21 Travel Security Tips | Road-Tested by a Career Traveler 🕶 🔐

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Ms Hobo, All of your tips were great. I DO have a fake wallet, and I was in Rome, and a pickpocket got my "fake" wallet! I would have enjoyed seeing his face as he saw all of the phony credit cards inside. (These are the cards we get, that DON'T have our name) I also put in a dollar, that is cut, 1/2 inch, diagonally from the center. I wrote "assh-le" on one side, that would be visible, if they tried to put the halves together, and "thief" on the other side.

Tip: search the internet for local scams at your destination. You may learn about tricks like being given "free" stuff, signing petitions, etc. One scam for my upcoming trip is you might be asked to take a picture of someone or a couple. When you hand back the camera they will "accidentally" drop it and demand you pay for it.

I'm 56 yrs old and from Phila. I do this every day, whether I am on vacation or not!!

Your taxi safety tips are brilliant. On my first solo trip I was robbed by my airport driver on my second city in my two month trip... Rome. Photographing the license plate! yes! Always going forward.

Many yrs ago myself and my girlfriend were walking the back streets of Naples and as we approached the main street of the market I heard the stall holders whistling to each other. Obviously a code, ( tourist ahead) I held onto my girlfriend and our shoulder bags and moved on quickly.

The paper copy of the passport saved us when my partner’s backpack was stolen. I don’t wear special travel clothing. I use my normal practical clothes and sometimes a piece of jewelry I don’t mind losing. I have a small crossbody bag that I use at the destination and leave my larger travel bag in my room.

To use a hotel room safe is to open yourself up to theft by employees who have combination overrides. Better to bring a small paper binder clip. Use this to stash documents you were going to keep in the safe, behind the window curtain in a fold near the end furthest away from the window opening. The only thing housekeeping will do is open the curtains. I also travel with a small camera detector and when I check in my first task is to scan the room for cameras. Once in a hotel and once in an Airbnb, I've found pinhole lens cameras hidden. In both cases, they were in the washrooms and yes, I involved the police. If you use USB charging ports found in airports, hotels, or public spaces, you run the risk of malware, hacking, or unauthorized access. To mitigate this, get a USB Data Blocker. It will prevent data transfer while allowing your device to charge.

Nora, all your tips useful, practical, potential life and/or travel safe inspiring. Yup: the doorstop. Ordering one as we speak. Oh, please, ladies, no flowing, ankle length resort dresses and flip flops off the cruise ship! And "Convertible pants" Ugh! My pet peeve? American men who wear baseball hats in restaurants with linen and cutlery. Linen ON the table means, dude, that Yankees/Cubs/Chiefs hat comes OFF. Ciao!

We have several "laminated" copies of our passports (using packing tape), and we take at least one set with us on every trip. We secure our real passports, and go out with the copies. In our many decades of traveling the world (since the 1970's), we've never had a problem doing this. We've also created, and always take with us, detailed medical histories which list all medications we currently take, all vaccinations we've had (not just covid), past surgeries and major illnesses, and any conditions for which we are currently being treated. Finally, besides having copies in the Cloud of ALL important travel documents, we also put everything on a flash drive, including info for the credit cards we're carrying, and secure it in a safe place.

All the tips are great. I love it. I can add one more tip. Leave a copy of your itinerary trip at home or email a copy of your itinerary so they know what day and where you’re going just in case you’re missing. Also if you’re staying at the hotel, always leave the envelope or the cover of your hotel room key inside your room and just take pic of the envelope with the room number in it. Just bring your room key with you without the cover or envelope. Usually the envelope hotel key has the room number and address of the hotel. You don’t want that envelope with the room key fall off from your purse and missing and when you come back to your room at the end of the day, your belongings has been stolen because someone has found your hotel key with room number in it. It happened to my coworker. Her hotel key fell off from her purse and she didn’t know. Someone stole all her stuff in her hotel room. Come to find out in the cctv who stole it but they couldn’t find that person.

So many great tips I hadn’t thought of!

Very useful tips! Thanks

Best safety tips ever.

Great tips 😊

Excellent tips. Thanks

thank you for the wisdom.

Thank you!

Fantastic information. Everyone should use these proven methods. The door stop is even useful at home just in case.

Always leave the Do Not Disturb sign out.