5 Steps to Keep Your Belongings Safe While Travelling

Last updated on June 29th, 2023

Travelling comes with a million things to think about. Worrying about having the right documents, that you don’t miss your connections or that you don’t accidentally do something illegal in a foreign country, are enough things to pile up the stress in your mind. The last thing you want is to have to add yet another few to that stress-inducing list! Help yourself not make losing your valuables or jeopardizing your information be one of the items on that list. With these simple steps, you’ll be able to be a pro at handling the risks and keeping your belongings safe.

Being away from home and outside your bubble of comfort means you’ll need to be on guard more than your usual amount. Especially if you’re travelling solo! I’m probably scaring you a little at this point… my bad! I don’t mean to alarm you but to provide you with the tools to not have to worry about your belongings. After a few practices, you’ll be a natural at it in no time!

With that being said, these tips should help you avoid becoming a victim of theft or lost belongings and to ensure you come back with everything you went away with. Here are 5 mindful tips on how to look after your belongings when travelling.

Don’t carry around too much at a time

If you’re worried about things going missing, then it might be worth reducing the number of belongings you’re taking around with you on a daily basis. Try to leave as much as you can, locked away in your hotel room or in a safe in your Airbnb where it’s available. And just bring what you need!

Not carrying around too much will make you less susceptible to pickpocketers and will help you manage what you’re carrying. If you have lots of items, aim to just carry one bag that can stay closed securely, and minimize any loose items you’d be carrying like sunglasses, open coin purses, a phone, etc. If you’re also shopping around on your day of sightseeing, a backpack is ideal to stuff all your recently purchased goods before you head back to your accommodations at the end of the day.

Be wary of your bank cards and money

Your bank cards and money are perhaps two of your most valuable belongings because if everything else went missing, other than your phone, you’ll be able to pay your way back to where you need to get to.

Always ensure you have more than one form of currency available to you, whether that’s cash, card, or via digital wallets on your phone. The more you have, the better protected you’ll feel should anything happen.

But while carrying your cash and cards, be sure to diversify where it’s kept. If you’re travelling with another person, make sure to not have one person carrying all of the bank cards and money in one single location. When we’re on the move, we carry some cards in front of us in our secured shoulder bag/fanny pack and other cards and cash in the hidden zipper of our WANDRD backpack that sits against our back. It’s impossible to get to if one tried to sneakily dig into that compartment, and is only used for emergency cases!

Make copies of your documents

For the most important documents like visa documents and entry requirements, it’s worth making copies of these for safekeeping. You can never be too cautious when it comes to these travel documents.

By copies, we don’t just talk about physical copies, but saving the pdf’s or screenshots in your phone’s files. We’re always sure to save reservations, booking confirmations, e-Visa documents and any other important files on our phone’s File app, where they are saved on the cloud and not simply locally on the phone’s hard drive.

There have been times where throughout our travels we didn’t have the opportunity or means to print out the travel documents, and when entering a new country without a SIM card yet or usable wifi, it’s a struggle to go through immigration without the proper forms pulled up. By saving the virtual copies on our phone’s File app, we’re able to pull them up without the need for Internet access. But if something were to happen to your phone and you can’t access it, it’s always best to have a physical copy at the ready as a backup in case the virtual files fail.

Be sure to secure your phone and other electronic devices

Your phone and electronic devices are some of the most important belongings you’ll have on your person, but especially your mobile phone. When travelling, you’ll likely try to lighten the load as much as possible, and what better way to do that than by having most important things be operated from your device? But if it were to be hacked or stolen, that would be a difficult problem to overcome to say the least.

If you’re looking at how to protect your phone from being hacked, just take a look online. There are plenty of resources that you can action before your travels to protect this device and others. We use NordVPN to protect our information when using public wifi networks, and we’ve never run into connection speeds.

Be careful in crowded areas

Finally, make sure you’re aware of your surroundings. When it comes to crowded areas, these are places where you’re most likely to be a victim of theft. Be conscious of where you are and especially when you’re put in a crowded spot. Make sure those zippers are closed tight, and leave the open tote purse at home. Carry your backpack securely in front of you if needed – we always do this on a crowded train or when flowing through a dense crowd.

With these precautionary tips, you can enjoy your travels to the best of your abilities while leaving your worries about your belongings behind. Things can still happen to the best of us, no matter how much we prepare, but help yourself mitigate the risks with these five simple steps!