As an attorney, risk management is woven into my blood in all things inside and outside of work. I think I’m a pretty savvy traveler. Organized by nature, I make check lists, packing lists and take pride in preparing for the unexpected. However, when my husband and I recently had more than $4,000 in items stolen on the second day of our one-month trip to Africa, I found that there is always more to learn about preparing for the worst. This may be a bit long, but I hope I can help you avoid some of the pain we suffered.
TAKE PHOTOS OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS AND SAVE THEM TO A CLOUD BASED APP
I have always done this. I have photos of my and my husband’s passports, credit cards, drivers’ licenses, C-cards (we are divers), medical insurance cards and emergency numbers. I save them to Dropbox and that way they are available on all my devices. And guess what – even if all my devices are lost or stolen, I can login to Dropbox from any other device to access them.
DON’T CARRY ALL OF YOUR CASH OR CREDIT CARDS TOGETHER
I carry one credit card in my wallet; my husband carries one in his. I leave the other in the hotel safe. Same with cash – I carry 1/3, he carries 1/3 and we keep the rest in the safe.
RESEARCH YOUR DETINATION FOR FUNKY LOCAL CUSTOMS AND LAWS
Did you know that it is illegal to wear camo clothing in St. Vincent? I’m serious – Google it.
BE SPECIFICALLY PREPARED FOR DEVICE THEFT (A NOT SO FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON MY WAY TO CAPE TOWN)
This is the unfortunate lesson I recently learned the hard way when both my and my husband’s iPhones were stolen simultaneously while in Africa. I don’t know about Android phones, but Apple devices have a “Find my Phone” feature. I always felt comfortable that I had that feature, but did I have any idea how the heck to activate it or what to do if my phone was actually stolen? No.
Thankfully I had my laptop in my hotel room when both of our phones were stolen (along with other valuables in my husband’s backpack) from our hotel lobby. After notifying hotel management and the police, I retrieved my laptop and tried to no avail to figure out how to “Find my iPhone.” Through some miracle, I was actually able to contact Apple support using someone else’s phone. It took more than an hour of resetting forgotten passwords for us both and many more steps to finally get to the “Find My Phone” stage. By then, of course, it was too late. The thieves had removed the batteries and SIM cards. Apple helped me to disable the phones and mark them as stolen so that at least our information was safe. If you know how to do this in advance of your trip you will save yourself a lot of time and hearache.
Two days later, I received a message from my mobile carrier that I had racked up more than $110 in roaming charges on my account – what??? They can still use the phones and my account??? Yup. Once again, I had to borrow someone else’s phone to call the carrier to get the account suspended as the nightmare continued.
NEW LESSONS LEARNED
• Be sure all of your data is backed up to the cloud (or somewhere) before you travel. That way, at least it will be there when you replace your device.
• Always take a backup device with you (laptop, notebook) with which to retrieve your information and don’t carry all your devices in the same bag.
• Know your passwords and how to find your device electronically.
• Add phone numbers for your device and carrier support to your other emergency contacts.
• Take photos of all of your valuable possessions before you leave so that you have evidence of them for your insurance company if you don’t have original receipts.
FINAL WORD
Should you encounter the unthinkable on your vacation, put it in perspective, deal with it, and move on. Don’t let it overshadow your trip because the fact is you can’t change it. Easier said than done, right? Thanks to my training in scuba diving (stop – think – act; do not panic) and yoga (just breathe) I was able to calm myself down after this horrific incident. Yes, my stomach dropped to the floor; yes, my head was exploding; and no, I didn’t sleep a wink that night. But I did manage to convince myself that what I had control over was my reaction and I had a choice; I could either let it consume me and ruin the rest of the trip or deal with it and move on. The bright side is that neither our passports nor credit cards were stolen, and nobody was hurt. In retrospect more than 1 month later, I have beautiful memories of the trip and the “incident” has faded into the mere inconvenience it turned out to be in the grand scheme of things.
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