It is almost a certainty that it is when you are traveling or on vacation that things will go wrong. These things can often ruin a vacation and leave a bad taste in the mouth for a particular location; they can even be expensive!

Or worse still, a situation that sees you locking yourself in your hotel room, afraid to go out, or even spending time at the local Police station. Common sense is still the single most important tool for traveling safely when you're in a foreign land, meeting new people, walking down strange roads, eating and drinking new things.

Whatever it is you are doing or wherever you are, when you get that feeling that something doesn't feel right, that is your instinct; learn to listen to it. If you are heading out on the town to discover new bars or taking photos at the local fish market, do you really need to carry your passport, traveler's checks, extra cash, credit cards and plane tickets? Expensive and necessary items like identification tickets for example should be left at the hotel in their safe or the room safe if you have one; it is much easier to recover your vacation if you only lose a few important belongings instead of all of them. One suggestion that can help reduce the risk of losing everything is placing cash and credit cards in different locations like pockets, wallets and bags; a pickpocket who is trying to steal from you will only get a small amount, leaving you with means to get back to the hotel.

The thing is that it is not uncommon for married people to share the same credit card account, but a piece of traveling safely advice says that two separate credit card accounts should be used; if something should happen to one of them, there is another one to fall back on. For some time now, thieves have been perfecting the art of snatching handbags and cameras on straps over the shoulder; but by placing the strap over the head and laying it across the chest, this is much harder to do without cutting the strap.

Don't make it easy for them when you walk around by having bags and other valuable objects attached to straps next to the road where it is a simple matter for thieves on bikes to just grab at or cut the straps with a knife. Everyone has heard the stories of different confidence tricks that have happened to vacationers because they are relaxed and let their guard down but the truth is these people do this sort of thing for a living.

Complacency is a dangerous trait and we have all been guilty of it when we are on vacation, remember this is what they do every day to make money and feed their families. Carrying a small backpack can be a good idea as it can be secured with a small padlock which although will not deter the determined thief, will certainly slow down and prevent the majority from trying their luck.