Setting Up A Backpack Security System To Keep Your Bag Safe When It’s Vulnerable
Any good security system is layered, with many buffers against complete disaster. You may think of backpack theft as all or nothing when in fact your biggest threat are stealthy grabs when you’re not around to do anything about it. Instead of giving in, turn your backpack into a minefield of traps, tricks, and false hopes for even the most determined thieves.
Time Is On Your Side
One of the biggest advantages travelers typically have over opportunistic thieves is time. You can carefully craft and plan out a strategy against dishonest crooks while they’re the ones usually racing against a clock to get as much as they can without being noticed or caught. That’s where you’ll begin focusing your backpack security system – by increasing the amount of time anyone would need to get in and take your most valuable belongings.
Start With Basics
A small lock on closing your zippers together is a good place to start anytime you leave your bag by itself. Combination luggage locks are easier to manage since you don’t have physical keys to lose and are a good deterrent in luggage rooms common to hostels or hotel rooms where you aren’t sure about the staff. While it’s not recommended to lock your luggage if you check your bags due to security checks, keeping the zippers placed away from the ‘normal’ spots of at the edges or between corners can waste a few more seconds for a thief who only has a moment to make their move.
- Pacsafe – This company makes several security products for backpacks and other travel gear including an anti-theft mesh (review) and portable “Travelsafe” pouch (review) for smaller items.
These products can make your bags very conspicuous however are a powerful deterrent in a hostel room full of completely unlocked and unzipped bags. If you’d rather not travel with either of these, make sure you store your most valuable electronics and travel document (e.g. passport) in a locker which most hotels and hostels offer. (Remember to bring your own lock, most hostels don’t provide them or will overcharge you to buy one.)
Pack Your Electronics Deep When Checking In
You’ll want to keep any electronics away from the top of your bags, where they can be easily felt by a crook who might be rummaging around several bags. Place your valuable tech items deep within your bag, but disperse them throughout as well while avoiding the outer layer. For instance you could pack your iPod in a sock, while keeping your Kindle nicely folded inside a pair of jeans.
- Keep It To Your Carry-On – Keep a carry-on bag with you so you don’t have to check in any valuables (I’ve had them stolen from there before). Electronics also tend to be heavy and it’s a great way to avoid luggage fees. If the thought of traveling with two bags makes you queasy, check out the REI Travel Zip or something similar.
- Excuse Me, Do You Have Lockers? – First of all when booking a hostel or hotel, make sure to check if they have lockers, what size they are, and where they are located. If there is any ambiguity, email or call them to ask. Ideally this is where you want to keep your valuables when you’re settled in somewhere for a few days.
- Spread Out Your Cash – Keeping your items and money separately won’t save all of your stuff but might be enough to keep at least some of your valuables safe. Hide your money in various pockets, some on your person, maybe a bit in your toiletries pouch but not all in the same place.
When looking for a hostel, I’d consider a locker to be a strong deciding factor over another without one of a similar price. Some hostels also boast lockers but don’t mention that they’re not big enough to fit a laptop. Walking around with your valuables in your day pack is both cumbersome and aside from the increased threat of theft, might end up with you banging around your hard drive into an early grave.
Covering Your Bases And Maintaining A Security System For The Long Run
Much like when you start out packing, your security system is likely to be at its best when you’re first heading out on a trip. After a prolonged vacation or when shifting locales it’s a breeze to take it easy, be negligent about locking up your stuff and all of the other little tricks part of your personal travel security plan.
- Know Your Essentials – Your passport, cash, and and credit cards are essential when traveling and you should make sure you always have access to some bare minimum of funds. Do not neglect to keep these things secure. I’d also add any electronics that are too expensive or costly to easily replace (i.e. laptop if you work from the road).
- Automate It – Stay consistent with how you pack your bag so it becomes second nature. Don’t try to come up with something even more intricate every time you pack. Come up with a plan and tweak it but trying to reinvent it every time will only leave you frustrated.
- Have A Backup Plan – Encrypt your hard drive, save your digital photos from crooks, and use online backup for your data.
- Take Your Time – Not only will you be the least annoying person in any hostel dorm, packing ahead of time ensures you won’t rush through and neglect your backpack security system.
- Layers Upon Layers – Jodi Ettenberg (Legal Nomads) has some excellent safety advice which I highly recommend reading in this interview with her on Solo Friendly.
Adding a few seconds of effort to any snoops’ schedule may be all you need to deter or steal an opportunity from a thief. For those times when it’s just not enough however, finding that $50 you tucked away in your dirty socks at the bottom of your backpack will make you realize a backpack security system wasn’t so crazy after all.
[photos by: stacya (female backpacker), gsag (zipper), colijay72 (man digging hole), rpongsaj (locked safe)]
Basic Hostel Planning To Be The Least Annoying Person In The Dorm
Hostel dorms are a haven for budget travelers and backpackers but when you’re sharing any living space with 4, 8 or more people it’s easy to get on one another’s nerves. Typically these feelings come about momentarily in the wee hours of the morning or night, kept silent inside each traveler as they move from one hostel to another. With just a moment’s worth of planning and without adding anything extra to your existing routine, you can make sure you’re not the most annoying person in the hostel dorm, or even annoying at all.
The Red Zone
Most of the trouble or frustrations people have with hostel dorms occur right before, after, and during bedtime. This is in fact when most people are likely to be in the hostel and disturbed sleep is usually the number one complaint people have. By taking care of all your basic backpacker needs – packing, showering, Skyping with mom and dad – outside of these times, you’re one big step closer to being a thoughtful and polite hostel-mate.
Pack The Night Before
Hostel hours vary, but in my experience, between 10pm and 10am are the times when at least one person is asleep in the dorm. If you know your flight the next day is at 6am, pack the night before when nobody is around (before 10pm or whenever your dorm tends to be empty).
Aside from being much less noisy the next morning in that Australia backpacker hostel, you’ll also pack much more efficiently. You’ll find it easier to pack more quickly in ample light as opposed to stuffing everything in your bags by feeling around for stuff – saving yourself time from repacking your backpack that just won’t shut in the hostel lobby.
- Rushed Packing Can Lead To Forgotten Items – Poor planning on a long time table doesn’t lead to the mental chaos that packing in the dark with 5 minutes left to catch a bus does. Keep doing it an you’ll inevitably you’ll leave behind a pair of socks, a shirt, or something more valuable like your travel laptop.
- Scrapping The Security System - Some of the best ways to protect your valuables in luggage is to vary the places you keep your money, pack your electronics deep, and disperse both throughout your clothes and other belongings. Packing at the absolute last minute, while trying to stay quiet, only makes you a loud hostel mate with one unzipped pocket away from disaster.
Try as you may, the sound of your own rummaging is never as loud to you as it is to other people who are probably trying to sleep. For your own selfish reasons as well, packing the night before removes many burdens from yourself giving you the opportunity to sleep for a few minutes more the next morning.
Clothes On Top, Toothbrush Handy
Pack up all of your gear the night before except what you’ll wear the next day. This is sound advice whether you’re leaving the next morning to catch a flight, tour, or are simply an early-riser. For those of you new to what a hostel is, the definition of “early” can vary quite a bit. In your particular dorm that might mean 8am or 11 in the morning. Either way having your clothes, toothbrush, and towel ready on top of your bags (in untied plastic bags if you use them) will have you up and out without waking a soul.
Follow The Light
You iPod, cell phone, or a mini flashlight are wonderful sources of illumination once the dorm lights have gone out. You can see that toothbrush you’ve prepared, make your bed, or grab your blanket to return to the hostel desk without creating a blinding light that wakes everyone up. Personally, I find the Verso clip-on reading light (made for Kindle and Nook), to be a bright, lightweight, versatile nightlight with its bendable neck.
- Avoid The Room Lights After Hours – This seems basic enough, but when you’re panicked that you can’t find your iPod touch or passport in the dark with (now 3 minutes) to catch your bus most people will flick the switch. That’s the fast way to annoying all of your hostel-mates and stressing yourself out unnecessarily.
- Plan Door Time – An open door allowing the hallway lights to pour into a pitch-black dark room is a momentary, yet necessary evil. Running in and out 10 times though because you keep forgetting things isn’t. Another great reason to prepare your morning essentials the evening before.
- Respect The Quiet Hours – Ask if your hostel has any if they aren’t mentioned and follow them as best you can. Also don’t hesitate to complain if others aren’t as diligent as you are.
In addition to the light, iPods and iPhones make great alarm clocks since their sound doesn’t carry too far and is low pitched. Any mobile phone with a vibrate mode also works well to get you out of bed without rousing everyone else.
Let The Others Know
You may be a light sleeper, an early riser, or the type of person who can snore their way through a nuclear war. Either way, letting your hostel-mates know can reduce their stress and help them adjust their packing and planning schedule so everyone in the room is more comfortable. That way they (hopefully) won’t forget their ear plugs or keep sloooowly trying to unwrap that plastic wrapper in the middle of the night.
- Communication Is Powerful – Study after study has shown that people are more sympathetic to those they have a personal connection with or can relate to. By talking to your hostel-mate, even just a little bit you can create a bond that might make everyone a bit more considerate toward each other.
Staying hostels for the most part isn’t like trying to sleep in the middle of a football stadium with hundreds of people shouting while you toss and turn under the spotlights…but you might make others feel like that if you’re not careful. As for you, some ear plugs and a sleeping mask as well as following this guide to sleeping in hostels can make each night more pleasant. By doing things you would anyway (i.e. packing) the night before you can effortlessly be the least annoying person in the dorm.
[photos by: nesta hostel valenica (hostel dorm bunk beds), Kristea (packed bags), Jeremy Brooks (toothbrush silhouette), safaris (Brisbane backpacker hostel), jasonfarmer (cat sound asleep)]
How To Avoid Luggage Fees And Work Your Way Around The Airlines For Free
Luggage fees are a bane that travelers can avoid with thoughtful preparation, a positive attitude, and some luck. By using the airline’s rules against them you don’t have to get caught up in the airline feeding frenzy and can weave your way around ever increasing charges and fees.
Find Out What You’re Up Against
Most of the exact weight limits and carry on restrictions vary across airlines as well as between domestic and international flights. Don’t assume you know what they are, even if you have a rough idea – you don’t want to be caught 5 kilograms over and $75 short because you didn’t do your homework.
- Luggage Limits – This site gives you an updated and easily search-able listing of every airline’s restrictions on luggage, as well as the fees associated with them.
- Measure Your Luggage – Using either a digital luggage scale or holding your bags or hopping up on a regular scale, find out how heavy your bags are.
You’ll also want to know what the airline defines as carry-on luggage as opposed to “personal item or baggage”. In addition to the weights, make sure your bags fit (or look like they do) the rough dimension requirements as well.
Have An Extra Bag At Check Out
In general it’s best to stick to a single carry on when possible, but have a second bag with you when you check in for your flight. This bag will be used to temporarily dump any extra weight your suitcase is carrying during the weigh in process. It doesn’t have to be a fancy bag either, large plastic shopping bags seem to work best. (They also don’t tend to get weighed by airline staff for some reason.)
If your checked bag does happen to be overweight, take out the heaviest items and place them in your temporary bag. Ask to have the bag re-weighed and don’t worry about holding up your fellow passengers. Once the bag is under the luggage limit and the fee avoided, you can try putting the items back into the larger bag, check both, or take the temporary bag with you on the plane.
Airline luggage restrictions are almost always per bag. They don’t consider total weight so having a small temporary bag with you is does the trick in most cases. Also, never check your electronics or valuables in your checked baggage – if it can’t be avoided, be sure to pack them low and under clothes to obscure them.
Charm Yourself A Few Grams
You may yourself have had that unspoken negotiation with an airline employee; quiet eye contact pleading your case when your suitcase is just slightly over a baggage weight limit. Using your charm and friendly attitude you might just be able to get away with it, so long as you get your relationship off to a good start.
- Be Tactful – Use Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War to win battles at the ticket counter.
- Compliment Then Complain – Make the employee your ally against the unscrupulous airline try to charge you more money.
- Be Friendly From The Start – It’s easy to be nice when you want something, but you’ll come across more genuine if you start out a conversation that way.
- Put Them In Your Shoes – Try asking politely in any number of words, “if you were in my shoes, would you want to pay for a few extra grams or kilos?” Another good one is, “if I were your mother/father…”
- Plead Your Case (And Maybe Fudge The Truth) – You’re on a budget, had to book a last minute flight to see an ailing friend, or had your wallet recently stolen.
- Flirt – Sometimes there is chemistry there and if it saves you a few bucks, all the better.
Just how much over you can be is often up to the airline employee but at 10% you’ve got a pretty good chance and with some luck and charm 20% isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Be Discrete With Your Handbag
Some airlines have begun looking for over-sized carry-on bags (and charging you for them) at the boarding gate. If your bag is over-sized or won’t fit into the small display common in many airports now, make sure you don’t draw any unwanted attention to it.
- Backpacks up to 50 liters, like the GoLite Pursuit, meet most dimension requirements although can’t often be contorted to fit into those rectangular displays. Keep your backpack on your bag giving it a smaller, lighter appearance rather than lugging it by hand.
It’s also a good idea to board when it’s busiest – your slightly bulging backpack is less likely to be noticed in a crowd.
Avoid The Fees By Traveling Light
That seems simple enough but when packing it’s tempting to try and fit just one more souvenir paperweight or bottle of wine. Give yourself some slack before departure and keep your suitcase weight under 80% of the limit if possible. That will give you some room for things to bring home on the way back.
- Read Digitally – You can use an eReader to cut the weight from carrying books. (Here are the important differences between the Nook and Kindle for international travelers.) You can also purchase and download books directly to your laptop.
- Longer Doesn’t Mean Larger – Packing for 2 weeks is no different than packing for 2 months or longer.
- Choose The Right Luggage – Pick the right backpack and check out what your fellow travelers are flying with.
- Drop Some Unnecessary Weight – Put your backpack on a diet.
- Become An Elite Flyer – Most frequent flyer programs waive baggage fees for their most loyal frequent flyers who hold minimum balances.
Despite your best efforts though, sometimes baggage fees just can’t be avoided so you should include them in your simple travel budget. Any money you don’t pay for fees can be added to your savings or for a fancy night out – at least you’ll have it to spend on something else! For multi-city flights or RTW trips just be sure to lighten the load before your next flight so you don’t keep paying over and over again.
[photos by: Live And Basic (two suitcases at airport), juicyrai (woman at airline check out), Giorgio Montersino (airline hostesses), mil8 (carry on limit), p0ps Harlow (baggage claim)]
What Type Of Luggage Do You Travel With? [RESPONSES]
The travel gear, backpacks, and luggage all of you travel with is as diverse as each of us. I was a bit surprised initially at the variety of the responses when I asked, what type of luggage do you travel with, but after reading them over I realized I shouldn’t have been at all. Whether you’re looking to pick the right backpack or choose the right piece of luggage, the assorted opinions and recommendations of your fellow travelers should have you off to a good start.
- Sheila Scarborough: “I use a TravelPro Rollaboard carry-on wheeled suitcase, and a Targus laptop-configured backpack.”
- Daniel: “Kelty — FTW! I have a Kelty sling-style day pack that’s six years old now. And it looks almost brand new. Love their gear. Very well made. Would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone!”
- Mummy_T: “Dodgy, but hard-wearing “North Face” 70l backpack I bought in Thailand, with zip-on, zip-off 20l day pack. My son has a Deuter Fox 30.”
Winnie: “About 15 years ago I bought an MEC Carry-on Travel Pack. It’s not the same as the one they have now with elastic cords and all kinds of gizmos – just a simple big pocket and a little pocket. It holds 30L, has a handle, shoulder strap and backpack straps.”
- Erin: “We have left the UK to travel indefinitely as digital nomads and manage to travel hand luggage only. I have a 30 liter Vango transit backpack and my partner Simon has a North Face 40 liter Overhaul backpack. We were looking for bags that zip all around the sides for easy access and so we can lock them. Simon also carries a Martin backpacker travel guitar. We don’t have a separate day pack.”
- Donna Hull: “Rolling duffel bags (both carry-on size and checked size) are great. On a trip to Hawaii, I packed snorkeling gear (for 2) into the large rolling duffel bag. One tip for staying organized with a rolling duffel bag, organize each day’s outfit in a large plastic bag. Clothes won’t get as wrinkled and it will be easy to pull out exactly what you need.”
- Akila: “Victorinox rolling backpacks. Love, love, love them. We use them rolling about 95% of the time but, occasionally, we convert them into backpacks if need be.”
- Ayngelina: “I have a 60L MEC backpack and I carry a small shoulder bag – no turtling for me. But if I had to do it again I would have picked 45L and just been choosier about what I packed.”
- Jason: “The best purchase we’ve made for inside the bag are vacuum-seal travel roll bags. Only $10 and after 9 months they’re still going strong.”
Ant Stone: “I’ve used a Karrimor Global 70-90 backpack for the past 7 years and it’s still going strong. I’ve never extended it to the 90 end, it’s like a mental block — I know I have it, but don’t want to jinx the ‘new’ extension.”
- Shannon OD: “My faithful pack is a 55L Eagle Creek Meridian and my favorite, favorite part of the backpack (and all of E.Creek’s backpacks I believe) is that it is front loading. I have watched so many travelers struggle with the rucksack style bags and love the huge U-shaped zipper.”
- John Bardos: “I have been using a hard shell Samsonite suitcase for the last 6 years and love it. My wife and I just bought a second one after lugging a bag without wheels around Montreal for a couple of hours. They are fantastic for traveling for many reasons.”
This is just a small sampling from the long list of comments, many with useful details about these bags. I encourage you to browse through the comments – you might find luggage you never knew existed, and learn a bit more about what these folks are carrying around as well. Once decide on a piece of luggage however, it’s a good idea to snap a digital picture of it in case it’s lost so you don’t have to end up buying it back.
[photos by: puregin (airport luggage carousel), scottpowerz (black rolling travel bags), Christopher Isherwood (rolling backpack)]
