There are a lot of ways of being "robbed" while traveling, and many are not covered by the poll. For example, I've never had anything stolen from my panniers, hard or soft, but I've had shoes stolen twice--once from atop my bike while I napped a few feet away. That was somewhere in Argentina. I had someone run a credit card twice in India and didn't discover the theft until I arrived home many months later; the money was substantial, in the thousands of dollars, but I got it back. I've encountered lots of pickpockets, none successful. I've been short-changed in a variety of ways, although never for significant amounts. Etc.

All of this rather pales in comparison to the sorts of things that have happened at home in America; knives pulled on city streets, cash stolen from my home, an incident of threats from a couple of hitchhikers I'd picked up (they backed down when I, somewhat foolishly, came right back in their faces), even a semi-famous boss who used to vanish on paydays and routinely skip out on bills.

I'm normally pretty cautious with my possessions, but often a little bit reckless with my personal safety. This has worked out just fine, for the most part. Limiting opportunities for opportunistic theft is probably the best protection; a philosophical attitude toward ephemeral possessions helps, too.

The only 'thefts' we suffered were stickers/decals off the panniers and handlebar screen, which we began losing them in eastern Turkey, then similar in Egypt and on into India. Our response was to get a couple of friends back in the UK to each post us a bagful to Madras, whereafter we could stick a few new ones on each day, always being careful to leave one edge un-stuck so that they didn't tear when the kids peeled them off; we handed a few out too, but the kids seemed to enjoy stealing them more.

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BobnLes

Funny, was just reading on facebook today somebody in Cairo was looking for a Rotopax fuel container as his was nicked off the bike along with the mounting bracket. Somebody must have really wanted that, they're pretty solidly bolted on!

A skunk came into the annexe of my tent looking for food while I was on a USA tour in 1995.
He smelled really bad, but nothing like as bad as if I had spooked him, so I just let him get on with it.

__________________
Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

I’ve been robbed so many times! The “government” calls it tax but it’s robbery....

But in person, no

Hi,
7 years ago in Iran I got robbed a couples of times in different cities.
With a trick which is well known in the country and iranians start it every region with a different approach:
First they invite you to their home or to a restaurant near by and you get feeded with really delicious food till you get tired. Than they bring you to the best places in their area. They pay all entrance fees and often they want to buy you a souvenir. After that you have to meet their best friends who will start the trick again. You need a while till you recognize that a big amount of your precious travel time was stolen! But I advise you to stay relaxed and politely because you will always feel very well and you will definitely miss nothing material after this theft which in iran is very well known as "The Amazing Hospitality Trick"!

(Was a much trickier rip off than the one with 3 guys in Buenos Aires who pointed a revolver to my face to grap my 25$ swatch and 12$ cash in 1996. Luckily they ignored my cheap shoes which I had bought in a local supermarket. So I was able to catch a taxi with hidden rest of cash)

We’ve had our hotel room robbed by staff in Nairobi. Guards on the front door and key card entry didn’t stop staff with a pass key. The cops told us this.
Again in Nairobmi my wife had a necklace snatched from her neck. She never ever took it off and so forgot it when we left valuables behind before the trip.

The wife and I ride two up so when we go through borders she’ll mind the bike while I do the paperwork.
We have travelled pretty extensively in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. When in poor countries we generally go for hotels with private parking although we also camp and use hostels too. Booking.com is good for finding what you want.
When we get off the bike to wander around, we put the satnav in a shoulder bad, then cable lock the jackets and helmets to the bike. We then wander off and forget about it. We rarely worry about robbery or theft because it’s never happened outside Nairobi.
In dodgy countries I carry valuables in a back pack with both arms through as a black lady security guard in Zimbabwe warned me that the one-arm carry I was using at the time made me a target for thieves.

When starting a trip we change valuable kit such as watches for battered road kit, never flash the cash, wear worn clothes and smile and treat people nicely.
As someone else said, cities are more dangerous so take higher precautions there.
Be watchful but relax and enjoy yourself.

I had my mobile phone stolen from the dashboard of my truck as I opened the door to buy a ticket at the Bara ferry crossing into the Gambia.

The truck was surrounded by kids/teenagers trying the door handles and lockers, later heard from a fellow traveler some of their group had the ropes securing items to their roof rack cut and cases dragged off.

I Ended up staying the night at the port, where the locals tried to sell my sim card back to me.
A couple of days later in a market in Banjul I saw my phone on a popup phone & sim stand, I bought it back for a couple of quid and used it for the rest of the trip.

Call it an "involuntary safe keeping fee".

Next time, maybe get one of these? A dye detonator that can also detonate by GPS and also fire off a flare that burns for four minutes:

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Blog: www.bamakobyvespa.no
My Youtube Channel

Never had a problem while on the road - the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania.

Had an attempted mugging in Rio once - should have known better than to be downtown on the weekend - they failed and came back later and apologised (!)

Had a phone stolen in the Claro office in Bogotá - I was replacing my phone with a new one, the new one disappeared while going through the process!

All the rest of the incidents were having items stolen from checked baggage at MIA - I never check bags through MIA now - this has happened a few times. It’s the only airport in the world where this has happened to me. Having said that, TSA has routinely damaged checked bags to open them - they have never been locked - just vandalism!

In terms of precautions - in some places (Brazilian cities for example) I use a cheap plastic watch and carry a second "giveaway" wallet with a little cash (never had to give it away so far). The obvious practices - no jewellery, no expensive cameras, no obvious laptop bag) in these areas. Secure parking in countries where secure car parks are everywhere - they're there for good reason. When in Africa it's common for kids to "guard your car" (or bike) for a small fee - I always do this - it's not really necessary but it's an accepted way to get some cash flow into the community.

Inside of 110`000 Overlanding Kilometers travelling by 4x4 it once happens at 2015 in Peru. Normally we Overlander did stay in our car, but at that night I was out for Dinner.

Im a very touristic small town named Puno (at the tikitaca lake) somebody did smash the sidewindow of the parked car and did steal what he can get with less time.

In my eyes is a touristic town mostly a bit more dangerous, compared to leave the vehicle 3 days remote, when you like to hike.

By travelling by 4x4 - you carry a lot, and there is usually also enough to steal

They did steal a lot. Even a running satellite Livetracker which I did use to keep mom more relaxed at home. It was heavenly raining and is was already dark - as we did start to follow the thiefes by car.

We did use our smartphone, to follow the livetracking unit, hoping that our datapackage will keep us online.

What we did? What happens? It was an adventure, if you like you can read:

Adventure-Overland: Von Arequipa nach Puno

I suggest to use an translator, than it is in german language.

I dont worry more since then. A delayed theft protection for the vehicle, a good insurance and a good backup plan (Data, Documents, Cash) is everything you need.

In a global world you can restock anything with DHL International Business Express (2 days). As long it is on stock somewhere in the world, you will get it in 7 days too in the 2nd world.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

Only ever had 1 item stolen in all my years of touring, and that was a tank bag in Peru as well. It was one of those moments when I was away from the bike for a few seconds.... lesson learned.

Looks like me and Surfy owe some thanks to the tracking Gods! :-)

Fortunately, the perps had no idea that my Garmin InReach was sending pings back to a satellite and I was able to track the location of the tank bag.

With the aid of some cops and a local motorcycle group, I recovered the tank bag. Now that was one crazy night!

Fully story below for anyone interested:

https://genxrider.com/garmin-inreach-explorer/

So posting a link to more in-depth details of being robbed (the topic of this thread) is clickbait?

I'll let the admins of this site decide if it goes against their TOC's, feel free to delete the link.

Also Cholo, I responded to your PM. Thanks.

I also contribute to this site. I post information or answer questions that hopefully help.

I posted a link to my website, not my YouTube channel. Both are hobbies (zero income), which I do for fun and to give back information to anyone that is interested.

If what I posted is against the TOC's of this site, then I will let the admins take appropriate action. And that ladies and gentlemen, is my point of view :-)

It seems it's time for me to step in and clarify what I kinda, foolishly / naively thought would be obvious, but clearly not.

da rules...

Advertising
You agree not to post any advertising, URL's with affiliate id's or tracking numbers or anything which actively promotes your own business site or company without authorization.

Pretending to be a traveller and hyping your own business is not okay. Businesses desiring to advertise products or services on the HUBB, the Horizons Unlimited website or the monthly e-zine should contact us. See AD RATES here. Advertisers / Small Businesses Posts on the HUBB

a. Small vendors, tour operators etc: You can become a "Contributing Vendor" by simply paying for a one line Advertising Signature, which will show whenever you make a post.

• The price is only US$ 40 per year, payable in advance, minimum 1 year.
• Your signature can contain up to 40 characters of text and your link in one line.

b.You can also become a "HUBB Advertiser".

• The price is only US$ 100 per year, payable in advance, minimum 1 year.
• Your signature can contain
  • up to 150 characters of text and your link in three lines.
  • Signature Image / logo, animated .gif, 200x50 pixels, max 30kb.

c. Vendors with a regular ad (minimum 6 months, US$100 per month) on the HU website, are entitled to the "HU Sponsor" status. See AD RATES here to become an HU Sponsor.

• Your signature can contain
  • up to 250 characters of text and your link in three lines.
  • Signature Image / logo, animated .gif, 330x72 pixels, max 50kb.

IMPORTANT: The above options a, b and c do NOT allow you to make advertising posts, or any post promoting your services or products. You can offer information in response to posts by travellers, but NO MENTION of your services or products is allowed unless it's FREE.
If you wish to make advertising posts:

"Contributing Vendors", "HU Sponsors" and "HUBB Advertisers" can also make an Advertising Post on the HUBB. These are the first post of a thread advertising an event or product, in the appropriate forum.

• You can make as many posts in the thread as you like.
• Price is US$ 100 per thread, payable in advance.
• The thread is "live" for as long as you maintain your "Contributing Vendors", "HU Sponsors" and "HUBB Advertisers" status, so a minimum of one year.

CONTACT Grant to arrange any of the above options.
You can also have a FREE link to your website with a link to us of similar quality. See www.HorizonsUnlimited.com/linktous for details


-----------------------------


With all that, it IS ok to post links to your PERSONAL SITE for more information. HOWEVER - there is a trade-off here if you do that. What we ALLOW and what is FAIR to ALL - including myself, Susan and HU - is a little trickier.

Horizons Unlimited is VERY expensive to run, and is my full time job / living. And I DO like to eat. (During the pandemic our income has been essentially ZERO, not that it has ever really paid near enough.)
So, to do that, we need traffic TO HERE, and CONTENT for google to find and send people HERE, so they spend time on the site, maybe buy a DVD or a t-shirt or download the Achievable Dream series, or even better, go to an HU event or become a Supporting Member.

IF YOU SEND PEOPLE to YOUR site, or any other site, you drive traffic AWAY from HU - and that hurts us. If your site is a hobby, and you like what we do here on HU, the now 24 years of effort to support the traveller community, perhaps you could help to SUPPORT HU by driving traffic and providing full information here whenever possible.

Some people have complained that the "treatment" has been uneven, or unfair:

If you feel you've been done wrong, TELL ME. There's a link to contact at the bottom of every page, or PM me. I listen, and will ALWAYS do my best to hear both sides of a story and be fair to all.
I've also noticed that sometimes peoples understanding of all the factors improves, and they change their ideas, their attitudes, and how they interact on the site, and that's usually a good thing. They day I stop learning is the day they put me in the ground.

The moderators have a VERY difficult job, far harder than you can imagine, trying to apply the rules fairly at all times. They are to be congratulated and appreciated for their usually thankless and always unpaid efforts. We are forever grateful to them.

Sometimes they err - and sometimes mods have been relieved of their duty for too many errors. But always, they try their best.

We - the mods and I - often discuss how best to deal with an issue. I've been thinking hard about this one for several days now, (amongst all the personal stuff I currently need to deal with) - and hope that I have clarified for everyone the essence of what is ok or not re posting on HU.

P.S.: Please note that Greg Frazier has SPONSOR status here, as he has for a very long time promoted HU on a regular basis wherever and whenever he can, in the press, his books, and in presentations. He is a great AMBASSADOR for HU.

Surfy - great info, sparked lots of discussions, and it's much appreciated - please try to post full info here whenever possible.

Someone complained they thought they had been unfairly stepped on for posting a link in their sig to their own site years ago - contact me. Or, just note that a sig link to YOUR OWN NON-commercial, NON-money making in ANY way travel website is fine.

I hope all that makes sense!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com