Pick Pockets

D -7
The boys & I went to pick up a few last minute things today. David was balking at the idea of a money belt or neck wallet for keeping his valuables safe. He'd decided that just keeping everything in his front pocket would be good enough, that no one could get anything out of there (his no, no square) without him knowing. At that point Stephen, who is now a seasoned EU traveler, launched into story upon story of pickpocket attempts. I'll share a few of his & a few of mine.

One of our travelers didn't like her neck wallet either. We were in Rome, it was hot & she was sweaty so she took off her 'pouch' and tucked it in her front pocket. Within 15 minutes it was gone - money, debit card and passport! Another was stopped by a cute little boy that tied a woven bracelet on his wrist. The next thing he knew another boy was slipping his wallet out of his back pocket. Good thing a chaperone noticed, our traveler hadn't felt a thing! (Another problem with this scam is that they tie the thing on & then demand you pay for it and you can't get the thing off by yourself. Stay away from these cute kids!) I had a young boy, no more than 12, trying to slip my sunglass case out of my day bag while riding the subway in Rome. He wasn't very subtle so I noticed & yelled 'No.' Wouldn't he have been surprised if I'd let him get away with it? The subway was packed like sardines so there wasn't room to move & darn it, he tried again. I made an even bigger stink just as the doors opened & he bolted. The real surprise - there were so many people in that car, someone had to have seen what was happenening but no one stepped up to help. Yep, I'd broken one of the trip rules and was out by myself so there wasn't anyone from the tour to watch my back.

As we travel use all precautions - stay together, protect your valuables, and always be paying attention!