Travel safety tips
Three great tips for those heading out (or staying home)
By Janice Olfert
In the twinkling of an eye.
Quick as a flash.
At the speed of lightning.
All great phrases, except when you get robbed. In May of this year, I was on one my trips to Vancouver and it took about five seconds for someone to reach into my purse and take out my wallet (which, fortunately, did not contain any money), date book and business card holder.
What can you do to ease the pain and trouble that ensues when something like this takes place? Here are a couple of tips I learned before and after the robbery.
No. 1
Take out everything that you currently have in your wallet and photocopy the fronts and backs of EVERYTHING: your credit/debit cards, store cards, ferry cards, library cards, video rental cards, club cards, health cards, photograghs, etc. Make two photocopies of your passport, one to take with you and one to leave at home. Keep your master copy in a safe place in your home.
No. 2
When you are going on vacation, take out of your wallet any cards that you will not be using on your trip. Ideally, choose one universal debit card and one universal credit card that you will be using in the country that you will be travelling to (first make sure that the country will accept your bank's debit/credit card). You will need your driver's license, Care Card and extended health information and any other travel-related information.
For international travel, your passport can be carried in your purse or on your person. The choice of leaving your passport in a hotel room (either in a safe or locked in your luggage) or taking it with you on day trips seems to be split 50/50. If you do leave it in a hotel room, make sure that you take a photocopy of the first page along with you.
Finally, I learned too late that if you want to take photos along, take the photocopies—not the originals.
Do NOT keep in your wallet: Social Insurance Numbers and Birth/Marriage Certificates. Did you know that to have your driver's license replaced you need photo ID, which for most people is their passport? You also need your birth certificate—and, if you changed your name when you got married, you need a marriage certificate that connects your birth certificate to your passport.
No. 3
Memorize the contact number of the bank(s) that you will be withdrawing money from either by debit or credit (usually a 1-800/1-877 number). If you keep the number in your purse/suitcase and either/or get stolen, you can waste a lot of valuable time finding the right number.
As soon I had my things stolen, I contacted my bank and they cancelled my cards immediately. Fortunately they had not been used.
My robbery took place in Burnaby in the Lower Mainland. When I arrived at my destination in New Westminster I contacted the police there and they re-directed me back to the Burnaby station. You should call the police department in the city that the robbery took place.
When I arrived home, I took my photocopied information and was able to have all of my cards replaced within 2 weeks.
Unfortunately for me, the pictures of my son from Grades 4-12, a 58-year old picture of my parents, and a few other pictures are gone; those are irreplaceable.
Powell River is a relatively safe place to live. By protecting yourself in this relatively easy way when you travel, you can save yourself a lot of grief and frustration in the unlikely event that you will be robbed.
