Navigation

Travel Saftey - Using Intuition

News

"We've been robbed," I told Ana. "All of it." I grabbed thethief, who was no longer acting drunk at all. It was a lesson intravel safety. It started when both my wife and I had a strong feeling weshouldn't get on that bus in Cuenca. Neither of us saidanything, because a taxi was two dollars, and the bus cost onlytwenty-five cents. It seems a bit TOO frugal now. Ana found a seat, but there was no seat for me. I was packed inwith the other commuters standing up. I noticed the drunkpushing his way through the crowd, randomly going this way andthat, and I knew somethimg was up. I instinctively reached intomy pockets to check on my money. I had just visited the ATM. The$170 in my pocket was the most cash we had carried during theentire trip. Still there. The old guy pushed against me like hewas trying to find a place to stand comfortably. I checked myagain. Five minutes later some space opened up near Ana, and I movedover to her. When I reached into my pocket again, it was empty,and the other pocket was empty too. I never felt a thing. I toldAna, and saw that the old drunk was still on the bus. We got off at the next stop, dragging the thief with us. Anofficer appeared, and a crowd formed. The thief was sober now,pulling his pockets out and insisting again that he was inocent.Search him, he said, and I did, but I understood now that hisassociate was long gone with the money, probably off the bus ata previous stop. His role had just been to distract me and pushme into the right place on the bus. He begged to be


travel,,Flights,,vacation package

let go, and we knew we couldn't get the moneyback. Nonetheless, we had the officer take him to the policestation on his motorcycle while we followed in a taxi, payingwith a twenty from under the sole of my shoe. Filing a complaintat least meant he would spend the night in jail, and though hewould be released in the morning for a lack of evidence, hisfinger prints are on file now. Travel Safety Lessons Most likely, a money belt probably would have prevented therobbery. Closing pockets help too, although I had a walletstolen from a zipered pocket once, and I didn't notice untilforty minutes later. Fortunately it was a decoy-wallet, putthere for just such an occasion - another little travel safetytrick. Other travel safety tricks? Put your money in at least threedifferent places, like under the sole of your shoe, in a pocketyou pin inside your clothes, and in your shaving kit. Carry twocredit or debit cards in separate and secure places. Carry alist of "lost or stolen" phone numbers in another place. Inareas with much crime, leave expensive watches and jewelrybehind. Learn a few tricks and you can travel more safely. Ourexperience also shows the importance of learning to trust yourintuition. That was our lesson in travel safety. About the author: Steve Gillman hit the road at sixteen, and traveled the U.S. andMexico alone at 17. Now 40, he travels with his wife Ana, whomhe met in Ecuador. For more on travel safety ,plus travel stories, tips and a free e-book, visit:http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com

Written by: Steve Gillman

XML error: mismatched tag at line 20