💰Valuables
💍 Jewelry
Leave it at home.
Locals will either have way more gold or none at all; you’ll just look silly. Only exception: automatic dive watch with GMT. No battery, no phone, no stupid Apple. Certina DS Action GMT waterproof to 200 meters — cost about the same as Apple Watch Ultra, but unlike it, will still work in 30 years. Ok, 50. At least.⌚
📷 Camera
Skip big gear unless on photo safari. In cities, it scares people, is fragile & heavy. I love my Nikon D750, but often leave it home. Phone photos? Meh, quality isn’t worth it. I miss prints for the wall, so sometimes I’m torn.
Yes, I always regret if I don’t have nikon with me.
💵 Cash
Carry about 1000 in a mix of USD & EUR. Enough to buy a flight home immediately — unless you’re on Antarctica. ✈️
💡 Pro tip: Keep the cash in reasonably large and different banknotes (1, 5, 10, 20, 50, no higher). You may have to spend $15, but there will be no one to give you change from a hundred.
💳 Cards
Two cards: one with a minimal limit, the other with a high limit. If possible, one Visa and one Mastercard. 💼
💡 Pro tip: Keep one card in an RFID-blocking sleeve or wallet. Prevents thieves from scanning your card in a crowd. Also, separate the cards — keep one in your wallet, the other hidden elsewhere in your bag.
🛡️ Insurance
Never used it, don’t want to, but better to have it. Peace of mind costs nothing compared to the alternative. ⚠️
🪪 Driving License / IDP
Bring your driving license — and get an International Driving Permit (IDP) if you think.
In some places, paperwork matters; in others, common sense does. Sometimes it’s safer to hitch a ride on a truck than to risk riding a scooter solo. Be legal, be smart, stay alive. 🚛🏍️
🛂 Passport & Docs
Stick a note inside your passport: if lost, call this number — reward $100–150 (and actually pay it).
Make photocopies of the ID page: one in your wallet, one in your backpack.
Print your visas too: one copy in your wallet, one in your security pouch.
Put phone numbers on the copies so whoever finds them can call.
💡 Pro tip: keep originals hidden and the copies accessible. Scan everything to your phone/cloud as a backup — but don’t rely on data or roaming. Split copies across bags so one theft doesn’t end the trip.
🔒 Security Pouch
I wear a Tatonka money pouch on my body — close to the nether parts.
Inside: cash, the high‑limit card, IDP and passport — each in its own ziplock.
💡 Pro tip: keep it under your clothes, in intimate sensitive areas, out of sight. It’s small, light and harder to grab than a belt wallet. Split stuff up so one snatch doesn’t ruin your trip.
👛 Wallet
Buy wallet with RFID protection.
Keep only one day’s (or a few days’) worth of cash in your wallet.
Carry photocopies of your passport and visa inside it.
Tuck a small emergency note: €20 / $20 for immediate change — that’ll get you a taxi or a coffee when you need it. Keep it away from local urrency.
Keep the low‑limit card in your wallet (so if you get robbed, the thief gets nothing useful).
💡 Pro tip: split your money — daily cash and the low‑limit card in the wallet, the rest hidden in your security pouch or luggage. If the wallet gets ripped off, it won’t ruin the trip.