Lots of Steemians love traveling. Wandering around, taking photos, meeting new people, forgetting about problems and down-to-earth stuff - sounds great, doesn’t it?
I do love traveling and even bad experience can’t change it.
Travelling is mostly positive and fun experience, but of course, has endless bad sides either.
Bad situations happen when you don’t expect them. Why? Take a look at the sentence before. Once we stop to be careful, somebody else keeps doing it.
And this is the best recipe for trouble.
We arrived in Phnom Penh in the late evening. After nice tuk-tuk ride and few beers drunk on the balcony with our Airbnb’s host, we spontaneously decided - let’s take a walk to the nearest local restaurant. Amazing evening, by our host affair (he was ethnologist and knows good Khmer - so we could enjoy a nice conversation with the waitress) came to the end. Coming back with the huge grin, hanging my tiny, Thai bag on a long strap on my shoulder and did not feel any symptom of upcoming catastrophe. Two hundred meters later, exactly in front of our building, I felt a super strong jerk on my arm and then saw 2 guys on a white motorbike going away with my bag. This situation last few seconds, but I felt like it was forever. Me and my boyfriend immediately chased the thieves, but by foot, we did not have any chance to catch them. My phone, wallet with ID and 2 debit cards changed the owner.
A few weeks later I dusted myself off and wrote this post. Be aware of thieves in Phnom Penh! But also, take a look at conclusions which I’ve drawn from that.
Lesson 1: Always keep rules, especially your own ones.
The biggest thing which I absolutely screwed it, is to not following my main rule - I do not go outside (especially in the evening) with all of my debit cards. Always the 2nd one should stay in my accommodation in case that… yes, somebody will like my bag too much.
I was following this rule very strictly during the first month of our travel. I was always thinking why I go outside and what I may need. Always separated debit cards, left some money in the room, usually in the strongbox. But day by day, destination by destination I started to be less and less careful and stop keep the rules which I made by myself.
This is the main objection that I have to me - if I will not fulfill my own rules, who will?
The most important thing in your life is to always trust yourself and respects rules that you believe in.
Lesson 2: Being prepared for reality keeps you safe
Next thing which I’ve done is to come to Phnom Penh without any deeper research about the city. Actually, we treated our stay in Cambodia as more relaxed and do-not-care part of the trip that we will discover new places mostly at the moment we arrive in. This was a huge mistake, as Phnom Penh is famous from its dark side and I met lots of people who got robbed (even several times!) in Cambodia's capital.
You may say that this could happen anywhere. In theory, yes, but there are always places when some things happen more often. And Phnom Penh was one of those places. I should have known better.
Also, I was pickpocketed in the most obvious and famous way - because of hanging a perfect-to-steal small bag on a long weak strap. I was saying to thieves - ‘hey, I’m here - ready to be your victim’. They just used the occasion that I gave them. It is as simple as that.
Lesson 3: I appreciate how safely is in Europe
This situation reminds me thousands of night walks in Poznan, on absolutely dark and empty streets - with my wallet, maybe a bit drunk after a party. Thousands of nights when nothing happened. Maybe it’s about safely in Europe, maybe about the fact that I just know culture code and rules of European countries and knew how to behave properly to not get robbed.
Anyway, I started to be more grateful that I could spend my best times in safe places.
Lesson 4: No matter what - I will survive
Before we decide to travel we had in mind several bad scenarios. Being robbed was on this list also. I knew that first thing which I should do is to block my cards, then contact police etc. Even when I did not follow my own rules I still had an ace up in my sleeve. Fortunately, I kept money in more places than just these 2 bank accounts. Also, my passport which is the most important document once you are abroad was in the flat.
Bad things happen, right. But remember, there can be always something worse. No matter what you have to face up this.
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