What to do with passport while in albergues?

[mjfraz]

I will be walking alone... What do people do with passport, money while taking shower or sleeping in albergues? Is there any worries about theft? I would hope not but you never know...
Thanks,
Matt

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Matt,
I usually walk alone, too. Most of us in that category will all give the same advice -- always take valuables with you into the shower. I put mine in a fanny pack that hangs on a hook in the shower (in a plastic bag if needed to keep it dry). The exception would be that if I've got my "Camino family" well established, I wouldn't hesitate to ask one of them to keep an eye on my stuff while I'm showering, but I know some people don't even feel comfortable with that. In any event, the bottom line is that your essential things should always be in your possession or in the possession of someone you absolutely trust. There's just no way to protect against that occasional rotten apple, and losing all your documents/money etc, would be a real pain in the neck. But don't worry too much about it -- simple precautions are all you need. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[efdoucette]

I agree with Laurie. I also walked solo. I carried a money belt for my passport, the bulk of my money and plastic cards. This came with me to the shower (out of reach from the door if possible) and at night I placed in the bottom of my sleeping bag. Securely with me 100% of the time.
Eric

 

[lynnejohn]

We use neck wallets - can go over or under your clothes. Also RFID safe so your cards don't get scanned. Room for lip balm, cards, cash, passport and credential (depending on which one you use). Handy to get to without going into your pack. They go into the shower, and are convenient for walking around town.

This is just an example. There are lots of them.

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Packs/Tra ... -pouch.jsp

 

[Al the optimist]

1. - Don't be too worried, the camino is a much safer place than many of us experience in our normal life.
2. - Be sensible, keep your documents, valuables, etc. safe. There are many ways to do this and I am sure that many people will offer sound advice. You have to choose your own way - what is comfortable and convenient for you.
3. Don't worry about offending anyone else about your desire for security. Pilgrims are very understanding about such matters.
Personally I am happy to wear a belt bag containing documents/valuables/camera/guide/money/etc. for convenient access while walking. This I am happy to take into the shower in a ziplock bag. Evenings or in cities I am equally happy to transfer most of these into various cargo pants pockets.
Enjoy your personal decision process and above all
Buen Camino
allan

 

[mjfraz]

Thanks for the suggestions...

 

[Camembert]

Extra tip. Put all your scanned data on a memorystick and hide it somewhere deep in your backpack.So your info will be available for some reasons. This in addition to send yourself an email with the same data.
There are very tiny memorysticks nowadays. They even fit in your belt pack.
Bom caminho.

 

[backpack45]

I have to relate this--one consideration when putting your money belt (with passport, etc.) under your pillow--and this comes from experience. One night we stayed at a hostel at the Somport Pass (the Camino Aragones crossing) and I put my money belt under my pillow. The next morning, I forgot to pick it up before we left. After hiking downhill about an hour, I realized what I had done.

Frantic calls up to the hostel. We hurried to get back up the mountainside--rain now falling--and retrieved my money belt from the wonderfully honest innkeeper (who would not take a tip)!

I always wear a money belt. When showering, I either take it in with me or have Ralph watch it. Even with my one mishap, I still generally keep my valuables (camera, watch, money belt, etc.) near my pillow, but if I want to, my money belt is comfortable enough that I can sleep with it on.

 

[Traveller44]

A photo of your passport and any medications emailed to yourself is also helpful, if you leave it in your email you can also access it from anyone's phone if yours gets lost , damaged or stolen

 

[henrythedog]

I’ll repeat my offer of £50 to a charity of the informant’s choice for the first authenticated report, other than in laboratory conditions, of a credit card securely in the owner’s possession being remotely scanned and the details fraudulently used by another.

The only scam I’m aware of is in the sale of ‘rfid proof’ card cases.

Are RFID-Blocking Wallets Necessary to Prevent Credit Card Theft?

The security threat from an airborne information transfer is obvious—any in-range reader could capture the same information.

www.google.co.uk

 

[David with new Kit!]

In addition to the advice from @Traveller44. I also put copies of my documents on Google drive as a backup to email. I certainly don't carry any docs with me electronically on a memory stick (just one more thing to lose), if you don't want to rely on email or Google drive, its best to store the data directly on your phone as the internet is not always available.

 

[SeaHorse]

Camino is safe but there are also fake pilgrims who are out there for your stuff. You only need one to spoil the whole experience. Keep your passport, ID, driving licence, bank cards (more than one), cash, phone, camera, etc always with you. As already said, even in the shower.

 

[David Tallan]

Camino is safe but there are also fake pilgrims who are out there for your stuff. You only need one to spoil the whole experience. Keep your passport, ID, driving licence, bank cards (more than one), cash, phone, camera, etc always with you. As already said, even in the shower.

Other things to consider:

If you are travelling with someone, you can leave your things with them. I had no hesitation leaving things with my son when walking the Camino with him.

Similarly, while there are fake pilgrims out there, if you have seen someone day after day on the Camino, perhaps talked to and walked with them, you may want to weigh the chances that they are a fake pilgrim who is really walking the Camino day after day for a chance to steal your stuff against the chance of your phone or camera being damaged in the shower. After doing that mental comparison you may decide to ask them to keep an eye on your stuff while you take a shower.

I don't think I ever took a camera into the shower with me. But that's just me.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I carry my passport/money/credit cards in a plastic bag and carry them INTO the shower with me! I don't even leave them in private rooms unless I'm with Joe or another pilgrim I know well.

 

[Viva Terlingua]

Evenings or in cities I am equally happy to transfer most of these into various cargo pants pockets.
Enjoy your personal decision process and above all
Buen Camino
allan

2 years ago in Barcelona I had a wallet pickpocketed out of a zipped cargo pant pocket.

 

[trecile]

I used a large plastic bag like this to take my valuables and my clean clothes into the shower area.

 

[Former member 91017]

I always stuff my dry sack of documents, money and phone into my silk sleep sack when going to sleep. When i roll it up in the morning, all my stuff is there in the bottom — no risk of forgetting it. From the sack it goes back into my internal “tech” section of my pack. As others have advised: always take the dry sack of valuables with you to the shower.

 

[SeaHorse]

Other things to consider:

If you are travelling with someone, you can leave your things with them. I had no hesitation leaving things with my son when walking the Camino with him.

Similarly, while there are fake pilgrims out there, if you have seen someone day after day on the Camino, perhaps talked to and walked with them, you may want to weigh the chances that they are a fake pilgrim who is really walking the Camino day after day for a chance to steal your stuff against the chance of your phone or camera being damaged in the shower. After doing that mental comparison you may decide to ask them to keep an eye on your stuff while you take a shower.

I don't think I ever took a camera into the shower with me. But that's just me.

You can trust that a person you know a few days is not there to steal from you. I would say you can get the right feeling already after a conversation. But you can't be sure they will sit there like a doggy watching your stuff or they may wander off just a little bit, get distracted, wander some more. For you time you spend in shower is the most reasonable, other person has no idea for how long they have undertaken an obligation.

 

[Kanga]

You can trust that a person you know a few days is not there to steal from you. I would say you can get the right feeling already after a conversation.

It would be nice to think so, but there will always be clever con artists, and we have had several reports of people walking the Camino who, over the course of a few days, will establish a rapport which eventually turns into a sting. Usually the victims don't find out until it is too late, and the perpetrator has disappeared. It has ever been so, since medieval times! Some of our very experienced pilgrims have fallen prey - you can read about @mspath's experience in her 2005 blog, and a search of the forum will bring up other examples. My take is to never expect a "loan" will be returned, or that money will be spent on the purpose for which it is given. Wherever possible I offer food and lodging, not money. My reason for that is experience of beggars at home, who are often in servitude to some "master".

Getting back to the topic - I always keep my passport and credit cards on my person. Like others, zip lock plastic bags are my friend in the shower.

 

[EL LECHERO]

I will be walking alone... What do people do with passport, money while taking shower or sleeping in albergues? Is there any worries about theft? I would hope not but you never know...
Thanks,
Matt

I also took photo copies of my passport/ id, insurance cards and put them in the bottom of my back pack. It works better if you are walking with someone else and you can exchange copies so that if either one of you lose your original documents the other has the copies.

 

[David Tallan]

I also took photo copies of my passport/ id, insurance cards and put them in the bottom of my back pack. It works better if you are walking with someone else and you can exchange copies so that if either one of you lose your original documents the other has the copies.

I did the same thing on a European trip (not Camino). I had photocopies of my ID in my day pack in case my real ID was stolen. It was a good idea until my day pack was stolen and someone tried to apply for a passport in my name using the photocopies.