# Never leave your pack alone, not even for a minute!



## japanarchist (Aug 25, 2019)

I’m at the airport in Barcelona and I just got my pack stolen. I made a poor decision and went to the bathroom for about 5-7minutes and left my pack under a chair, when I came back my shit was gone. I was sitting right in front of a camera, and I foolishly thought it might be safe. 

Don’t make this mistake, never let your stuff leave your sight. No matter how tired you are, how quickly you’ll be back, even if you think no one is around, don’t do it. I’m pissed as hell about it but luckily it wasn’t anything that can’t be replaced. They got my sleeping bag and clothes and pack but that was it, no money or valuables.

I suppose its good that I didn’t catch the person who did it, because I would probably bet in jail now for slitting his fucking throat.


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## roughdraft (Aug 25, 2019)

hard lesson learned! glad it wasnt worse


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## japanarchist (Aug 25, 2019)

Im at the security office now to see if they can do anything about it (of course they’re not) and a couple just came it and are reporting about their luggage being stolen. There’s lots of thieves around Barcelona, be careful if you come out here.


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## Crazy Hobo Johnny (Aug 25, 2019)

*That's why I always take my pack with me at all times when I travel.

Even when I sit at the coffee shop or public library, I take my stuff. 

I see people leave their laptops and packs when they use the restroom, not very smart!

I even remind people not to leave their stuff behind and they look at me like, duh?

Thanks for sharing your story Japanarchist! Hope everything goes fine with you.*


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## Coywolf (Aug 25, 2019)

Motherfucker. May Karma be swift upon the perpetrator, and faster than normal to you, in the terms of getting your shot back.

I've learned this the hard way more than once over the past 2 years. Fucking Santa Fe.....


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## Django (Aug 26, 2019)

My 4 panniers were stolen from my bike a few months ago in Brawley (a day before I went to slab City). Everything I had was in those bags; water, food, sleeping system, clothes. Cool stuff from other countries. EVERYTHING.
What a shitty feeling.
I really hope you'll be able to retrieve your stuff or just slowly replace them with new ones.

Don't be upset at the thief too much, it's probably a looser junkie that is in a bad place in their life, they're already at the bottom if they go and steal things from others. I wish all of us to be in the position where our belongings are stolen from us, and to never have to steal from others.


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## Anagor (Aug 26, 2019)

Crazy Hobo Johnny said:


> *That's why I always take my pack with me at all times when I travel.
> 
> Even when I sit at the coffee shop or public library, I take my stuff.
> 
> I see people leave their laptops and packs when they use the restroom, not very smart!*



In general, I totally agree!

Said that, in one Starbucks in Bristol I left my backpack and even Laptop (as I still carried one with me) on my table while going for a cigarette outside (no problem, cause a thief would have to pass me) or even while going to the restroom. Never got anything stolen.

But I was a regular there (often went there in the morning to charge my phone and to be online), all the staff knew me, it was not crowded in the mornings and the other customers were mostly people working in the offices nearby, families or elderly people. So my gut feeling was it will be okay.

Would not have done the same in the McDonald's down the road, though.


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## WyldLyfe (Aug 26, 2019)

Cameras ain't gonna stop people, me and roughdraft where talking about this just before hey BROTHER!!!!! when I've shop lifted idgaf about cameras.. But ay man, OP if it makes you feel better I once had my car stolen with shit inside it too. Now you know for next time..


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## Des (Aug 26, 2019)

Ah shit homie sorry to hear that. Z is still in europe and could probably help ya out some


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## Dameon (Aug 26, 2019)

Important to remember this even when you're leaving your gear in a car that you've hitched a ride from. I've known lots of people whose ride has driven away with their gear and even their dog while they were in the bathroom.


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## japanarchist (Aug 26, 2019)

Thanks y’all for the support. I’ve calmed down and realized that everything I lost is replaceable, and this is just another lesson from the universe to not slip up like I did. 

I’ll survive with what I have until i get back to the US. I’m not going to let this ruin my trip either. On the brighter side i have less shit to cart around now😅.


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## Deleted member 8978 (Aug 26, 2019)

Next time you go to Barcelona, and as long as it passes security, put in a decoy suitcase that includes a stink bomb - which explodes when opened!


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## Hudson (Aug 26, 2019)

Never left my pack anywhere but the only place I had my pack stolen was Mill Valley, California by the police.

They picked me up as a suspected runaway and brought my gear to another location while they brought me to a jail 100 miles away just to let me out at 1am without my gear. Cocksuckers took a leatherman my dad gave me when I was 16. When I got to the place where my gear was they said it never showed up. Probably thrown in a dumpster somewhere. A brand new Kelty pack. Ahhhh. My distrust of police.


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## Preacher (Aug 26, 2019)

When I'm with a pack or a bag with handles and I'm sitting and it is on the ground, I have my foot through a strap/handle. I've had something snatched from at my feet at a bus stop when I was a kid. Never again.


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## dingee (Aug 26, 2019)

You know, Ive left my pack so many times. Sometimes stashed somewhere, sometimes just in the open in front of a store. I convince myself that if I don't care that it's stolen, then no one will want to steal it and I just stop worrying about it. It's a form of glitter-flage, I suppose. The only times I've had trouble are when I was trying to guard it. Once when I was sleeping on it in Vegas (Alice pack waist straps are my favorite pillow) a crackhead tried to steal my gear from under my head. (we stabbed each other, I kept my gear and his broken screwdriver)
Another time my partner and I had hitched a ride with a tweaker whom we knew not to trust. We stopped at a rest area in Ontario Oregon and got distracted making out in the bushes. By the time we realized we'd forgotten to get our packs out he was gone. That actually turned out great. You can walk on the highway in Oregon and we were heading to Portland so we just carried plastic bags full of beer and snacks along the beautiful river valley, commenting on how nice it was not to have a heavy pack and keeping an eye out for a canoe to appropriate. For some months after that I happily traveled with no backpack, and often think of doing so again.
Cops have taken my shit a few times too.
The point I'm failing to make here is that no matter how vigilant you are, sometimes you still get got. So I just refuse to worry about it and hope things work out for the best. This generally describes my attitude towards everything, come to think of it.

Edit: Grammar and typos. Fat finger syndrome.


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## Crazy Hobo Johnny (Aug 26, 2019)

Dameon said:


> Important to remember this even when you're leaving your gear in a car that you've hitched a ride from. I've known lots of people whose ride has driven away with their gear and even their dog while they were in the bathroom.


*Dameon, that happened to a friend of mine except he didn't have a dog. His stuff was stolen! (7 years ago) He went to the local Target and Wally-Mart to replace what he lost. 

Always keep your cash, pre-paid and or debit cards hidden on yourself for emergencies and a phony bogus wallet and expired cell phone in case being robbed. You can 
purchase fake flat screen cell phones online. (Amazon) These are great in case being held up!*


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## MFB (Aug 26, 2019)

Ive certainly stashed/concealed my pack so I dont have to carry it around if exploring a town or city, or needing to go on a run. Im always confident w the hiding place, but accept possibly loosing it. Keep the debit, phone, passport, cash in a ghey little running vest that is prolly my number 1 travel necessity.


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## Preacher (Aug 27, 2019)

Dameon said:


> Important to remember this even when you're leaving your gear in a car that you've hitched a ride from. I've known lots of people whose ride has driven away with their gear and even their dog while they were in the bathroom.


A dawg told me about once when he was picked up by a pickup truck. Pack was in the bed, they were in the cab. They got out and before they could even close the door the guy was off with his pack.


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## roughdraft (Aug 27, 2019)

im pretty blown away this could happen in a major int'l airport in Europe, just shows my naivety


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## japanarchist (Aug 28, 2019)

The security guard told me it happens all the time there. People come there (especially at night) to steal from tourist then go back to central bcn to sell what they stole. Barcelona is like the theft capital of europe. It happens so much the pigs don’t really give a fuck.


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## Phuen (Aug 31, 2019)

Some cultures are very forgiving to criminals, specifically thieves. India was a surprising experience for me. Just shove a hand down your pockets and smile about it.

I put my leg through the backpack handle too. Laptop has a lock, so it can't just be picked up quick. Usually, a meaningful but small deterrent will do!


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## r3yn (Sep 6, 2019)

I was at a wild rave after-party in Ottawa, Canada, and a bunch of vile gangsta dudes came into the house. The busses had stopped by this point, and wouldn't start for another few hours, so my girlfriend and I slept on a couch in the middle of the party, and I held onto my pack.

I woke up a while later and my pack was gone. Dude had lifted it from right under my grasp. Wow. Then I went looking around the house for it, and realized someone had stolen my shoes, from the front area, too. There was three-feet of snow outside, and a fresh layer just falling. -25*C. So I wrapped plastic bags around my feet and wandered out. Just a bit behind the house, I found my empty bag (I guess they didn't realize the worth of the mil pack, or just were looking for valuable shit....? but oddly they stole my already-stolen airline blanket, some sweaty rave clothes, and some other shit... fair, I guess, re: the airline blanket). 

Anyway, I saw their tracks continuing up the lane, and started to follow the fresh thief-sign in the snow. The sun was coming up, and I tracked their trail to the bus station, but lost it there amongst the clusterfuck of early-workers. Asked security to see the cameras; they told me to go fuck myself in the usual bureaucratic custom of Canada.

Still, kind of worth the experience, anyway.


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## Anagor (Sep 6, 2019)

r3yn said:


> Still, kind of worth the experience, anyway.



Yeah, an experience indeed.

I only had two (not so severe) experiences in 4 years of traveling. Once my smartphone was stolen out of my jeans pocket in a squat in Brighton, UK ... other people missed things as well after that night.

And once my backpack was stolen as I slept in Bristol, so I only had my sleeping bag I was sleeping in and my daypack, everything else was gone.

BUT I got my stuff back ... For some reason someone stole my stuff but left it somewhere and a good soul found it, found the coach ticket in my backpack, found me on fb cause of my name written on the ticket and I got my stuff back.



Hope you got your shoes back btw ... I once was without shoes in winter cause they fell apart and ended up walking around in flip flops in the snow ... not -25°C more like -5 ... but still cold ...


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