Hi Folks, <BR>Travelling through Europe in Dec/Jan and I was thinking of carrying a backpack with drinkbottle, hat, lollies etc for snack. Given the advice about warnings for pickpockets etc. <BR> <BR>would I look too much like a tourist? Do you think I should leave it at home? <BR> <BR>Do locals carry small backpacks to work etc?

My husband and I carried a bookbag (I called it our 'day pack') during our two week trip in May. Our money and passports were in a money belt under our clothes for safe keeping. The day pack was so very useful as it held: water bottle, camera lenses, extra film, guide book, umbrella, wet wipes and plastic silverwear for picnics, snacks, and lightweight jacket. The day pack was a perfect solution as EITHER of us could carry it. I carried no purse, only this day pack. We'll return to Paris in November, and I'm sure we'll carry that same pack with contents. It was so easy to manage with one bag and two sets of eyes and hands that watched it. ALWAYS KEEP IT ZIPPED. We payed careful attention to its whereabouts ALWAYS. (It was really my old college book pack but waas handy for this use.)

I may take a bit of heat for this but I think backpacks are purely fashion statements. If you don't mind losing something due to theft, fine. There are many who simply use them as "bookbags" held on their backs, this has some limited purpose. Unless you know the "windmill" technique for fending off some attack behind you, backpacks are totally undefensable. I notice someone posting ahead of me mentioned keeping valuables in another location, and in this manner, a backpack seems fine. I saw many fashionable backpacks, LV, for example, in Rome recently. They are everywhere fashion goes....I'm just not much of a sheep.....when something is stolen, I would feel poorly about the whole trip.

Hi Janine. <BR> <BR>As a New York City resident, I come into contact with European tourists on a daily basis. They are always easy to spot because they carry backpacks...on their fronts (as if pretending to be 18 months pregnant). Contents are much easier to defend that way. I haven't been to continental Europe in several years, but I'm guessing they wear their "frontpacks" at home as well as abroad. So, you could probably keep an eye on your stuff and manage to blend in somewhat by doing the same-especially if your pack is on the small side and made of leather. That said, I would still strongly advise you to follow Kristine's example and carry money and passport in a money bag around your waist under your shirt. Better safe than sorry.

Indispensable IMO: I also travel in the winter, so a jacket and umbrella are a must. If it gets warmer I can put the jacket in the pack. In museums sometimes you can't check your coat or bag. I also carry waterbottle, camera/film, 2 guidebooks (Blueguide, Let's Go), handcleaner, and sometimes a lunch for a daytrip. So when I leave my hotel in the AM there is no reason to return during the day. Also if I buy gifts I can carry them easily. Of course with your money/passport in a moneybelt/neckpouch and everything else in the backback your hands are free and nothing's hanging out of your pockets or around your neck. Even if you just carry a guidebook/map, jacket, camera/film you'll still look like a tourist. Just hold your backpack in front of you on the metro/bus, in lines or crowds. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

You'll be amazed at what the "locals" tote around...Just be sure your most precious valuables (passport, credit cards, currency) are secure in an under-your-clothing security pouch and not in your backpack. The PickPockets are higly practiced and skilled in their "art". They "target" the ill-informed and those who believe they can "outsmart" them (not so). They go after anything that is easily accessible. So, just make sure anything important to you is not.

We've been to Italy three times. Each time one of us has carried a backpack to cart around ponchos, umbrella, books, etc. The first time we had the ends of the zippers broken off and we hadn't realized it had happened until we were at our hotel. There was nothing interesting to be taken however, so nothing was missing. The second time we bought a backpack that is made of net and you can see into it. It is easy to tell there's not much worth bothering with and no one did. You blend more naturally with the locals as many of them carry backpacks. DON'T take a fanny pack as they don't use them and mark you as a tourist and you become an automatic target. We speak from experience when we tried. I hope this helps. Marilyn

I was in Rome this past July and we did carry a backpack. Like many of the other postings, we had extra film, hats, munchies, water in our pack. Kept our passports and extra cash in the safe at the hotel, only carried enough money for the day. Also had a small lock on the zipper of the pack, kept the key around our necks, we each had one just in case one got lost.

I watched (from a distance) in barcelona while a <BR>young German couple were robbed of their <BR>passports & other stuff. <BR> The theif was waving leaflets for <BR>hotels in front of their faces while <BR>his other hand was in the small pocket <BR>of the backpack.Pickpockets specialise <BR>in backpacks.Dont keep valuables in the pockets.Also they slit them open.