Starting to find travel boring? Looking to spice up your next trip away? Throw a little excitement into your life by getting robbed! Here are 28 awesome tips on how to get robbed when you travel.
A tongue in cheek guide on to the best ways to get robbed when you travel. 28 awesome tips on how to get your stuff stolen, be pickpocketed, and mugged when you travel!
Best Tips on How to Get Robbed When You Travel
1. Leave your belongings unattended whenever possible.
2. Make sure you don't lock your hotel room door.
3. When leaving the hotel room, make sure all your expensive tech gear worth more than the cleaner will earn in a year is on full view.
4. Don't use a hotel safe… they aren't safe.
5. Carry all your cash, cards and passport in one pocket – It's easier to get robbed that way.
6. If you see someone following you, stop to have a chat.
7. Look as lost as you can – Carrying a huge map works really well.
8. Keep your wallet in your back pocket.
9. Always take out your iPhone
, tablet computer
and huge DSLR camera
when in the middle of a crowded plaza, especially in countries where their combined cost is worth more than the annual salary.
10. Leave your backpacks unattended in the same plaza while you go wandering around taking photos.
11. Make sure you are wearing the most expensive watch and jewelry you can.
12. Make no attempt to blend in. In fact, be as loud as you can in order to draw the maximum attention to yourself.
13. Get robbed by looking as nervous and uncertain as possible.
14. Ignore your intuition.
15. When eating in a cafe by yourself, leave your bag on the table to go and use the restroom.
16. When eating in a cafe or restaurant, leave your bag on the floor by the side of you and don't think about it again until you have to leave.
17. Start an argument with a taxi driver over him charging you 50 cents more than you think he should have. This is a great way to make yourself a target for later on during the day.
18. Flash your cash around.
19. Announce loudly to people you just met in a crowded place that you need to find an ATM machine.
20. Fall asleep on the beach by yourself with your bag just out of reach.
21. Ask a shifty looking stranger to keep an eye on your stuff because you want to go for a swim for a half hour.
22. When travelling by bus, put your bag in the aisle and fall asleep with headphones on.
23. Pick the dodgiest, seediest bar to get drunk in.
24. Drink until you can barely see.
25. If you are with a group, and they want to go home, staying by yourself for an extra drink or two makes far more sense.
26. Walk home from said dodgy place at 3 in the morning, completely drunk.
27. Make sure you walk through the worst areas of town as you do so.
28. This is also a great time to explore interesting back-alleys.
If none of this helps you get robbed, then you are doing it all wrong. Or, I haven't come up with enough ideas. If you have any great suggestions to add to these best tips on how to get robbed when your travel, please leave them in the comments section below. Cheers everyone!
Related: Common Travel Mistakes And What Not To Do When Traveling
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IndiTales says
Great way to get your message across…
Fun post – was smiling all the way down to point 28 🙂
Ella says
Hilarious! Another one that reminded me of Paris – when some people on the street start asking you to donate to “les invalides” make sure you straight up give them cash and expose which pocket the rest of your cash is in
Dave Briggs says
haha- Yeah, its really important to show them huge wads of cash as you do so!
Ilse @tips4trips says
In Barcelona a big burly guy would not let us off the subway. So, yes, stand behind him, staring him down while your smart friends exit the other door. We missed our credit cards and hubbies wallet and have never forgotten. His companion took hubbies wallet out of the front pocket of his jeans. He never felt it. It made for an interesting remainder of our trip.
Valeria @ Rome, New York, London, World says
Hahaha! What a fun way to start my day 🙂 One time I read of a person that wore a gold necklace while strolling the city center of Salvador…seriously!?!?! Throughout my whole trip to Brazil the only accessory I wore was a plastic watch.
I also want to add: as soon as you exit the airport, go with the first person that offers you a taxi ride. 🙂
Dave Briggs says
I will have to include the taxi ride on a new updated list at some point!
Alison says
Walking around with an expensive DSLR around your neck advertising you ripe to rob and then forgetting to zip up your pocket with your cell phone in it when your standing in a crowd in the local market. I’ll miss you cell phone 🙁
Alli says
Hehe! I chuckled to myself reading these points! Awesome post. E
Delia says
Haha, a cheeky take on the usual post. And I love the final image to top it all off!
Peter Parkorr says
Great tips Dave! I try all these wherever I can. The only one that worked so far was leaving my stuff in the dorm when I went for a shower in my hostel. So it wasn’t even an authentic local experience, some other traveller took advantage. I felt totally… robbed.
Dave Briggs says
Yep… stuff goes missing from hostels. the first thought is that it is the ‘cleaners’… but it rarely is. Hope you didn’t lose too much stuff!
Sue Reddel says
Thanks for the laughs!
Meg Jerrard says
Lol love the reverse psychology. Well done – entertaining post 😀
Carol Colborn says
Hahaha…one of those may ahve caught me. Glad I was lucky though!
Brenda Tolentino says
This post reminded me of my time in Samos, Greece. My husband Andrew and I are native New Yorkers and have been through NYC in the 80’s, which was like armageddon. When we were on the beach, our friend (a Greek) said we can all go for a swim at the same time, leaving all our belongings behind! Can you imagine my look of terror when he suggested that? But after a few swims that I missed out on, while watching my bags, I decided to just throw caution to the wind and swim with the Greeks. Mind you, it’s the only beach I’ve ever done that in!
Fiona @ London-Unattached says
Isn’t the biggest issue ‘be jetlagged’. All caution goes to the wind when I am badly jet lagged…and that leads to trouble
Dave Briggs says
Yep, being tired and disorientated can lead on to letting your guard down when travelling
Vanessa says
People may cringe when I say this, but I’ve been known to intentionally distress the outside of my electronics to make them look far less shiny and appealing (soak a sponge in bug spray and press the side of your camera against it -then apply sand paper. For reals). Stuff that looks like a piece of crap can still get stolen but I figure it never hurts to un-shine stuff.
Tanj from A Travelogue says
Hilarious ideas! Made me laugh!
http://www.brockandtanj.com
Dave Briggs says
Cheers! I guess most people have done at least one of those things at some time!
Zascha says
Oh this was definitely the best laugh of the day! I loved it 😀
Dave Briggs says
My pleasure 😉
Juergen | dare2go says
Hand all your luggage to the first person approaching you at the airport exit – he must be an honest porter… (This saves all the effort of going through the steps which follow in your list) 😀
Dave Briggs says
HaHa… love it! I completely didn’t think of that one!!!
Steph of Big World Small Pockets says
As well as carrying round a huge map in clear view, another winner is to stop and read your Lonely Planet Guidebook at various intervals including in the middle of crowded streets or at busy bus stations. This works especially well if you have your entire pack with you and put it down on the ground. Another sure-fire technique is to stop and let strangers clean your bags up if you randomly and unexplainably get squirted with ink or paint in the street.
Dave Briggs says
I can’t believe I forgot the Lonely Planet reading tip!