tcl

I was reading the 2004 Fodor's Spain guide book and noticed that it suggested tourists not to wear money belts or fanny packs because it would make them very obvious as tourists. Huh? I thought the whole point of a money belt was so that they won't be seen by potential thiefs and pickpockets. Anyone know why this was in the guide book?

sumas8

Just returned from Italy and wore my money belt (a thin fabric one that goes under your pants ), it was the best thing. kept my charge cards and money in it, didnt have to worry about theft, or pocketbook, etc. I also had a small pouch with a shoulder strap that I wore over neck and shoulder, that i carried my camera, sunglasses, etc. I dont know why they would put that in a guide book, and in Italy half the people were tourists- you could tell by their maps, guidebooks, cameras, etc. I agree, the money belt is not to be seen, and we carried some euros in pockets, if we did get robbed, would have given that. Didnt see any crime at all, except a few shaky characters lurking at train stations who avoided you if you were paying attention to your luggage.....

JonJon

Cannot quite explain why a money belt would make someone "look like a tourist" if the moneybelt was worn out of sight where it is SUPPOSED to be worn, can you?
Lots of people who post here think that if you use a fanny pack you "look like a tourist" and these are the same people who wear "foreign-looking" clothes, especially shoes, and things like "capri pants" and think they are "fitting in."
Are fanny packs only worn by American "tourists"???somehow I doubt it.
For safety and, most importantly, peace of mind, I use a money belt whether some bozo writing for a guidebook says to do so or not.
The secret seems to be to use the guidebooks as just that: a GUIDE, and not as an over-ruler of common sense. And, my post inluded, I'd say you'd be better-served by taking the same attitude toward "advice" given here from a bunch of total strangers.

Bob_C

The money belt that most people used is also called a waist wallet. It is made to be worn under your clothing. The problem takes place when people carry all their money in them and so have to pull out the waist wallet every time they pay for something. My wife and I keep in our pockets the cash we will need for the day. That way we never have to get into the waist wallet. One other thing you can do is to wear the waist wallet in the small of your back, you will forget that it is even there.

cailin

I never use a money belt when I'm at home, so don't understand why I should use them when I'm abroad. From seeing tourists on my travels, it's usually only Americans I see wearing bum bags (or what you call "fanny packs&quot.

nytraveler

I know I'm in the minority on this - but I just don;t get this whole money belt, fanny pack thing. IMHO if you don;t need to go to all this bother at home why do it just becasue you're going on vacation to another country. It's europe for heavens sake - not a nest of thieves. Just use whatever purse, wallet etc you use at home with the normal precautions (don;t leave purse lying around or hanging on the back of a chair - don;t put wallet in a back pants pocket) and you'll be fine.

I do think using a fanny pack clearly marks you out as a tourist - and as a nervous tourist as well - IMO europens don;t use them.

Sylvia

Yes, I'm another naive fool. I often visit London which has its fair share of pickpockets.
I use a very small shoulder bag, just enough for money, a credit card and mobile phone and that's it.
I use exactly the same system when I go abroad. I just have enough money to last for the day, just one credit card and a cash card and have a photocopy of my passport.
My husband carries a different cash card just in case the machine rejects mine. He has the camera on his belt and the maps and guidebooks in his pockets.
I have spent some time in the US and certainly never carried a money belt there.

StCirq

I'm in complete agreement with the guidebook and nytraveler. I've never worn a moneybelt. I don't wear one in the USA and I'm not going to adopt some odd paranoid practice regarding money just because I'm in Europe.

When I see tourists in Europe fumbling around with fanny packs and moneybelts - making spectacles of themselves trying to access cash from "secret" recesses in their corpuses - I have to wonder just how they think they are protecting themselves. Quite the contrary - they are often bringing attention to the silly lengths they've gone to to protect their assets.

And I've never been pickpocketed or lost money to thieves in almost three decades of European travel.

Robert_Brandywine

I used to wear the around the waist under-the-clothes money belt but found it too inconvenient. I've switched to the around the neck, lays-on-the-chest type and I DO use it. If I'm in a store I can pull it out easily without having to "drop trou". Might not be comfortable for big-breasted people though. I think the thieves who prey on tourists can spot tourists without seeing a money-belt.

suntravler

Believe me, you are going to look like a tourist anyway. After your first 15 minutes walking down the street, you will be taking out your guidebooks and your maps, looking confused and lost...just like all the other tourists. Don't worry about it so much. Take precautions like in any big, crowded city. Just use common sense and be alert.

eliztrav

The point of a money belt is to keep it hidden & NEVER to access it in public! And, most people feel the consequences of robbery on vacation in a foreign country (different languages, different tactics a foreigner may not readily recognize, perhaps greater amounts of cash on you, how would you handle loss of your funds & documents, ie would it ruin your vacation, etc) to be more dire than robbery at home. Hence the greater need for unobtrusive moneybelts. If anyone (general public) ever knows you are wearing a moneybelt, something is wrong.

Nikki

I use exactly the same purse for travel as I carry at home. I keep it across my chest and a hand firmly on it, and everything of value is in inner zippered pockets. I have had pickpockets run their hands over my bag twice to my knowledge, possibly more times, looking for an easy in. I am not so overconfident that I believe I am totally protected, however. A money belt just seems inconvenient and uncomfortable to me.

That said, my husband had his wallet stolen out of his front pants pocket two weeks ago getting on the Circumvesuviana at the Naples train station. I described the incident and the steps which made the loss less difficult in my Rome trip report.

zootsi

Money belts are a real pain to access in a public place, so I use a cloth pouch that fastens to my belt and slips down my hip inside my pants. Much easier and less obvious to access. I always carry this in cities both in the US and in Europe. I know the chances of being pickpocketed are slim, but why take the risk?

Thonglori

Those of you who wear "under the clothes" money belts... it seems like cash and credit cards are something you need to access easily and often. After you order your gelato, are you partially disrobing to get a few Euro out? Please explain. Seems like a pain to me.

BaltoTraveler

I use the same belt-loop pouch as Zootsi. Very easy to access, and you hardly know its there. I tried an around-the-waist belt exactly one time and thought it was uncomfortable and looked ridiculous to access.

NYCFoodSnob

This is precisely why some guide books are too funny and take themselves too seriously. Where is common sense?

Imagine, a money belt or fanny pack being the "only" thing to tip off a professional thief that you're a tourist. How laughable is that? Clothing, shoes, hairstyles, language, and body language are dead giveaways. Doesn't the woman with a death grip on her handbag seem to stand out most? My eye always goes to her and I chuckle, wondering how much cash she's carrying and could I take her down. She's in NYC often and she looks at you with darting, suspicious eyes, usually around Rockefeller Center.

I sometimes carry a money belt under my clothing to conceal my "bank," the balance of cash (typically several thousand dollars), extra credit cards (only 2) and my passport. I could leave the "bank" in the hotel safe but I've forgotten to empty the safe one too many times upon departure. I carry one credit card ($3000 limit) and $500 in cash in my daily-use wallet. I replenish when necessary in a private space. My system hasn't failed me yet, especially in an emergency.

I was mugged once in NYC. After that, I learned how to defend myself and walk any street in the world with confidence. A thief would be really stupid to mess with me now.

CarolA

I do use a money belt, and no I don't use one in the US. The money belt contains the passport, backup traveler's checks and backup credit card! Day to day cash and day to day credit cards are in my bag. I just figure it would make my life easier if I was pickpocketed.

That said I do worry that I will lose my Driver's License in the states. The big issue is that if I lose it while out of town, it will be a MAJOR undertaking to get me back on the plane!

Bitter

We have debated this topic before. Has anyone who uses a moneybelt had money or other items stolen from it? I haven't so, thus far, it has been effective I guess. That said, I encourage everyone else out there to NOT wear one because they'll be more attractive targets for theives.

carrolldf

I use a money belt with my backup credit cards and ATM card and extra cash. But I keep one credit card and the amount of cash I normally use during a day in a small coin purse in my regular purse which I carry.

When I plan to go to the ATM, I put the ATM card in the coin purse as well. After going to the ATM, I either return to my hotel room or as a minimum find a restroom where I can transfer the extra cash and ATM card to the money belt. I could be mugged/robbed between the ATM and my hotel room but I don't go to out of the way ATMs and normally check out the ATMs in the vicinity of my hotel before I need to use one.

As far as doing the same thing you do at home, well, I have a higher level of comfort for being able to quickly cancel my credit cards and get replacements when I'm at home. I also don't worry about losing my passport when I'm at home. I worry about losing my driver's license and military ID but could get those replaced when I'm at home. I take additional pre-cautions that I don't take at home because the inconvenience of losing something when I'm out of the country is is greater than it would be at home and as a minimum would certainly cut into my leisure time as I continue to enjoy my non-itinerary while I'm traveling.

I've never been to New York City so I don't know if I would use a money belt there or not. Many of my concerns with inconvenience in getting things replaced would not apply there. But I might use one anyway because my Daddy always warned me about what a terrible wicked place it is. (He was a truckdriver before he retired and knows EVERYTHING as most Daddies do....even when their baby girls grow up. He never warned me about Europe but then he'd never been there.)

I used to use a fanny pack for travel in the states, and even at home when I went to the zoo or theme parks. Then I started reading these boards and decided it makes me look like a tourist. But I still used one last time I went to the zoo here in San Antonio.

jsmith

As I would expect, the knowledgeable NYCFS gives the best advice on using a money belt in her third paragraph - posted at 9:19AM.

I have never been pickpocketed but I do know that an attempt was made at the Tuileries Metro stop in Paris. As we were getting on the man in front stopped abruptly and dropped a pack of cigarettes, another slammed into me from behind and both exited the train as the doors closed. Yes, I was wearing a money belt.

For those like StCirq who feel that wearing a money belt is paranoid, this appeared in yesterday's Boston Globe.
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Zagreb experienced 2,400 criminal acts per 100,000 inhabitants in 2003. In comparison, Vienna had more than 13,000.
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