Tried + True Tips

Who better to advise us on travel safety than the Pacific Northwest’s own Rick Steves. He suggests that before you travel you begin by photocopying key documents, such as ID and prescriptions. Leave a copy back home with someone who can fax them to you in case you lose your own copy. Get theft insurance for any expensive electronics. Photograph that gear and leave the picture at home in case you need to file a claim. Leave the jewelry at home—why ask for trouble?

Use debit or credit cards or traveler’s checks rather than carrying cash. Keep your valuables in a money belt (a zippered pouch you wear under your clothes). Keep items like your laptop in your room or in your hotel safe.

Pay attention to where you put things when you unpack. Use a list to make sure you don’t forget things. And give your room a good going-over before you check out.

When you’re participating in the Bike Week events, don’t leave things like a camera or your cellphone on your table. Loop the strap of your daypack or purse around your arm, your leg, or the leg of a chair.

Use a lock on your motorcycle. It’s true that no lock is impenetrable. However, a thief is more apt to take that unlocked bike over there than waste time fiddling with any lock you’ve used. (Rick applies this principle to suitcases and other bags, but we think it also works for bikes.)

Watch out for pickpockets and grab-and-go thieves in crowds, especially if there’s a to-do (which just might be created to distract victims). Keep in physical contact with your stuff.

Most of these are common sense precautions, but Bike Week excitement can sometimes erode common sense, so reminders might be useful.