Or if you prefer – here is a nice list of 10 things to avoid doing – do the opposite and keep yourself safer while out on the road visiting all those fun new places around the world.
1. Always carry too much stuff (bags etc.) for too long even when it isn’t necessary. If you have a big, wide, heavy backpack on your back and both hands busy holding some other bags, you’re a piece of cake for muggers.
2. Wander aimlessly around town and look like you’re lost – add a big city map for extra attention.
3. Act and dress like a tourist to make yourself an easy target
4. Carry and always be seen reading your Lonely Planet guide in public.
5. Walk alone at night in dark, empty streets – one person is much easier to mug than two, especially on empty dark streets where there is nobody to witness it.
6. Get drunk, and walk around alone preferably lost – when drunk you’re weaker, have slower reactions, and have no control over your body – You’re a mugger’s dream!
7. Wear expensive or expensive-looking clothes with big known label flashing – that’s a perfect way of expressing ”I like to spend triple the amount of money on the same t-shirt only to get that crocodile (Lacoste) figure on my chest! I’m a walking juicy fat two-legged wallet”
8. Avoid groups of two or more people and walk in dark alleys and side street at night.
9. Carry a Fanny Pack around your waist or neck on top of all clothes – that’s like yelling out loud ”I have gathered all my most precious belongings; pass, money, credit cards and camera in one and the same place right on top of everything. Just come and get it!”
10. And lastly… please see the humor (and warnings) in this post – learn from mine and others mistakes and make sure you take care of yourself while out traveling in the ‘big bad world’ – common sense REALLY is king! 
Do you have any other suggestions of things to do if you want to get mugged? Maybe a story to share that we can learn from?
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haha great list there! I have seen many a backpacker guilty of doing a few of those during my travels
thanks jase! Haha I think we’re all guilty of doing one or two of those sometimes..
haha great list there! I have seen many a backpacker guilty of doing a few of those during my travels
thanks jase! Haha I think we’re all guilty of doing one or two of those sometimes..
I love that article.
thanks hehe – I’m glad you enjoyed reading it, hope it was helpful!
I love that article.
thanks hehe – I’m glad you enjoyed reading it, hope it was helpful!
Hi Sofia! Great post! I saw so many people doing the fanny pack/bum-bag thing on the way from Sweden to NZ – not so smart! Hope you’re enjoying the Winter in Scuol! Kram på dig!
/Jon
Hi Sofia! Great post! I saw so many people doing the fanny pack/bum-bag thing on the way from Sweden to NZ – not so smart! Hope you’re enjoying the Winter in Scuol! Kram på dig!
/Jon
Nice! My tip to AVOID muggings in developing countries is buy a CASIO watch. That way you’ll blend in with the locals.
haha Hey Joe! Yeah we can had that to the list as well! You back in the UK now eh? How long are you planning on staying here?
Nice! My tip to AVOID muggings in developing countries is buy a CASIO watch. That way you’ll blend in with the locals.
haha Hey Joe! Yeah we can had that to the list as well! You back in the UK now eh? How long are you planning on staying here?
I think it's hard not to look like a tourist in many countries but it is easy to look like one who doesn't know where they are going.
I've just discovered in Nicaragua there is a rash of robberies of tourists in cabs. Often you share a cab with others and many people are getting into cabs with strangers and being robbed. The news is spreading quickly amongst the hostels so hopefully it will soon end but until then I'm only taking cabs when I have to and will insist on paying a bit more to take them alone.
The title threw me off …. I think of backpacking as hiking on trails in the mountains where there are no people and camping along the way. The title made me wonder how many muggers are actually waiting behind the trees in the forest …
Good advice for travelers though!
Nice post! I always marvel at tourists with fanny packs, or those things you wear around your neck that hold money and passports. What are they thinking? Seriously! I bet if there was a statistical study of the things that get stolen from tourists fanny packs would make pat least 80 percent of most often stolen items.
Make several copies of your passport before you travel, store them in several different locations on your person and in your belongings. and Put all your important things in different places, stash money in different compartments, pockets, etc. That way even if you do get robbed, at least you have some things
left
That photo made me laugh. See people like that every day here in the summer season.
That photo made me laugh. See people like that every day here in the summer season.
Funny, helpful article! mostly basic stuff but we still tend to forget them when we travel. Thanks Sofia!