dln, the poor grammar was the result of typing too fast. "Pickpackets" was intentional. :)

PCircles, there may not be a way to gracefully access a money belt that is under your clothes. But I'd rather look awkward on occasion and still have my ATM card, than be graceful and lose it to scheming evildoers.

A note about carrying your Driver's License. In the UK, Selfridges and Harrods will accept your DL in lieu of your passport for VAT refunds. Not saying that everyone will, but our DL's sure came in handy.

someone will eventually be able to say,
"I wore a suit of armor over my clothes and my wallet was still stolen, so from now on I will wear TWO suits of armor."

A lot of the preferences here have to do with random good or bad luck.
Those of us who just do well with totebags and "street sense" seem to have good percentages of our own, those who swear by security wallets have clearly also been successful. Most tourists are not robbed, anywhere. We're all in some sense playing the percentages, even when we blithely get into our cars and go out on the highways.

Capo - Have you heard the song, "When I think of you, I touch myself..."

When I see people groping around for their under-the-clothes wallets, that song comes to mind! It's even funnier if the person's companion tries to help them locate the elusive wallet!

Don't take offensce - I am just procrastinating and being giddy at the end of the day :)

Oui! The Divinyls.

I'd rather have that song title as my accompaniment than than the song by Billy McLaughlin off his 1989 album, Exhale Blue, "Rob Me" :)

Touche!

A money belt sounds like a good idea, but I never use one. If it's as hot in Rome as they say it is, I definitely won't even think about it! I want loose clothing & nothing strapped to my body.

I always try to dress like a local (regular purse or messenger bag, no white sneakers or anything that has obvious American brands - even if they are "cool" over there, no fanny packs), and I usually keep my mouth shut unless I really need to talk. (I know a lady who actually wore a shirt that said "My name is Dorothy & I'm from Kansas" on a tour of the Czech Republic!)

Leaving valuables in the hotel safe sounds good to me, except once I left my tickets & passport at the hotel desk safe after I checked out & had to have a driver bring them to the airport for me!

Good luck & safe travels.

tip: carry some valuables - camera, etc. in plastic bags - one inside the other for strength and so as not to be transparent - from the area you're in - grocery store, pharmacy, etc. - if you don't speak & not dressed as a tourist, you become less noticeable. Found this on the journeywoman site - good tips for women traveling alone - I hate those fanny/belly packs - to me they scream " come cut this open & take it all!!!" I place most of my cash, ATM card and passport (if no hotel safe)in my Eagle Creek small security pocket which hangs around the neck under my clothes - uncomfortable and difficult to get to - the velcro ruins sweaters- but I feel it is safe.

This is not the first thread on Fodors I've read where people seem to miss the point of a moneybelt worn under your clothing entirely:

You DO NOT access it during the day - that's the whole idea!! It is a place to safely store and transport valuables.

Keep what you will need to use for one single day available in a normal purse, daypack, pocket, wherever.