Security Travel Accessories

South America is a fantastic continent to travel around, not only do you get to see some of the world’s most dramatic landscape, but you learn a very important life lesson.

Keeping your belongings safe is a full time job when you are backpacking and there are so many long, sleepy waits for buses and trains. These moments, while being the least pleasant part about the journey, are also the times when you are at your most vulnerable.

Travelling through Chile with my best friend 10 years ago, both of us fresh out of college, he was sitting on a long bus trip north listening to his new minidisc (this was before the days of I Pods).
My friend fell asleep and woke up to find that the music was no longer playing, and after a moment of confusion realised that the minidisc has been artfully slipped off of his head phones.


Four years ago the same friend was back in Chile, this time as part of his university degree in Spanish. He called me upon arrival at the airport, full of excitement about the year that lay ahead. However, he had to cut the call short when he realised that his luggage, which contained everything, had been broken into and most of his possessions stolen, including his passport.

These incidents were essentially bad planning on his part. Chile is not a particularly dangerous place to travel in and the crime rate is not especially high. Now when my friend travels, he is sure to use special TSA approved locks and straps for his luggage. If you get the double high security combination locks, it doesn’t matter how skilled the thief is (and these thieves were very skilled) they will not be able to get into your luggage.

During my time in South America I never had any problems. I learnt to separate important belongings so that if one of my bags got stolen I did not lose everything. A life saver for me was also the budget money belt which I used. Sure it gets a bit sweaty, but I have been pick-pocketed before and that experience makes you sweat a whole lot more.

Travel accessories like the above are available from the online Trip Needs website. They have many popular products, such as the luggage scales which tell you what your bag weighs so you don’t get caught out at the airport and charged heavily. Spending a small amount of money now could save you a fortune in the future.