How To Not Get Robbed Traveling.

These street smarts will keep you safe, when traveling most countries.

Commuting.

• Buy a loaf of bread, put cash in between slices of bread.
• Wear shorts inside your trouser. On the day of travel keep money and phone inside shorts.
• Use bathrooms to bring out more money from your shorts.
• Take exact money you’ll spend for the day/event. Have a bit extra inside the inner shorts.
• Never have all your money on you at one time, unless travel day.
• Know the nearest money exchange place, usually at the malls.
• Ask hotel staff for money exchange locations. Go to a store, do not agree to change with a local or “one man business”.
• Do not change all your foreign currency to local currency at one time.
• Wear a hoodie.
• Take taxi/UBER from point A to B, door to door.
• When you get into a taxi, roll windows up, make sure car doors’ locked.
• When showing address on your phone to taxi driver, do not hand them the phone, hold it while they read it or better still write the address down, you can hand them the paper.
• Make friends from Meetup and Couchsurfing, meet up with locals.
• Take a notebook, use this more than your phone.
• Write directions, addresses and common phrases in Spanish on notebook, show taxi driver as you go.
• Make multiple copies of passport.
• Connect bank account with PayPal, use PayPal for online purchases.
• Do not take your bank card — if you can help it.
• Write the card numbers down in three places. On your phone, on a sheet of paper, and on your computer. Memorize the first digit and the last digit. Memorize the expiration and/or the three digits on the back. The ones you memorize, don’t write down.
• You’re better off not taking your computer, carry your back pack on your stomach if you do.

Hotel.

• Leave phone at the hotel. Not in the open.
• Unplug your charger, keep charger inside your bag.
• Leave valuable items inside your bag. General travel knowledge: house keeping usually would not ransack inside a luggage to find valuables, instead most focus on items laying around carelessly or on bag’s side pockets.
• Use the safe.
• Know exactly how much money you have, write it down. The joke is foreigners do not usually know the exact dollar amount they have, which makes it easy for little amounts to be stolen without the foreigner knowing.
• Tip everybody at least once. From the front desk man to room service, even the lady who cooks breakfast. “Here’s 20,000COP ($6) for you to get a beer, thanks for everything.”

Blending In.

• Do not wear any item showing the name of the city or country you’re from.
• Do not wear shorts outside.
• Do not wear sandals.
• Keep the sunglasses.
• Do not use phone at all while in a taxi.
• Your wallet stays in your front pocket, not your back pocket.
• Do not maintain eye contact with anyone.
• Go to a gun range, night before travel — if you can afford it.
• Always remember “wisdom is better than strength”.
• If you see a few guys standing in front of you, do not pass their middle. Cross to the other side or use the end of side walk closer to the road, not the end close to the wall.
• Have two sets of wallet, one with a few local currencies you can hand to criminals if you do get robbed.
• Expect to be robbed, so never have anything on you, you won’t want to lose.
• If it does happen, you being robbed, cooperate. Always cooperate. And be fast handing the item over.

I used these tips when traveling Colombia and I was not robbed or attacked. The people are mostly lovely and honest. Enjoy Colombia. You go one time, you’d go back in a hurry.

With Love,

Famous Steve.