man who was loading his luggage into a van and put his backpack down. Gone!)

In a restaurant, don’t hang a purse or camera strap over the back of your chair. Your purse is never safe sitting on a chair by itself. Protect it by putting it on the floor between your legs. Keep your camera strap around your neck. If none of the above is practical, put it on the table right smack in front of you so it is NEVER out of your sight. Or, if it has an easily detachable strap, thread the strap around a chair or table leg.

(True story: Daughter of a friend of mind lost her backpack which was hung over her chair back, with all her photos from a trip she had just taken.)

If you must put your luggage down you can still keep it safe by using a lock and cable. This is a great item for the person traveling alone.

Worried about lost luggage? Don't check any! Pack light. We take quick dry clothes and sink wash them as we go along. (And if you are bumped - or volunteer to be bumped - you don't have to worry about your luggage arriving HOURS before you do.)

If you know that you will have to check your luggage, be sure to read Travelers’ “Dirty Dozen” Lowers Theft Risk.

Using a backpack? Use small, inexpensive carabiner clips to protect the zippers from opening by themselves (or by unauthorized hands). Still worried about keeping the items in your backpack safe? Protect it by wearing it backwards.