How to avoid pickpockets in Prague

Prague is known for its breathtaking sunsets, eerie cathedrals, and medieval buildings. However, all that it offers its visitors are quickly maligned by pickpocketing. According to many travel publications, the city of Prague always comes top of the list as the most pickpocketed city in Europe. If you are considering visiting Prague it is important to be aware of the potential risks you may be exposing yourself to. I have been to Prague numerous times and I have had a lot of incidents where pickpockets have tried to steal from me unknowingly, but luckily they haven’t succeeded. It is a problem especially during the months when tourist visits are very high and there are large crowds of tourists everywhere in the city.

 Despite all this, it is still a beautiful city to visit and experience the culture. In this blog post, I will list out the things you need to do in order to avoid pickpockets in Prague, Czech Republic. These are tips and tricks to guide you. These tips and tricks are the things I learned organically from my trips to Prague and I had to learn by trial and error. Luckily, you don’t have to learn by trial and error. These tips and tricks will ensure you stay safe, protect your belongings, and stay self-aware during your trip. If you implement these tips you can pretty much roam around the city, experience its culture, and take in all its wonders without any worry or paranoia.

But first,

Where do visitors lose their valuables the most?

I found from personal experience and conversations with people in the travel and tourism community that most of them lost their belongings at main tourist attractions. This is actually the best opportunity for pickpockets to strike because the unsuspecting tourist is most likely going to be in a crowd and will completely be distracted by a tourist attraction. For example, the tourist might be trying to take pictures of the tourist attraction and their focus may not be on protecting their belongings. This can make them an easy target and that’s why pickpocket incidents mostly happen at major tourist attractions.

So, when you are viewing the Prague Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, or Wenceslas Square, always be vigilant and aware of potential pickpockets around you. Also, know that these areas are not the only ones where you’d see pickpockets. Try to avoid any large gatherings and crowds. If you find yourself in a crowd, make sure you are fully aware of where your belongings are so you are not easily caught off guard.

Tips to avoid pickpockets

1.   Do not let your guard down.

Always stay alert. Of course, you cannot keep an eye on everyone at the same time. You also have to enjoy your time. Having too much paranoia about potential pickpockets may rob you of being in the moment and enjoying your vacation. Just be aware of what’s going on around you. Or at least pretend to know where you are going. Pickpockets are deterred by that expression. They rarely target the tourist that walks with a sense of purpose. They usually target tourists that are wide-eyed and walking around aimlessly. Pickpockets always watch and assess their victims before making a move. Do not allow yourself to be a potential target.

 

2.   Don’t be overconfident and too care free.

Remember that pickpockets have been stealing for far too long. So they can easily assess and judge an unaware tourist that is too care-free. Try not to bring too much attention to yourself. This is especially true of you are travelling alone.

3.   Always be specific in what you carry around with you.

Do some calculations before leaving your hotel room. Calculate how much money you’d need for the day or even if you need to take out your cards and tech gadgets or not. This way, you could save yourself from a pickpocket having access to too much stuff. Being a victim of pickpocketing is devastating especially if they steal your most valuable items. This can ruin your holiday or knock you off balance, especially if you are using your smartphone or laptop to explore and research on things to do in the city. When we visit a new country or city. We are very reliant on our technological devices for directions, language translations, and timings. Having any of these things stolen can pretty much end a whole trip. So it is important to take stock of the things you are taking with you before you go out to explore the city. Be aware of which items are high value and low value and decide from there. If you are worried about taking your expensive smartphone with you. You can consider carrying a cheap smartphone or a sim free basic phone for under £15 . So you can reduce the potential risk of losing a high-value item during your trip.

 

4.   Do not pick anything up from the ground, even if it’s a $100 dollar bill.

Pickpockets do a number of tricks and strategies to catch their victims off guard. One of their most effective tricks is to glue valuable items to the ground, hoping an unsuspecting tourist will pick it up. The minute that tourist picks it up. They expose themselves as the perfect target and this is when a pickpocket or a group of pickpockets will steal from that person. Also, another thing about this tactic is that when you stoop down to pick the item up, it gives them a better view of your pockets. So if they spot your wallet, purse, or phone they will directly go for it without you suspecting anything. This is a very common trick that pickpockets do, so keep this in the back of your mind if you happen to see a $100 dollar note on the ground. Don’t fall for their trap.

Please note that pickpockets’ tricks and tactics are always evolving in order to catch more victims. The best thing to do is to avoid anything that is out of the ordinary that may falsely require your attention.

5.   Always make sure you are distracted less by anyone around you.

As mentioned before, pickpockets are very intentional with their tricks and tactics in order to steal from you. Another trick that pickpockets do is that they will spill something on you to divert and hold your attention. As we all know, when something spills on us, all we care about is the stain and getting it off our clothes. We are single-mindedly focused on getting rid of the stain. This single-minded focus, they use it to capture our attention so they can easily steal from the tourist. Whenever this happens (intentionally or unintentionally), just say it’s okay and move along swiftly. Do not try to respond to their conversational tactics.

Please note, these tactics are carefully orchestrated. So if this happens to you, ensure you get out of the situation as quickly as you can.

6.   There are plenty of money exchangers on the streets of Prague. Do not use them.

They are the hubs of scams. Instead, use well-known and assigned cash exchangers to save yourself from being ripped off.

7.   Always carry your money close to your waist.

If you have to carry large sums of money with you. To ensure you have it protected, you can put your money in a stylish anti-theft backpack that has loads of inner zipped pockets. This will allow for easy access when you want to make purchases. Also, make sure you buy one that is made out of thick leather so pickpockets will be unable to cut through the material. This will help in keeping the pickpocket away from your stuff as you travel.

8.   Distribute your money.

Another thing you could do is distribute your money. So what you can do is put some money in your pocket, some in your bag, some in your wallet or inside jacket pocket. So that if a pickpocket steals anything at least it is not the bulk of your belongings. It is just another strategy to mitigate and spread any potential losses. When you enter crowded places, put your hands in your pocket so you create a blockage of entry so pickpockets will be unable to reach into your pockets. Pickpockets are very skilled, so by blocking any entry to your pockets, it destroys all of their attempts at stealing from you. Most of the time pickpockets are non-confrontational in their attempts to steal from you, so the likelihood of anyone using any force to remove your hands from your pockets is very slim.

9.   Carry a fake wallet.

If you want to play the pickpockets at their own game. Carry an empty wallet.

10. Separate your bills into their respective categories and keep change in one place.

Make a mental note of where each category is placed and take out cash from them according to the purchase you’re making. This enables you to stay organised while you are making purchases. This is so you don’t lose track of your spending. Sometimes, vendors may give you the wrong change or you may overpay for something and the seller will refuse to alert you. Make sure you can record your purchases in your notes so you can easily categorise them. If you find you are spending more money on one thing (for example food). Whenever you go out, keep your food money safe and spend that amount so you don't have to worry about your food money getting stolen.

Prague is a beautiful city full of amazing food, culture, and people. Don’t let this guide cause you restrain yourself due to fear of pickpockets. Just use it as a resource so you stay aware so nothing catches you by surprise.

How to Avoid Pickpockets In Buenos Aires

When travelling alone or in a big city. There is always the threat of pick-pocketing ruining your whole day or your whole holiday. Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city is known to have an ongoing issue with pickpockets. Buenos is a huge city. It has a population of over 2.9 million people.  According to government travel advice websites, there are frequent warnings of petty street crime being a common occurrence in the city. In a bustling city like Buenos Aires where your sense will be overstimulated, a petty street crime such as pickpocketing can happen in the blink of an eye. Especially when your guard is down.       

If data is to be believed, the majority of tourists who have been to the city have been robbed at least once or experienced a close shave where it could have been a totally different ending. The most shocking part is that thieves in Buenos Aries are plentiful and they are unbelievably good at their role of stealing.

Being aware of these facts will enable you to be vigilant and to quickly recognise and avoid any situation that may be detrimental to your safety.

Pick-pockets in Buenos Aires take advantage of the bustling nature of the city and use it to successfully operate in crowded areas such as markets, buses, and trains. These places are perfect places for pickpockets to strike and steal from someone without them even realising. Just to give you an insight into their pickpocketing techniques. Most of the time they carry a jacket or a newspaper with them so that they can cover one arm and conceal what they are doing to others. This gives you an insight into how quick and effective they are if you do not take the necessary steps to protect yourself.

A lot of people think that they will never get their stuff stolen. But it usually happens to those that never saw it coming. Unfortunately, those type of people are the perfect targets for pickpockets. When travelling to a new city or new country. It is very easy to be distracted and for your attention to be diverted elsewhere. But it is important to have in the back of your mind that pickpockets may be zoning in on you. We have been travelling for a number of years and we have been victim of pickpockets ourselves so we wanted to share with you the top tips that have helped us stay safe and keep our belonging safe and protected from pickpockets in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

If you are preparing to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina very soon or thinking of going. Make sure you take some notes from this article as I believe the tips here will save you and your possessions and prevent you from being a victim of pickpocketing or tourism fraud out there. Below are the tips. Enjoy:-

1) Speak Out Loud

It’s a useful practice of taxi drivers in the city to change the bill denomination you give them for instance 100 bills would be claimed as a 10 bill or a 50 to be 5 bill. To avoid such kind of scenarios either you can speak out loud the amount you give to the driver or try to give the exact amount.

If the driver is stubborn, call the police for assistance.

2) Don’t Seek Strangers’ Help

In case anyone approaches you offering help, or giving you some lucrative offers, deny instantly and stay away from them. If the person seems innocent, maintain distance while communicating with strangers here. 

Also, make sure you apply this rule of avoiding strangers to anyone because pickpockets are known to use children to steal from tourists.  A lot of people assume that pickpockets are mostly young men, but pickpockets can also be the elderly, women, and children. Although children are cute and endearing, don’t fall for this strategy because pickpockets are well aware of pulling the right heartstrings in order to make the tourist not vigilant in their behavior.     

It is a very powerful strategy used often by pickpockets to hijack your attention through emotion and once they have your attention, you will hardly notice that they are stealing from you.

If you do need help for directions or anything like that, make sure to ask someone in a shop, a tour guide, hotel, or information point and they will be able to point you in the right direction.

In summary. If you do not know them and they approach you for anything, just ignore and keep walking, because the minute you engage, that is the same minute you will find yourself in a pickpockets trap.  

3) Avoid Bumping Into People

In order for a pick-pocket to be successful, they have to be in very close proximity to you. It is a crime that is up close and personal. It cannot be done from a distance. So in order to steal from you, they will do everything and anything to get very close to you even if it is for a second because that’s how much little time they need to successfully steal from you. In order to get close to you to steal they will often bump into their target. Sometimes, it will be done multiple times to a target from different people so it doesn’t cause any suspicion. This strategy is effective in very crowded areas and train stations as this activity can happen often and very quickly.

If you find yourself approaching a very crowded bar, restaurant or area be attentive because people intentionally bump into you so they can steal from you. If you are carrying things with you make sure to put your stuff in a sturdy anti-theft bag so you can walk freely in crowded areas without worrying about getting your stuff stolen. The anti-theft bag’s design makes it impossible for pickpockets to gain access so even if you get bumped into, their efforts of trying to steal from you will fail.

4) Don't Use Cell Phones on the Street While Walking

It is advisable to avoid using a cell phone on the street because you will be an easy target for the criminal locals of the city. If you are not careful, they will simply grab it and run away into narrow streets. Even if you decide to run after them, you will lose track of them as they will know their area a lot better than you. So to prevent it from happening in the first place, try to take a call in a safe place such as a hotel or restaurant. Also, a lot of pickpockets are now using a technique where the pickpocket speeds on a motorbike and takes your phone out of your hand and speeds off where you will have no hopes of catching them. This is very common not just in Buenos Aires, but in other major cities around the World. This is because pickpockets are well aware that most people are addicted to their phones will be caught off guard when someone grabs their phone. To protect yourself, make sure you don’t take calls in public and also don’t walk around with your phone. These are very simple tips, but you would be so surprised the at the number of travellers that walk around with their phones out unknowingly advertising it to thieves.

Keep your phone secure and hidden as much as you can and only take it out if you believe it is safe to do so.

5) Distribute Your Money in Your Apparels

While traveling in a crowded place make sure to carry your anti-theft backpack. This will enable you to get rid of any paranoia or worry when you go into very crowded areas in Buenos Aires. The High Spirit anti-theft bag actually gives you peace of mind. You will be safe in the knowledge that no pickpocket (it doesn’t matter how skilled they may be) can gain access to your bag. By having your anti-theft bag with you it gives you a central point at which you can get your stuff in an organised and secure way.

If you want to further ensure that your belongings are safe, you can spread your money into different pockets in your bag, jeans, or top. You can be as creative as you want with your storage options. You may want to use every single pocket available to you, so if someone does steal from your pocket. At least they haven’t taken all of your money in one go.

You can take it a step further and use the same strategy in storing your belongings in your hotel or hostel room. Try not to put all your valuables in one place. Distribute its storage to give yourself peace of mind.

Another tip to outsmart pickpockets is to chain your wallet with a belt loop or carry an empty wallet with a minimal amount of cash or coins. You want to think one-step ahead of pickpockets in order to ensure that they don’t succeed in trying to steal from you.

6) Be Extra Careful At Café Bars

Even though the cafe’s in Buenos Aires is quite safe, thieves in the city may still target areas and establishments where tourists will be relaxing. Usually, tourists will be distracted by eating, drinking, and surfing the internet and their guard may be down. This temporary loss in vigilance will make it the perfect opportunity for a pickpocket to grab your laptop, phone, or iPad and runoff. This happens mostly due to the fact that the target has been watched from the moment they entered. In most cases, the thief will be watching from a discreet distance. Make sure you keep your handbag or backpack in your lap or in between your legs so it won’t be easy for them to grab. Alternatively, you can clip the strap with something under the table or table leg to remove any chance of a grab and run event happening to you.     

Also, avoid sitting outside the cafe, and while sitting inside choose a quiet corner so that it is hard to snatch and runoff.    

Final Piece of Advice

The best way to keep your belongings safe in this city is to carry minimal things while on a sightseeing spree. Don’t carry too much cash, credit cards, or ID’s when leaving your accommodation. Only take the necessary things with you as you explore the city. If you have to carry these things with you, such as your camera, or phone, laptop, etc. Make sure to carry it in your anti-theft bag as it will give you that peace of mind so you can truly enjoy your vacation without feeling like you will be a victim of pickpocketing.

In addition, feel free to print out this blog article and carry it with you to remind yourself while you are in Buenos Aires. We hope you apply our tips and advice. Buenos Aires is truly a beautiful city with so much to offer. We want you to protect yourself so you can enjoy the city to the fullest.

How to Disinfect Your Airplane Seats

Tips on how to clean your surroundings on an airplane.

It is always good to be aware while your travels and to clean your surroundings, especially in a time of pandemic right now. Airborne illness is a concern for many travelers today. Most airlines are taking the precautions and stating that they clean their planes for each flight. But no one can be too careful. Here are some tips for cleaning your area on a plane.

Pack disinfecting wipes.

Get your hands on some good disinfecting wipes before you even get to the airport. Everyone knows how good and trusty Clorox wipes are, but some other brands to consider are Purcell, Mrs. Meyers, Wet Wipes, and Germ-X wipes. These are all good and will get the job done!

Keep your hands clean, and do not touch your face.

Have hand sanitizer near you at all times. Before starting to wipe down your seats and area, take care of your hands first. You never know what you have touched and handled, especially if you rushing to board your flight. After wiping down your area, sanitize those hands again, you will need it. The worst thing that could happen is that you touch a surface then start rubbing your face. Those germs, then, would transmit on your face and increases the chances of you getting ill. Most people touch their faces more often than they think. Try to retain yourself from doing so.

Wipe your area down correctly.

Have your wipes ready as soon as you board the plane. You might get some wondering eyes, but after you get over the fact that people are staring, you will be fine. Just remember you are taking care of yourself and are preventing yourself from being sick. Try and have gloves on when disinfecting your surroundings. If not, remember to wash your hands thoroughly or sanitize them instead.

When wiping down your area, don't forget these areas:

·      Armrest

·      Recliner button

·      Headrest

·      Seat-belt buckle

·      Remote

·      Television screen

·      Seatback pocket

·      Shades and walls (if you are sitting at the window)

·      Tray table

·      Seat (if it is nonporous or leather)

·      Any other buttons or screws that surround you

After wiping down your areas, it would be smart to disinfect your phones, headphones, and other electronics you plan on using on the plane. Doing this, you would prevent transmitting any germs you might have had before boarding.

Let your wipes dry naturally.

Allow the surface that you have wiped to be wet and dry entirely naturally. Doing this, the wipes will work. Read the packaging on your disinfecting wipes to see how long the surface needs to be wet for them to function correctly.

Focus on your tray table.

The most germs lie on that one small rectangle of a table. It is also one of the most used surfaces on a plane. Wipe the tray table first before moving on to the rest of your area. After each use, it would be best to wipe it down again. Food particles never die, so get a good wipe down on the surface. No one can be too careful.

Do not wipe down your seat if it is made of cloth.

Wiping your nonporous or leather seats is achievable. However, you would be creating another problem if you took a wet wipe to seats that are made of cloth. It will not work and will make the seat wet. If you are concerned about the germs on your fabric seats, pack a washable, reusable seat covers.

Choose a window seat if you can.

Researchers say that a window seat is the safest place you could be sitting in during the flu season. People sitting in a window seat comes in less contact with people and decreases their chances of getting ill. However, if you were to get up and move around often, you would be defeating this purpose. It is recommended to stay in your seats as long as you can. 

You can never be too careful when trying to prevent yourself from getting ill, especially when traveling during this new outbreak. You can't control your fellow passengers, but you can take matters into your own hands and take care of yourself. Don't be a fool and use these tips on your next flight. Safe travels, but stay home if you can.

Written by Nhi Nguyen