15 Expert Travelling Tips To Read Before Flying

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

Stay safe and secure while travelling with these valuable tips and tricks. Protect yourself and your belongings on your next adventure.

How Travelling Became My Bucketlist

Travelling worldwide was on my bucket list in my 20s, and although I’ve been to many places such as Iceland, Thailand, Spain, and Portugal (to name a few),

I’ve learned quite a few travelling tricks along the way.

I always made sure to arm myself with all security because the last thing I needed was to end up dead, injured, stranded, or without my valuables.

After all, I made the wrong choices.

Travel insurance is necessary when travelling abroad, even on a quick trip to the USA.

Talk to your insurance company to see if you need additional coverage.

If you think nothing can happen, think again.

Returning To The Same Vacation Destination

Our friends recently travelled to Mexico for a two-week holiday after celebrating their first wedding anniversary.

They married in Cuba but thought travelling to different destinations made more sense.

I don’t blame them because the last thing I’d want to do is travel to the same resort or country over and over unless I wasn’t finished with the original trip.

In most cases, you may have more tourist spots you want to explore than you had the first time when visiting a second time.

I don’t go back a second time because the world is too big, and I knew that if I didn’t travel, I might not get much of an opportunity as I got older.

Being well-travelled opened my eyes to pickpockets, theft, and other potential travelling nightmares nobody should incur.

Wedding Disaster While Travelling To Destination Getaway

Our friend Sheila (not her real name) was mortified when she realized she had lost her wedding ring somewhere on the resort.

She couldn’t remember if she had left the ring on the bathroom counter or in the bedroom.

There was no theft, but she made the biggest mistake, bringing expensive jewellery while travelling.

Since she couldn’t remember where she left or potentially lost the ring, she had to fly home without her wedding ring and band.

Travelling can be overwhelming for anyone, especially those who are first-time travel virgins, because there is so much to take in.

Valuable Travelling Lesson From A Bride

Although her travel insurance covered the replacement cost of her wedding ring, the situation turned out fine.

She will always feel that her new wedding ring differs from the one her husband put on her left finger at the altar.

However, she also learned a valuable lesson about travelling with jewelry.

Some people think using a safe room is the best way to protect valuables, but that’s not always true.

Stolen Valuables From the Resort Room

Recently, a couple from Regina, Kelly Morrison, her husband Steve, and two children had a nightmare at the Memories resort in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba.

It was discovered that their valuables were missing from their room safe, which were supposed to be protected.

What was supposed to be their dream vacation for 2016 turned into a nightmare.

You can pay extra at a resort for a safe room to protect your passports and any other valuables and cash instead of walking around with them.

Upon returning to their room, the couple quickly realized that their safe was broken into, so they spoke to the resort staff to try and sort the matter out.

This turned into a long, frustrating holiday for the family.

On the morning of Jan. 30, Morrison opened their hotel room safe and found her wedding rings and money was nowhere to be found.

She said about $170 Cdn. and 130 Cuban convertible pesos (worth slightly less than $200 Cdn.) was missing.
– Yahoo News

Who had access to that hotel room and stole their cash and valuables?

By the sounds, they were either not believed or asked to keep it quiet from the media, which did not happen.

Right away, I thought, oh no, you used the room safe, which is supposed to be secure but not always.

Close Call While Travelling To The Dominican Republic

Mrs. CBB went on vacation to the Dominican many years ago and found their room safe and wide open, but nothing was taken from it.

There was no money in the safe, only a couple of expensive articles of clothing and reading material.

She doesn’t know if someone heard them coming, if they rushed off before locking the safe, or if they didn’t care.

One thing was sure: someone with a key or some superpower opened it up.

Stashing Cash In A Safe Is Not Always Safe

If you lock your money in a private safe or hide it under a mattress at home, a thief will likely find it and remove it if possible.

A safe is not always safe but it can be a deterrent if it’s very heavy to carry.

Our friend earns extra money selling items she finds good deals on second-hand and stashes cash in a secure locked in the house.

She says she doesn’t want to put all her cash in the bank and would like to keep some at home for a rainy day.

That could be very wrong if her house were burglarized unless she had a fireproof safe.

At least in most resort hotels, you can’t run off with the room safe typically kept in the closet.

Leave Valuables At Home When Travelling

When I was doing the majority of my travelling, I left almost all of my jewelry at home.

I love to wear bracelets and necklaces, but I have not taken them off once.

Paying for a safe was not in my travel budget. However, our room didn’t have one.

I didn’t care because I always enjoy travelling with the least valuables.

This may seem harsh, but when travelling, “Guard everything”.

Travelling With Inexpensive Clothing

Another thing I did was not bring my most expensive clothes and technology, such as a laptop or iPhone.

I never owned a cell phone until I bought my second house at age 21 because it was cheaper than owning a home phone.

The pay-as-you-go mobile phone worked because I’d put $100 credit on it.

What I didn’t use rolled over into the following year.

Sadly, this doesn’t happen in Canada.

So, I refuse to own a cellphone until prices come down or they change how pay-as-you-go is run.

Update 2024: I now own an Android through Freedom Mobile, which is a fantastic deal.

Travelling Home Upset

I’m sure you or someone you know may have some travelling nightmares to share, but like the Morrison, they will likely never see their jewellery and cash back again.

It’s a pity because it would have been nice for them to fly home only to find it was a misunderstanding and not a room theft.

Before going on holiday, tell someone you trust where you are going, when you will be back, contact information, and flight information just in case something happens.

Below are situations I’ve learned throughout my travels that I hope might save you from owning a travel nightmare story.

1. Travel Insurance

Always get the best travel insurance you can get in your budget range.

Talk to your homeowner’s insurance or renters’ insurance company to see if they cover anything while you are travelling, mainly theft and illness.

You may even have travel coverage through your employer, so ask Human Resources or your manager to look into this for you.

The first place you can lose your stuff is at the airport when you go through security.

If asked to empty your purse, you could forget something and put all your jewelry and wallets in the scanning tray.

Almost every time I travelled, border security would pull me in for a strip search.

If not, I would be asked to take off my shoes and socks, which can create a stressful situation when all you want to do is start travelling to enjoy your holidays.

I was sure it was because of my long hair and goatee mixed with my surfer dude look.

It did become a pain taking my clothes on and off every time I travelled, although I understand they are doing their job.

2. Jewellery and Valuables

Never take expensive jewellery, laptops, or cellphones to any tourist destination spot unless you plan to be glued to them at all times or you are required to.

If you ignore this warning, be an intelligent tech owner, back up your stuff, add passwords to your cellphone, and activate the Track My Phone app.

Nothing is worse than losing all the photos and data you have saved on your computer or phone.

If a resort has a room safe available, it may make you wonder why you need to lock your stuff up in the first place.

That’s not common practice in Canada when we stay at local hotels unless you secure something valuable with the front desk.

I’d still be skeptical about doing this, but I’m not that posh, I’m afraid.

Many hotels I’ve been to don’t have safes in the rooms, which makes me feel comfortable during my holiday.

A safe in my room tells me I MUST protect my belongings at the resort.

It would be best if you didn’t have to feel this way when spending thousands of dollars to enjoy time away from your everyday life.

The more you flaunt “bling,” the more you will be a target for theft.

No one cares who you are if you aren’t a celebrity with tons of cash.

To them, you are just another tourist coming to spend money and to keep them employed, so leave the bling at home.

3. Photocopy Important Documents

Always bring copies of your passport, credit card, and photo ID if something happens.

Keep it close to you, as someone could quickly go after this material.

The last thing you want is to have to call the embassy and figure out how you are going to get your butt back home.

You can’t fly without a passport!

4. Lock it up

No matter how much trust I had, I never left my luggage and rucksack unlocked or strapped up in my hotel or resort room while travelling.

Mrs. CBB and I still locked and secured our luggage while travelling around the UK, staying in hotels while I gave her the grand tour.

I put straps on my bag and locked it with a zipper lock to deter anyone from muddling through my stuff.

5. Tell Them What You’ve Got

When entering an establishment or club that required me to remove my jacket or hoodie, I would tell the person operating the door what I had.

I did this so they knew I knew of every item I surrendered to them.

The best thing to do is not bring anything valuable or switch it out.

You can purchase cheap costume wedding bands to wear on your finger from the Dollar Store, Temu, Amazon, or shopping mall instead of wearing real wedding rings.

If someone tells you to hand over your valuables, give them the fake stuff and let them run off peacefully with their worthless score.

6. Watch Over Your Shoulder

Never leave valuables lying around; always watch your back when walking the streets or at a resort.

Mostly, the locals are always amiable and helpful, but don’t underestimate it when travelling to a developing country or financially stricken destination.

There will always be someone who will do just about anything to survive, then again stuff like this happens at home in Toronto.

You can never be too safe with your valuables, so anyone travelling to Canada or the USA would do the same and protect what they own.

7. Learn Basic Local Language Skills When Travelling

Never go alone or go to places that are hidden away or you are not familiar with.

Understanding or speaking a bit of the local language may also help you.

In my spare time, I studied basic conversation for every country I travelled to, which the locals appreciated.

I thought it was pretty cool, too, because I felt at ease knowing that I could communicate without using a translator all of the time.

A cheap translator or book is always excellent, so you know what you agree to when someone is talking to you. Not everyone speaks English.

8. Research Your Destination

I loved to mingle with the locals whenever I was travelling.

However, I quickly learned it was wise to research where I was going so I was well-informed and didn’t look like a tourist who could be taken advantage of.

If you know a local living where you are travelling, plan to meet with them and ask them for tips while visiting.

9. Fake It Up

If you are ordered to hand over your wallet and belongings, use fake rings, a second wallet with expired business cards, and a few dollars in cash.

You can even get a cheap phone that is light to carry in the same pocket or bag to deter them from thinking you have an expensive iPhone that you’d probably not rather lose.

Think like a thief and protect yourself.

10. Give Your Belongings An Identity

If your luggage goes missing, always leave information about who owns it and how to contact you if it is found with no travelling destination or name.

I’d also add a reward to make the return more enticing.

11. Alcohol, Drugs, Partying and Sex

This may be tough for some vacationers, but protect yourself or stay in groups when you are drinking or doing something illegal. (it happens)

You may find you lose everything you own and maybe more.

Always hold your drink to make sure no one drops anything into it.

Never smoke something that you didn’t bring or roll yourself.

Another thing is to be skeptical of the people being extra-nice to you.

If you plan on sleeping with strangers, you just met…watch your back and your valuables.

You don’t want to wake up drunk after a fun night in the sack or partying on the beach only to find you no longer own any valuables.

12. Don’t Leave Your Room Without This…

If you wear expensive or sentimental jewellery such as watches, rings, and earrings, always keep it on your body.

This includes cash because once it’s gone, it’s gone.

No amount of media coverage will bring it back.

However, it will bring awareness to others traveling and may have to find out the hard way when their stuff has gone missing, like the Morrison’s.

13. Stash Cash

Never keep your money all in one spot.

What I did was I chose three spots to keep cash just in case I was robbed, beaten, or a theft occurred.

It may sound like I was overprotective, but you never know what can happen when travelling to a foreign country.

14. Go For The Hard Stuff

Most thieves want easy access to your belongings, which means they favor zipper access. Avoid being a target and buy the hard shell luggage.

My wife has luggage like this and told me why she chose it over a zipper bag, which I had never thought much about, but now it makes sense.

15. Caution: Using The In-Room Safe

Never leave your passport lying around; if you trust the safe, stick it in there, but don’t be upset if it goes missing.

Ensure you have copies of all your essential documents hidden in a separate spot.

16. Have Fun And Enjoy Your Vacation

Travelling always brings new challenges and risks, especially if you are not familiar with a country and what the locals are like.

Even the kindest faces can be sly, so never let your guard down while travelling.

Most of all, don’t let these tips scare you away from enjoying your holiday.

The worst thing is being uninformed about what you could face while travelling to a new country.

Discussion: What other tips could you add to protect your valuables while traveling to this list?

Please comment below, and if I’ve missed some, I’ll add them above and quote you!!

-Mr.CBB

CBB Week At A Glance

This week has been jam-packed, and I’ve hardly been able to get much done around the house.

Early in the week, we attended a birthday party for our 4-year-old nephew at Chuck E. Cheese, which was a first experience for the wife, our son, and me.

Meh, it was overpriced, and the pizza sucked, not to mention the horrible birthday cake they provided with the package!

Other than that, our son had fun playing some of the games.

We will continue with a second birthday bash for him tomorrow after work.

There will be a pig roast with all the fixings, sweets, party trays of veg, cheese, meat, lasagna, salads, and meatballs.

I’m running out of breath thinking about it.

I may end up undoing the pants for this one. It’s heavy-duty eating.

Other than that, we took our little guy to the gym to run around with his friends, which is always successful and worth every penny.

We took an eventful trip to Costco the other day, too, as I learned a bit more about the popular bulk store.

In an upcoming blog post, find out my thoughts and whether we plan to buy a Costco membership.

On the work front, I’ve been putting in extra hours with my team because when an emergency calls, I’m the guy who always seems to fix the problems, so I stay.

Excellent Posts Published On CBB This Week

If you’ve missed any of my blog posts this week, I will share them all below.

Popular Post this week: A must-read > How much should my grocery budget be?

Frugal Recipe

Food and grocery shopping are BIG parts of CBB because food is a large part of the budget, which people struggle with the most.

Not only will you save money, but you will be proud of what you’ve accomplished, and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.

For the past 2 years, I’ve had a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot, where I exclusively share recipes from food bloggers worldwide.

This week, our Top Recipe Pick goes to a blog called “Cookies and Cups” for this amazing-looking cake called “The Best Banana Cake,” I can see why.

Now, I must make it and taste it for myself. Check it out!!!

Top DIY Project

Today I found a very cool Valentine’s Day Kids Craft project that you can take on with products you likely have in your kitchen pantry.

I thought this was a brilliant idea that would WOW the kids or even their classmates.

Google Search Terms

Every week, thousands of people visit Canadian Budget Binder because they searched online and found my blog.

The spelling errors below are because I shared how they typed their search engine query to land on my blog.

Some of them are serious, and others are meant to laugh.

Source: Hilarious For Sale by Owner Sign Calls Out Neighbour- Huffington Post

Neighbour sabotages our open house. You would think that if they don’t like you that much, they would motivate anyone to buy the house to get rid of you. Then again, maybe they don’t give a rat and would rather see you suffer.
Are my groceries proportional? – Haha.. I dunno measure them and find out.
Average grocery bill for 1 Canada– Since there is only 1 Canada, I’d presume that number would be very LARGE. Ha!!
Husband won’t talk about money- He will when there is none and he’s sleeping on the streets.
What to do when your wife spends too much money?- Call the lawyer and talk to her.