To make travel more enjoyable and less stressful (owing to how often things go wrong) it is often a good idea to re-iterate a few simple rules that can help prevent disaster. Often these problems can leave a bitter taste in the mouth and leave you with a dislike of the destination, its people and cost a great deal of money. In the worst case scenarios, passports, credit cards and cash may have to be replaced.

Maybe it’s just that traveling safely requires some common sense and most of the time these days, we do not require it as someone else is always accountable for our mistakes! If you ever get that distinct feeling that something is wrong, which often happens on vacation, that’s your instinct giving you a warning that you should take notice of.

Always be careful about traveling with all your documents and money if you are just going to town to see the sights or have a meal. Take just what you need for the day and leave the rest in the hotel safe as it is better to lose a little, rather then everything.

One easy thing to do to protect your money is not carry all of it around at once or leave it in just one location where a thief can steal everything you have quite easily. Many couples traveling will have 2 credit cards, both accessing the same account but it is much easier to use two cards, each accessing separate accounts so if one is lost or stolen, there is a backup.

Some of the easiest possessions to steal are bags and cameras owing to the way people carry them without even recognizing that they are an easy target for thieves so ensure the straps are over the head and across the chest if you want to hold on to them. Try to be aware of where you are when you stroll around and don’t make an easy target for the snatch thieves on the back of bikes.

From a criminal’s point of view, large groups of tourists are just treated as easy targets and because they do this sort of thing all the time, they are extremely good at it. We can become complacent believing it will not happen or we are cleverer than them but this is how they make their living and in many cases the way that they feed their family every day.

If you use a small backpack or day bag when wondering the streets or local markets why not buy a small padlock because would be pickpockets will be put off straight away. Another good idea is to use a hikers (or climbers) small shackle that can be used to safely secure your keys to a belt or bag for those people that frequently lose their keys.

One of the biggest problems is with wallets as the vast majority of men carry them in a back pocket and this is an easy target for any criminal so try varying your normal routine and place it in a front pocket or similar.

There is absolutely no reason why when you are on vacation you shouldn’t be able to travel safely and have a great deal of worry free fun; just stick to the points mentioned here and use your common sense at all times.