Ben Haines

<BR>I keep it in the safe in my hotel room, and if there?s no room safe then in the manager?s safe. Also tickets, spare creddit cards, and other valuables. I walk about with money for the day, a photocopy of the passport main pages, and a credit card, to draw more money from an ATM if need be. <BR><BR>I thought I?d look at Belgian law, and tried the various web sites for consular advice. All agree that Belgian law requires that everyone carry some form of official identification at all times, which must be displayed upon request to any Belgian police official. The American consul says a U.S. passport suffices for these purposes. At http://www.voyage.gc.ca/destinations/menu_e.htm the Canadian consul says <BR>a photocopy of your passport's identification page is usually sufficient. And the British consul does not say what paper is sufficient. So I carry just my photocopy, and do so all over Europe. I take it that if I were in trouble I?d show the photocopy, and ask the police to phone my hotel to check that they had my passport. I don?t know, since in 55 years travel I?ve never been asked on the street for my passport, except once by a bogus policeman in Bucharest, where they used to be common. I just told him to go away, shouted ?police? loudly, and he did.<BR><BR><BR>Ben Haines, London

Amy

I always lock my passport in the hotel safe. I used an in-room safe once in Helsinki and had trouble with it opening on departure day...it was one of those computerized safes. My plane ticket was in there and I was afraid I was going to miss my flight. I always bring 2 copies of the first page of my passport (and my work visa page because I live overseas). I put one in my checked luggage and one in my carry-on. My passport stays in my purse while on the flight. I keep passport and copies in separate locations in case of theft. I believe the US State Department recommends doing this (or something similar) for US citizens traveling abroad. They actually have some good tips for traveling. www.state.gov<BR>Have a great trip!

Ronda

Tom: I was told to carry a copy of my passport and nothing about a birth certificate. If you had a copy of the passport, would the embassay still have needed a copy of your birth certificate? Do I need to carry the certificate copy rather than the passport copy?<BR><BR>I am always very careful with my photocopies and keep them secure just as I would my passport itself.<BR><BR>Thanks.

vicki

The idea of e-mailing a copy to yourself sounds really great but I wonder if it would be very safe. I think e-mail is one of the easiest things to hack into and with a copy of your birth certificate and passport with signature and picture in the wrong hands you would have serious problem.

Tom

Hi Ronda. That's a very good question. I've wondered about that myself and I'm afraid I don't have an answer. Maybe one of the other contributors can help. In my case, I didn't have a copy of my passport, so perhaps that was my first mistake. I can laugh about it now, but it sure was stressful at the time! I lost my passport at the Madrid airport as I was getting ready to go home. The downside was that I missed my flight because of it. The upside was that I ended up having two extra days in Madrid while everything was sorted out!<BR><BR>

fran

I don't think there is a RIGHT answer to your question--obviously people do what makes them feel most comfortable. Making copies of your most important documents (passport and driver's license for me)--leaving a set at home and a set in my luggage works for me. I then carry all my important stuff with me at all times. I am a New Yorker, so my guard doesn't really ever go down. I carry a Coach duffle bag with all my stuff flat on the bottom--too deep for casual dipping and the leather is too thick for slicing through, ditto the straps. (Also handy for tossing in my fabulous small purchases throughout the day.) Most of the horror stories I know of lost passports, tickets, other valuables have been from hotels, usually the safes, mostly individual room safes but also the main lockboxes of some of the grander hotels. Just don't worry too much, but prepare for the worst!

Upton Bailey

You can never be too safe, especially when you are not extremely familiar with a places security and the way it handles any sort of situation that may crop up! I would carry my passport with me everywhere I went, as well as any other valuables I may be dumb enough to take on a trip with me overseas! I wouldn't put anything in a hotel safe that I would hate to lose!<BR><BR><BR>http://hometown.aol.com/brooklynboy59/index.html<BR>http://hometown.aol.com/brooklynboy5...ge/poetry.html

To just so

Actually, it is you who is the dunce. If you are going to correct someone who is obviously trying to be helpful at least do it with some class. And actually it is chichi without a hyphen, you dunce.

BTilke

Ben (and others)--our Brussels commune officials and the policeman who came to check that we were indeed legitimately married and living together with no illegals in our apartment were all very firm that a copy of a passport or ID card was NOT acceptable. First of all, a copy is NOT an official ID unless it's a certified copy (like the official copies of my birth certificate and marriage license). Second, as the officials explained, with PhotoShop and other computer tools, it's very easy to alter copies--you could PhotoShop anybody's picture on a passport or ID copy. I highly doubt anyone on this Forum is about to carry fake ID around on their travels, but given the growing problem with illegal immigrants, police and other officials in Belgium have become much less tolerant of ID photocopies. Tourists are VERY unlikely to have any problems, but the law as the Belgium authorities see it says carry the real thing. Your choice in the end, of course. Finally, what a consul office says online is not always correct. In bringing our pets and personal property to Belgium, we found the information we'd received from the American and Canadian consuls was wrong on more than one count. <BR>BTilke (Brussels)

ttt

ttt

Bob C

My wife and I always wear a 'waist wallet' or 'security belt'. It will contain our passport and extra cash. If worn in the small of the back you will never know its there. One person said that they didn't like to wear them because of the problems in getting money out, since they are worn under your clothing. Simple answer, each morning I remove from the wallet the cash we will need for the day and carry that in my pocket. That way if a pickpocket does get to me they will only get one days cash.

Dallas, Texas

Julie, you can get a silk money belt or neck pouch from Magellan's at www.magellans.com.

John

Now, to add one mroe thing, do you also carry around your airline ticket and train passes? Or leave them at the hotel. Seems like a lot to have with you all the time.

r

John; I leave them in the hotel safe. No point in carrying them around with you all day.

professor

Chi chi is a noun: I just bought a new chi chi for my mountain bike, can't get enough titanium.<BR><BR>She-she is an adjective, used correctly in the post in question, meaning slightly more avant garde and trendy than frou-frou.

D

It does seem embarrasing to dig for a money belt, also, I don't think I will need any padding around my waistline after eating my way around Paris.<BR>Other suggestions?

sure tobeobjectof

I'm sure to be soundly and throroughly chastised by many, but I rarely stay in rooms with safes so don't have that option, and generally can't trust myself to remember to retrieve anything from the manager's safe, so I leave my passport and airline ticket in my locked bag (with xeroxes of both in another place)and only carry my cash and credit cards around all day. I wouldn't try to convert anyone to my non-paranoid state but it has worked successfully for 25 years of annual or more often travel to most of Europe, much of Central America and Mexico, and parts of Asia. Another idea is to check out magellan.com's portable safe that you can attach to a sink pipe or other immovable object...

r

I don't see what's in your post that could be ridiculed. But it's true you never know around here. I think that if that works for you, then that's all that matters. It's all about peace of mind, anyway. <BR><BR>And BTW, for that lovely person who called me a dunce for spelling chichi wrong, let me explain to you why I spelled it that way: Once in a recent thread I did spell it correctly and was ridiculed for referring to women's breasts as chi chi's. Apparently in Mexico that is the slang for breasts; even though the subject of my post had nothing to do with breasts. Anyway, name calling is so base.

Ben Haines

<BR><BR>I put the matter to the Canadian consul in Brussels, and her reply follows<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR><BR>From: [email protected]<BR><BR>Yes, you are right according to the rules you need to carry identification<BR>when you are touring Belgium. In practice, however, since there are so many<BR>thefts it is advisable to have a photocopy while visiting Belgium and leave<BR>the passport in a safe place. <BR>Of course if you need to exchange traveller's checks for instance or collect<BR>registered mail, inscribe in a hotel, hospital and of course when you cross<BR>a border, etc... a photocopy will not/not be sufficient. <BR>In case of police checks (which may occur when there is a problem: accident,<BR>manifestations, riots, in some "bars", "saturday night dancings", etc...)<BR>you can always show the photocopy and explain where the passport is<BR>deposited. The police will then request you to present the original document<BR>as soon as possible to the nearest police station. <BR>Hope this information will help.<BR> <BR><BR>

BTilke

As I noted previously, the police and other officials have become less tolerant of photocopies, especially since in the wake of Sept. 11 events. Frankly, when traveling/living in a foreign country, I trust the advice of the police and officials of that country more than a consul. Our family has received bad/inaccurate consul advice both in our move to Belgium and as hostages in Kuwait during the Gulf War--in the latter case, some of the "advice" almost proved fatal. <BR>If a police officer asks to see ID during a riot, etc., they may be very dubious about a photocopy. During the Eurocup, more than one football (soccer) fan spent a few hours in jail after being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with only a passport photocopy. A lot of horror stories were shared afterwards in local expat hangouts.<BR>It's an individual choice, but in Belgium, a photocopy is NOT considered official. Will someone get in trouble for carrying an unofficial copy? Probably not. Is it in violation of regulations? Yes. <BR>