My Scary Paris Experience
Last month I hopped on a train to Paris with $500 emergency cash stuffed loose in my backpack. Big mistake. When I grabbed coffee at Gare du Nord, some dude bumped me hard. Felt weird but didn’t think much until I reached for my wallet at the hotel. Gone. All cash vanished along with two credit cards. Total nightmare trying to cancel cards with my terrible French.
The Lockdown Experiment
Decided to test anti-theft tricks during my Berlin trip last week. First thing Sunday morning, I dumped all travel gear on my kitchen table:
- Grabbed 3 old button-down shirts from my closet
- Dug out sewing kit my mom gave me years ago
- Emptied my wallet – left only €200 emergency cash
- Stole my kid’s pack of safety pins (sorry Emma!)
Cut open the inner hem of each shirt with shaky hands – nearly snipped through the fabric twice! Sewed raw cotton pockets just big enough for folded bills using thick dental floss instead of thread. Looked ugly as hell but felt crazy sturdy when I yanked on it. Pinned temporary pockets inside my jacket lining too using those stolen safety pins.
Split cash three ways before leaving:
€100 in shirt pocket #1
€50 in jacket pin-pocket
€50 in actual wallet as decoy
Left backup credit cards hidden in my shoe’s insole – smelled minty fresh thanks to tea bags stuffed in there!
Street Test Results
Purposely walked through crowded Alexanderplatz looking like a lost tourist holding a giant map. Some sketchy guy “accidentally” spilled mustard on my jacket. While he fake-apologized, his buddy bumped my right side. Felt hands brushing my wallet area but when I checked later? Decoy cash still there. Jacket pins held strong. The €100 in my shirt pocket? Didn’t even budge when I did jumping jacks at the hostel later.
Best trick? That dental floss stitching. Thieves sliced through Emma’s backpack straps when she traveled last year, but this stuff’s like Kevlar. Needle barely went through. Took forever to unpick when I got home! Ugly stitching saved my cash though – totally worth looking like I sewed my clothes during an earthquake.
