BootsnAll Travel Community

Just wondering if anyone had any ideas in regards to carrying valubles (passport, travelers cheques etc.) I have used a money belt in the past and found it very annoying. Is it the only way to keep this stuff safe because the thought of wearing one for a year is pretty offputting. Thanks for the help.

There's also things you can wear around your neck under your clothes, but those seem even more uncomfortable to me. Maybe sowing an inside pocket into you trousers or shirt would do the trick as well?

Personally, I don't mind the money belt - it's uncomfortable the first day, but then I get used to it, and the peace of mind it gives me is worth it. But I've met many other who will not wear it.

When travelling the 3 most important items are your money, passport and ticket. You need to keep them on you most of the time. The only times I am separated from those items are if they are in the safe of the guest house / hotel I'm staying in.

Travelling in hot countries like Thailand means you have less places on your person to hide them. Pockets can get picked, bags can get forgotten, fannypacks opened. For me the money belt is the only way at present that will work. Sometime in the future when you don't need a physical passport, just a virtual one, e-tickets are widespread and there is an ATM on everycorner these problems will be easier to deal with. For right though you have to carry documents and you have to protect them.

There are various moneybelts and I use the waistband type. I agree they are not the most comfortable especially when I'm hiking anf its 90f, but I don't lose my documents and my money is always safe.

You might experiment with some other kinds of moneybelts that allow you to wear them in various other places on the body.

http://www.rei.com/cgi-bin/rei/searchc.pl?stat=7889&query=money+belts&x=11&y=14

Good luck

Nick

I sweated with those bloody things for years. I will always remember being stripped at a border in Central America in the mid-80's and the guards going through my belt with a fine tooth comb, assuming it was "the kind." But I digress....

Actually, I gave up money belts many years ago when a few companies--like Patagonia--started making clothes with velcro sealed interior compartments (there are only two things velcro being opened sounds like, one of which is someone trying to steal your life). From shirts to travel skirts, there are now many options. Granted, they are a bit on the expensive side, but many of my Patagonia clothes are still going after 15 years. TravelSmith, Puerto Air and other sluttish luxury companies now have similar stuff. Cheap insurance- pay now or pay later!
Rich

I use one that straps around the leg. Its ace, as its much more comfortable than a regular money belt, and nobody suspects its there. The downside, of course, is you cant wear shorts or skirts....
k

I thought about taking a money belt, but it sounds just too sweaty and chafing (and common nowadays). I saw an ad somewhere for an actual belt with a hidden zipper. That seems far more practical (not for passports and such, but could probably fit in emergency cash and folded-up photocopies of important documents). They're maybe $20, $30.

Virtually everyone I met who had been robbed in my three RTW trips did not have their money under their clothes. It was in plain view, in a pocket, in a fanny pack, in a daypack, or in their guesthouse. It doesn't matter what method you use, but the cash and passport need to be out of sight and very secure.

i got a pouch that doesnt go on the leg, waist or neck.

Its got a little clip that will clip onto the waistline of whatever you are wearing, and the pouch holding the passport/money and so on goes on the inside of your clothes and theres only a small black clip that will go on the front and will show. It looks like a belt loop or if you are wearing a belt and slide it under, you wotn be able to see it. I havent set out on the road with it yet, but it looks like it wont be uncomfortable.

I carry some cash in my bra!! even in countries like Indonesia where you have stacks of cash this is still viable...only if your a girl though!In all my travels, I've never lost a cent!Just don't look like a tourist and flash the cash around in markets etc.

LOL I carry cash around in my bra, too... and I'm not traveling! I even have one bra with "pockets" (for padding) that I stuff cash in.

I hate money belts too but I always wear them. Like globetrots, nearly everyone I've met who has had money taken had it taken from their money belts when their money belts were off. In the one exception to that rule the thieves had to beat the S@#$ out of him to get to his money belt. Everyone at one time or another gets tired of wearing the belt but whatever you decide to use, make sure you use it all the time. I suggest getting a couple of really high quality comfortable money belts and switching them up for long trips because they do get sweaty and need to be washed.

And those "real" belts that have a hidden zipper are useful for folding up a couple of emergency bills but not much else. You can have some really nice leather ones made for cheap on the road. We had ours made in Africa.

I don´t use a money belt. I just keep my money in my purse and as for valuables, I just have a camera, an ipod, and my passport. I normally carry these in my purse, they don´t take up much room. If I keep money in my pockets, I take them out of the wallet, and I close the pocket with a safety pin or something.

One girl I met in Barcelona had one of those little shoulder purses, and was taking something out of it when someone asked her a question, and another person grabbed it. So I guess.. if I had to give advice, it would be to not carry one of those little purses, but something that goes across your body and you wouldn´t have to take off to access. But, more importantly, to finish what you´re doing before you´re so polite as to pay attention to other people.

Another person I met in Barcelona had his entire backpack lifted while he was sitting next to it, eating in a restaurant. So the moral of this, I suppose, is to sit with your backpack leaning or brushed against your leg, or to have a strap looped around your ankle.. or anything else that keeps you aware of your pack..

I think money belts are a bad idea - I always find those travel type trousers with plenty of zipped pockets are good...

I hate wearing money belts as well but much prefer my leg belt. Its easy and I dont even notice it is there and super secure. I usually pop it on and pull my sock up over it. Only problem is i cant wear it with shorts.

I would agree though - having clothes with inner pockets would be ideal.

If you wear a waist belt though make sure it is tucked under your waistline out of view - i met plenty of people on my trip so far who have been mugged and often (not always) they have had their shirts lifted up the check.. but then again no pickpocketer is going to get under your shirt (i dont think!)

cheers,

sub.

There are bands of thieves in several countries who work on mopeds. They drive up to women walking along the street, skillfully cut their purse, and quickly drive off, never to be seen again. Others slit the bottom of daypacks in a market or crowd and make off with whatever falls out. Anything that is hanging on your body should not have your money and passport in it.

Detest money belts, extremely uncomfortable when it's a million degrees out.

We had interior pockets sewn into a couple pair of trousers, with sturdy zippers. The tailor thought it was such a great idea she's passed it along, and it was a lot cheaper than buying 'real travel clothing'

along the way, when the trousers were so deteriorated, we bought another pair and just cut out the pocket, took it to your local tailor in Asia & explained where we wanted it sewn.

It was great peace of mind not to have to worry. and even with a money belt on, I'd worry it'd get cut, or somehow snatched. with the interior pocket someone would've had to reach way down in my pants to get to it

Hey,

I go away in 8 days!!!!! And I'm not really sure about this whole securing your money sitation. I mean, are waist-type money belts really the best way to go? I can just imagine them being so so uncomfortable and was wondering, from a girls perspective, what people would reccommend?

Also, see when you are sleeping, or sunbathing/swimming on a beach - where do you reccommend you keep all your valuables? Is it safe to leave things in a locker and just have photocopies on your body? Or is this a massive no no? (I apologise for not knowing, Shetland is a very, very safe place to be!!)

Natalie