When I was in Istanbul, I gave my wallet (with all my money) and documents to a stranger at the door, to look after (you are not allowed to take things with you into the building)

Only after he was out of sight, did I have a moment of doubt - he was still there, smiling, with all my stuff, when I got back 10 minutes later.

When I was in Zimbabwe, I paid a group of street boys the equivalent of £1 to look after ALL my and my brother's things, including helmets, bags, etc.

We got delayed, and only got back hours later. They were still there. And so was all our stuff.

In Mozambique, I gave our passports to a complete stranger, with money for visas, because he said he could help us.

He disappeared into the crowds. I waited, and waited... and started to think how stupid I was - when he returned, with our passports, and all our stamps and permits sorted.

In Johannesburg, I lost my wallet with a weeks worth of wages in cash, in a flea market.

It never occured to me that it was stolen, I knew I had LOST it... and when I went back, to retrace my steps - one of the stall owners had my wallet, with all the money still in it...

A black man had picked it up, and given it to him, asking him to ring the phone number in the wallet to try and return it to its owner.


I can go on for several pages, accepting lifts from strangers on my own, giving money to people to look after, lost money returned etc. etc. etc.... and then...



In Botswana, we kept our camera equipment in a trailer, LOCKED UP with THREE padlocks, inside secured PELI cases and we never let it out of our sight. We were completely paranoid about security.

At the border, in a blink of an eye - in the time it took to sort our passports out, in full view of guards / public... someone had jimmied the locks, and stolen the peli cases. £20,000 worth of kit.


In London, we kept our new 125cc locked up, in a residence only, gated parking area, under a bike cover. We were completely paranoid about security. Got stolen within a few weeks of owning it.

The only time EVER I got money stolen from me whilst I was travelling, was when I was completely paranoid about security... I had it in a LOCKED money belt, inside my rucksack, and I SLEPT ON TOP OF MY RUCKSACK... £400 stolen. Whilst I was sleeping, someone slit the bag open, right under my head.



My experience may be unique -- but I believe, you reap what you sow.

Perhaps paranoia has a smell... and opportunist can pick you out.

Perhaps trust, inspires trust, and fosters pride and kindness and compassion.

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XT girl,

Nice post. So far my experience exactly.

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How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

reminds me of the story of some royal jewels that were sent in 2 ways Number one was fake. with all of security . the second was way was just by everyday mail. Guess which one got taken? The one with security. That was 120 years ago I think. Leaving cash in a strange land in a house is asking for trouble. Putting in a bank account would have left secure. there s tons of banks that you can access your cash anywhere in the world. Doorman, girlfriend or one of her friends. You left a small fortune by their standards laying around . Bad things happen everywhere. In place such SA, cuba india etc woman will hock up with guys from europe, usa, canada just to be taken care of. For the dream of our lands they ll fake love letting lust cloud a the guys minds. A sugar daddy. From what I understand down SA way 1 buck a days is what some people live on.

.....

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http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)

All part of life's rich tapestry gatogato. There's some good advice in this thread. Some of the criticism is a little over the top and some of it is well thought out and quite justified. $500 is an expensive lesson but the main thing is that losing your money didn't involve violence. Learn from it and move on. And maybe in future use the big head instead of the little head to do your thinking when dealing with pretty ladies. As we say in Ireland...."up there for thinkin' and down there for dancin' ".

Gatogato will never, ever forget this thread. Anytime he thinks he's put it behind him it will spontaneously revive, rear up and bellow its essence to the universe. Fortunately, notoriety is good for business.

I feel all sad and nostalgic about the thread involving the drunk guy. Any takers?

Mark

Priceless. Or is it?

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Mark, I'm intrigued.....what's the drunk guy thread....???

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We're here for a good time, not a long time...
Mini-on-Tour

Well.....an un-named-yet-instantly-recognizable poster here once wrote of entering a village at excessive speed and almost running down a drunk man in the roadway. This post was understood by many, including myself, to take a bragging tone about acting irresponsibly and disrespectfully far from home.

My point being that memories are long, often enough. I'm just glad Al Gore didn't think to invent the internet when I was young and prone to bragging of my own irresponsible behaviors, disrespectful attitudes and vacuous ideation.

Hope that appeases your curiosity.

Mark