6 Ways to Keep Your Bag Safe On Your Next Trip

Imagine this - you’re traveling through a foreign country, and you stop to enjoy lunch.

You sit down at an open-air café. One moment, your bag is beside your chair, right where you left it.

The next moment, you look down, and it’s gone! And with it, your passport, cash, camera, and personal identification.

While this is a devastating scenario, it’s one that happens to thousands of travellers annually, and it can put a serious dampener on the enjoyment of your trip.

Fortunately, these travel safety tips can help keep your bag safe, no matter where you are in the world.

6 Smart Tips to Keep Your Bag Safe While You Travel

To keep your bag, and the personal items within it, safe while you travel, follow these six tips:

1. Check hotel reviews before booking

While nobody wants to believe that the housekeeper or attendant would dig through your personal items when you’re not in your room, it does happen.

With this in mind, check hotel reviews before you book your accommodation. While good reviews don’t guarantee the security of your items, checking a hotel’s reviews is a great way to take a proactive step toward ensuring security.

Reviews are frequently posted on sites like TripAdvisor (see the below review as an example).

2. Research the place you are going

Every city in every country around the world has a place within it that travellers simply should not go.

So do your best to research the location before you go there. This will help you learn which areas of the city feature lots of theft, and where you’re best off avoiding.

3. Never leave your bag unattended (or with someone else)

When you’re travelling, the easiest way to get your bag stolen is to leave it unattended or in the hands of someone you don’t know.

Keep your bag with you at all times. This will give you piece of mind that no one is sorting through it while you aren't looking, or perhaps even stealing the whole bag itself.

While it can be tempting to trust people like taxi drivers and baggage handlers at hotels, your bag will be safer if you simply never let it out of your sight. 

4. Walk against traffic

I'm sure many tourists aren’t aware of this phenomena, but motorcycle theft is one of the most common ways bags are stolen in foreign countries.

During a motorcycle theft, a team of thieves ride up behind a tourist on a motorcycle, grab his or her bag, and zip away.

It’s a devastating way to have your items stolen, and the chance of recovering your bag or identifying the thief are virtually nonexistent.

To prevent this, walk against traffic. This will help you observe the upcoming motorcycles on your walk and keep your bag safe if anything suspect starts approaching.

5. Travel light

Instead of checking a large bag that contains dozens of your personal items and could easily be lost, just take a light carry-on with you.

In addition to making your travel easier and more enjoyable (who wants to lug a huge bag around for weeks or months?) this also makes it much simpler to keep your bag safe.

To ensure that you have everything you need with you at all times, purchase travel-size bottles of your favourite soaps, shampoos, and more, and ensure that your carry-on is something easy to walk, ride, and commute with, such as a backpack.

6. Use anti-theft bags

There are many ways to keep your bag safe on your own, but your belongings will be much safer if your bag works to keep them secure as well.

Before you leave on your trip, purchase an anti-theft bag.

Designed to discourage slashing and things such as motorcycle theft, these unique travel bags, like the Metroshield anti-theft sling (pictured below), feature tear-resistant nylon and pickpocket-proof lockable zippers.

Stylish, secure, and ideal for anyone who is headed out on a long trip, an anti-theft bag may be exactly what you need to take that one additional step toward keeping your personal items safe and secure.

Safe Bags Make for Happy Travels

One of the most devastating things that can happen on a trip is having your bag stolen or compromised.

In addition to the fact that it feels like a violation, it can be a huge identity theft threat, and may mean that you spend your trip at the embassy trying to replace sensitive personal information. Rather than out exploring the country you came to see.

These six tips can help you keep your bag safe, no matter where in the world you’re going.