Bob from L.A. !
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Francis 2012, 2014, 2016. Camino Norte 2018
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Yep. I have lived in NYC since college and oddly, never had my wallet stolen (actually had it returned once and once my daughter dropped hers in Penn Station and someone brought it to her school!), but I was pick pocketed in Philly when I was just passing through. It was the typical thing where I put my wallet down for a second while making a call (in the age of payphones) and someone just scooped it up.I don't bring anything I cannot replace on a camino. I do keep my passport, credit card, and phone near and so far I have never had a problem. Knock on wood.
Off the camino, I was once pick-pocketed in Madrid. This was an eye-opener for me and I am now very cautious in big cities. I was clearly identifiable as someone who just stepped off the trail and an easy target.
Being a native New Yorker and having grown up in a time that for most of the transplants who many have made New York almost unrecognizable and unaffordable it isn't odd at all that you have never had your wallet stolen. Our I grew up in the 60's when New York was a lot grittier, dirtier and did have more crime, but it was alot more vibrant alive and as in any big city ANYWHERE you just had to have some street smarts. Yea, maybe you might get pickpocketed but it is not odd it is just the way things are EVERYWHERE.Yep. I have lived in NYC since college and oddly, never had my wallet stolen (actually had it returned once and once my daughter dropped hers in Penn Station and someone brought it to her school!), but I was pick pocketed in Philly when I was just passing through. It was the typical thing where I put my wallet down for a second while making a call (in the age of payphones) and someone just scooped it up.
Good to know, thank you @gmag.The main risk factor is size.
Sounds like she learned an expensive lesson!but a fellow walker on the CP reported she lost 50Euros of her cash, taken in a bar near Lisbon when she left the cash tucked under her coaster/drink (not the best idea in any bar anywhere!) while she used the washroom.
Can you prove this, or is it just conjecture? I don't believe this for a minute.Thieves are much more frequent in municipal albergues than in private albergues, which are usually smaller and where we hospitaleros have a more personal relationship with pilgrims, although this is not always the case.
The main risk factor is size.
You will find that very difficult to use in an albergue full of pilgrims, and personally, I don't believe you need such a thing in a private albergue. Funny, though, I took something similar on my first Camino in 2006 - worried I was - and discarded it within the first week.The travel stuff company Magellans has a door stop alarm that is only $15 and 3 oz. and does not look like it would mar a floor. It looks like it would help alert everyone that an unwelcome entrance was being made.
Can you prove this, or is it just conjecture? I don't believe this for a minute.
My only experience with multiple thefts in an albergue was at a municipal. A large one. Very crowded that night. I'd guess more than eighty pilgrims. Backpacks everywhere on the floor. I wasn't a victim but over the next couple of days I talked with fellow pilgrims that were there that night that told me they had money stolen from their packs.Can you prove this, or is it just conjecture? I don't believe this for a minute.
Thieves are much more frequent in municipal albergues than in private albergues, which are usually smaller and where we hospitaleros have a more personal relationship with pilgrims, although this is not always the case.
The main risk factor is size.
What gmag says is common sense, and evidence based. I am afraid I have actually known thieves personally and in conversation they explained how much easier it is to pass unnoticed in crowded places. Municipal albergues are crowded and do not always even have hospitaleros on duty 24/7. Easiest thing in the world to stroll in and stroll out again with someone else's property in your pocket.Can you prove this, or is it just conjecture? I don't believe this for a minute.
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