dennielake

I'm going travelling soon, and am scared of losing my phone and everything that is on it if i take it away, but if i don't i have no way of contacting anyone back home, if anyone has ever been in the same position as me, please comment for some help!

bilboburgler

take a cheap phone on holiday and stick the sim in it.

jamikins

How do you ensure you dont lose it when you are going about your daily life?

Are you scared it will be stolen or that you will misplace it?

I use the same common sense when I am travelling as I do at home:

- dont make it obvious you have technology by keeping it in your bag unless you are using it

- dont leave it on tables etc while you have a drink as someone can walk off with it

- dont use it at night in areas where you may feel uncomfortable

- I always put mine back in the same spot in my bag so I dont lose it and always know where it is

adrienne

I don't take a phone but do take a netbook and a camera and since I don't normally lose things I don't worry about losing them.

First, figure out why you think you will lose the phone.

Second, Malta has telephones and internet cafes so you will be able to contact folks from home.

Third, if you're really "scared" of losing your phone then take bilbo's advice, above.

GreenDragon

All advice above works.

Oh, and back it up before you go - if it's a smartphone, you can do that on your computer, I'm sure. Or on the cloud. That way the information isn't lost if you do lose it.

Kate

Back up your SIM.

Write down important phone numbers on a bit of paper.

Send yourself an email of important numbers to an email account you can access from anywhere, such as a gmail account.

Don't take you phone. Buy or rent a cheap one.

Try and remember what it was like before mobiles existed! I'd be more worried about losing my passport or credit cards.

greg

I think you need to categorically deal with different problems.

I don't know what kind of phone you have. Unlike passports, a loss of phone does not stop the trip UNLESS you make it that way.

1. phone as a communication/internet device: You can still use a hotel phone with international calling card, skype on a public computer, etc. People before you had means of contacting home before internet and cellphones.

2. phone as a storage of info you need: You should be backing up these type of info regardless of the trip. For info vital to your trip, flight info, hotel location details, etc, you should have these info on a paper even as a backup in case your phone fails.

3. phone as a storage of info someone else can abuse: Either don't put such info or PIN lock your phone. If the info is on a SD card, only way I think you can secure it is by encrypting them.

4. phone as a property: others have already commented on this.

Bedar

Don't take your phone. Why do you need to phone home ? Are you a child ?

Christina

If you really don't have any need for the phone, you might consider just leaving it at home. If there is some emergency that you need to call home, you will be able to find a way. Odds are there will not be. If people at home want to be able to call you whenever they want, that is a different issue.

I don't take a phone when I go to Europe and have never had a need for one. First, there is no one there I know to call, so that isn't a reason. I don't call people back home when I'm on vacation for no reason. I make my reservations in advance, so don't need to be calling hotels or anything to do that. I do use the internet to check emails from folks, etc.

Someone lent me a phone for my last trip that wold work in Europe and has some time left on it, and I didn't even take it, even though I considered it. I just was really trying to pack light and it was just one more thing to pack and keep track of (and learn how to use) that I didn't need. So I left it at home and never did need a phone during my trip of 2 weeks. Someone did call me once, but I had given them my itinerary and hotel so they just called the hotel.

Sidny

Lots of people store all kinds of personal data on smart phones these days, so I understand not wanting to lose it even if it's backed up. And it's not as easy to replace a lost phone in another country as it would be if you were at home. So if it were me, I'd leave the phone at home and buy a cheap one to use while traveling, it's just not a concern you want to have when you're trying to have fun and are distracted by new and interesting sights/experiences every day.

cerrie

When i go on holiday I back my phone up using the Forgot your phone website, they have also just released a new app available for IOS markets which you can back everything up straight from your phone, it's a so good and easy and safe, i always use it and it works brill

SusanInToronto

We found our phones really handy when we were in Spain. When we arrived, I needed to text the owner of the apartment in Madrid. As it turned out, he called me on the phone. (I hope the roaming fees aren't going to kill me.) My husband also had loaded a Tripadvisor app on his phone, which provided walking directions to restaurants, etc. - that turned out to be really useful and I'm so glad we had it.

I always put my phone in a specific pocket in my bag. John ended up buying a 'man bag' when we were there, so he did the same. If we were in a restaurant or sitting down in a wifi zone, we were careful not to leave the phones on the table.

Jean

You can't think of another way of contacting anyone if you lost your mobile phone??? I don't think you should be going anywhere.

annhig

dennie - we just went to Sri Lanka, touring round, and neither of us lost anything.

we took mobiles, an i-pad, cameras, i used a handbag with my purse in it just as I would at home, and nothing happened.

if you get into the habit of keeping things safe at home, there's no reason why there should be a problem when you travel.

doug_stallings

I now back up all my contacts and important information on a USB drive and pack that when I travel. I used to print out all my contacts, but that feels a little old-fashioned these days.

Micheline

You need to worry if you are going to Paris. Just returned from three days and twice we had to fight off thieves on the subway!

annhig

You need to worry if you are going to Paris. Just returned from three days and twice we had to fight off thieves on the subway!>>

you were unlucky Micheline - what happened?

Micheline

When I was getting on a man pretended to lose his balance and fell towards me and then jumped off the subway . I thought it was strange he was falling on me as there was no one else getting on. I then noticed my purse slung across my body was wide open.. He took a change purse with only a few euros as my money was in my money belt. The next day as we were getting on two young girls just stopped in front of us keeping us from moving forward and two others behind us put their hands in our pockets. We both realized what was happening and shouted at them. All four jumped off. My husband ran to the door and yelled "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN" and I shouted "YOU LITTLE THIEVES".
All in English even though we both speak French. We felt pretty silly and couldn't stop laughing as the other passengers looked on. They did not get anything from us but probably did better with their next victims.

annhig

Micheline - i admire your attitude. There have been a few examples here recently where other fodorites have had their trips ruined by incidents like these. But I think you were unlucky - in several recent trips to Paris we had no such problems. [though we did on the metro in Barcelona].

How was the rest of your Paris trip?

Christina

I think there are certainly some cities and some situations where you really have to be more cautious about your phone, etc., than you might be going on your daily duties at home where you probably rarely are even in contact with anyone much. Risks are much higher in major cities in Europe (and some more than others, I think) if you are on metro systems and in highly-touristed areas. Those are just areas with good odds for thieves because there are so many people there, many carrying around expensive objects.

I saw some Chinese guy almost get his iphone stolen next to me in an outdoor cafe a couple weeks ago in Madrid. A lot of people do really really stupid stuff with their phones, etc. He had it lying right out on a table at a cafe, for example, and some thief came along and tried to engage him in one of those dumb stunts that tourists seem to fall for (I think it was something she wanted him to read, I can't recall). Any stranger coming up to you in an outdoor cafe off the street is up to no good, basically. At least one of that guy's companions noticed this woman holding the paper up in front of the guy's face and trying to reach for his phone and screamed or something so he didn't lose it but he almost did. Why on earth do people have to be placing their phones on their cafe tables in the first place, I really don't get it, they aren't calling anyone.