Complacency - The biggest risk to your Safety and Belongings!

[Polaris Overland]

Learn a lesson from our experience.

Prior to leaving on our extended overland trip last year we were given a lot of warnings about the countries we were going to be visiting, specifically Turkey, Albania,Eastern European Countries and the Balkan States.

With this ringing in our ears we checked the Government websites for travel advice to all of these countries. Whilst some areas in Turkey were to be specifically avoided, the rest of Turkey was not really different, considering the current world climate, to the warnings given for all the other European countries. At this point we realised most of our friends warnings were based purely on the press. And the press does get things very wrong.

However we still put in place additional security for our trip which involved locking passports away in a steel central cubby box as soon as no longer required, our cash was separated and the bulk put in a hidden vehicle safe. In built up areas we kept windows closed and only one of us ever left the vehicle unless it was locked.

Needless to say in Turkey and the Balkan States we received nothing but goodwill to the point in Turkey we extended our planned stay there by 3 weeks. The same with the Eastern European countries such as Lithuania and Latvia, no problems just friendliness and interest in our trip.

After 5 months travelling we had had no problems or even worries and I guess we got complacent and that is when it all went wrong. For the main central European countries we had not read up on the government websites and after passing a border or needing to show passports we were not so quick to put them away.

Less than an hour into Spain on the main Toll Road from France we were flagged by a passing car indicating we had a problem with our trailer. A day earlier in France we had had a similar issue and after pulling into a trading estate and taking the wheels off we found no issues and carried on.

Now a day later in another country we were being flagged down again. We pulled over as did the car in front of us and 2 foreign men who spoke very little English jumped out. They followed me to the trailer and my partner stayed in the Land Rover. Glad they had stopped and hoping that this time they could point me to the problem on the trailer I let my guard down.
Whilst I was dealing with the two men a third man got out of their car and was telling my partner it was dangerous to stay in the car and rushing her to get out which she did but not realising her window was open.

She came to the trailer to see what was going on. With myself lying under the trailer trying to see what they were telling me was the problem they started speaking more loudly and backing to their car where they jumped in and drove off.

Not finding anything wrong we both got back in the Land Rover and that is when Angela my partner said her hand bag was gone. It had been in the footwell of her seat.

In her handbag was at the most about €5 in cash but her purse was there with bank and credit cards, her drivers licence, her medical card and both our passports.

This could have forced our trip to an end but thankfully we managed to get emergency passports ,complete the next part of our trip to Morocco, then return to Spain and fly to the UK for replacement passports.

That one incident for the thieves earned them €5 (the handbag was found on the hard shoulder of the Toll Road a week later with all cards and passports still in).
However the financial cost for ourselves for emergency passports, then replacement passports, new driving licence, return flights Spain to UK and a hire car for 10 days was somewhere in the region of £2k. This does not take into account the running around and general nuisance caused by the theft.

So where did we go wrong.

Simply put we got complacent, pure and simple.

We had travelled the so called "dodgy" countries with no issues and were now in "safe" mainland Europe and we let our guard down.

1. We should have had the passports locked away after using them earlier in the day - but we didn't!
2. Both our door windows were open - they should have been closed!
3. When Angela got out she should have locked her door and I should have locked mine when I got out - we didn't!
4. Her handbag was usually hidden behind her seat - she didn't and it was left in a handy position for both Angela and in this instance the thieves!
5. I did not communicate with Angela to ensure we both knew exactly what was happening - we each assumed the other knew what was happening.
6. Finally we did not read the Government Traveller warnings for Spain where what happened to us is specifically listed with ways to avoid it - We got complacent

So my number one warning to every one out there when travelling no matter where you are is remain alert and don't get complacent. If we had followed our plans for just one of the above it is very feasible we would not have become victims.

The police in Spain were very helpful but could do very little. We could not identify the 3 mens nationalities except to say foreign. We did not get their car registration or even car type. - So after this we bought and fitted a dash cam so we had video footage in the event something like this happens again.

The UK Embassy and Consulates helped us through the whole process as did the fellow Overlanders we were meeting with to go to Morocco with.

Hopefully by sharing what happened to us someone else out there will avoid a similar incident and please do not be put off by what happened to us. It could just have easily happened in London or Aberdeen.

 

[Mike W]

Thank you for sharing your story. It sounds like an amazing trip.

 

[Road]

Good lessons for us all, and great to be reminded of how easy it is to become less observant and more complacent.

One thing I've learned from being abroad and from those who explore other countries is to keep multiple photo-copies of all passports, licenses, birth certificates, vehicle reg, prescriptions, etc in different places, and not to hand over the original unless absolutely necessary. I know one couple who handed over their passports only to have the guy hand them to someone else, who promptly jumped on a motorcycle and sped away. I now keep both physical and digital copies of everything, including in a cloud-based place like iCloud or Dropbox.

I am wicked envious of your trip, by the way, and have a ton of reading left on your site to see what other experiences you've had around the world. I'm really looking forward to reading about your upcoming trip to Mongolia and China.

You two are true explorers.

Dry roads and open skies to you both,

Road

 

[Polaris Overland]

Good lessons for us all, and great to be reminded of how easy it is to become less observant and more complacent.

One thing I've learned from being abroad and from those who explore other countries is to keep multiple photo-copies of all passports, licenses, birth certificates, vehicle reg, prescriptions, etc in different places, and not to hand over the original unless absolutely necessary. I know one couple who handed over their passports only to have the guy hand them to someone else, who promptly jumped on a motorcycle and sped away. I now keep both physical and digital copies of everything, including in a cloud-based place like iCloud or Dropbox.

I am wicked envious of your trip, by the way, and have a ton of reading left on your site to see what other experiences you've had around the world. I'm really looking forward to reading about your upcoming trip to Mongolia and China.

You two are true explorers.

Dry roads and open skies to you both,

Road

Many thanks for your support.
Indeed it is very important to have colour scanned copies and digital copies of all important documents for yourselves and the vehicle.
Having these helped us immensely to get the emergency passports and replacements.
Additionally all our personal credit cards, debit cards, drivers licences etc are registered with Sentinel Cards services which is a free service from my bank. This meant we only had to make one phone call to cancel all the stolen cards and replacements were automatically ordered and sent to our registered address in the UK.
We kept personal copies on USB sticks so we both had our own copies.
We had a hard drive locked on a safe with digital copies. We also had 10 x paper copies and as you say unless it is absolutely necessary never hand over originals and carry a “spare” wallet with a few dollars or Euros in and expired cards just in case you have to hand it over.

Mongolia is still coming together, finally received our Russian letters of invitation needed for a 12 month multibentry cultural visa.
And we are just back from picking up the Land Tover with all the upgrades completed.
Photos will follow as soon as we can get them.

 

[Road]

Many thanks for your support.
Indeed it is very important to have colour scanned copies and digital copies of all important documents for yourselves and the vehicle.
Having these helped us immensely to get the emergency passports and replacements.
Additionally all our personal credit cards, debit cards, drivers licences etc are registered with Sentinel Cards services which is a free service from my bank. This meant we only had to make one phone call to cancel all the stolen cards and replacements were automatically ordered and sent to our registered address in the UK.
We kept personal copies on USB sticks so we both had our own copies.
We had a hard drive locked on a safe with digital copies. We also had 10 x paper copies and as you say unless it is absolutely necessary never hand over originals and carry a “spare” wallet with a few dollars or Euros in and expired cards just in case you have to hand it over.

Mongolia is still coming together, finally received our Russian letters of invitation needed for a 12 month multibentry cultural visa.
And we are just back from picking up the Land Tover with all the upgrades completed.
Photos will follow as soon as we can get them.

More great tips for all of us who cross borders, Dave and Angela, thanks.

I'd like to interview you two at some point in the future for potential articles I'll push for publication about:
- international travel and crossing borders
- vehicles and trailers while traveling abroad
- things you've learned along the way, and
- what being on the road as modern day explorers has taught you about yourselves and life in general

I'm sure other points will come up as I read more about your exploits and adventures.

In the meantime, happy preparing and safe travels!

Dry roads and open skies. . .

Road

 

[nickburt]

Good advice indeed. A big shame it comes from hard first hand experience. That said, your detailed planning, back up copies etc... etc... probably made the whole experience a lot easier to deal with.
We can all learn from this, so a big thank you for sharing.
From a personal point of view, I've just learnt a couple of tricks I hadn't thought of before. Thank you.

 

[NotGumby]

That is a shame. I’m glad you got it sorted. This is one of the oldest known tricks especially in Spain, France, and Italy. Never stop for this if your vehicle is still rolling. Wait until you hit a large gas station. Never stop on the unmanned rest stops. Never ever overnight on the unmanned rest stops. Never stop for an unmarked cop car. Plug the nearest police station into the Navi and drive there, calling the local “911” at the same time.

 

[Polaris Overland]

That is a shame. I’m glad you got it sorted. This is one of the oldest known tricks especially in Spain, France, and Italy. Never stop for this if your vehicle is still rolling. Wait until you hit a large gas station. Never stop on the unmanned rest stops. Never ever overnight on the unmanned rest stops. Never stop for an unmarked cop car. Plug the nearest police station into the Navi and drive there, calling the local “911” at the same time.

You are absolutely right and normally we would not have stopped as quickly however having had an issue reported the day before over 400 miles away in France made us complacent and eager to actually find out what the issue was with the trailer.

We found out later when travelling with friends into Morocco that we did actually have an issue with the tyre on the rim creating an illusion of the wheel wobbling and which could only be seen from a car travelling behind. We swapped that wheel with the trailer spare for the rest of the trip.
Our failure was we should have read the UK Government travel advice for Spain and we would then have known about these motorway scams. The police even informed us they will in some instances force people of the road if they don't stop. Another favourite is to pull up alongside a campervan or towed caravan and hit it with a hammer then state you have run into them.

Bottom line is there are lots of scams out there so be wary and don't get complacent.

 

[NotGumby]

Hence „complacency“! You’ve made a good point we should remember.

 

[TeqPal]

Good pointers here!
Will soon travel Balkan, and I'm all ears for helpful insights

 

[Herms]

Thank you for taking the time to write the article. It was worth the read and I'll definitely take your advise.

 

[Desert Runner]

Good lessons for us all, and great to be reminded of how easy it is to become less observant and more complacent.

One thing I've learned from being abroad and from those who explore other countries is to keep multiple photo-copies of all passports, licenses, birth certificates, vehicle reg, prescriptions, etc in different places, and not to hand over the original unless absolutely necessary. I know one couple who handed over their passports only to have the guy hand them to someone else, who promptly jumped on a motorcycle and sped away. I now keep both physical and digital copies of everything, including in a cloud-based place like iCloud or Dropbox.

I am wicked envious of your trip, by the way, and have a ton of reading left on your site to see what other experiences you've had around the world. I'm really looking forward to reading about your upcoming trip to Mongolia and China.

You two are true explorers.

Dry roads and open skies to you both,

Road

This was also a topic of Andrew St. Pierre(4x overlanding), where he touched on this very subject. Especially LAMINATED copied drivers licenses at border crossings to show if needed. I'm not sure how this translates to 1st world/3rd world situations where tourists are concerned. I imagine it depends on how a officers day was going if they realized it was not the genuine original. I think even Clay Crofts South American expedition did something similar,.

 

[Polaris Overland]

This was also a topic of Andrew St. Pierre(4x overlanding), where he touched on this very subject. Especially LAMINATED copied drivers licenses at border crossings to show if needed. I'm not sure how this translates to 1st world/3rd world situations where tourists are concerned. I imagine it depends on how a officers day was going if they realized it was not the genuine original. I think even Clay Crofts South American expedition did something similar,.

In many 3rd world countries it is often actually easier to argue your position. Because many police officers are so poorly educated / trained and poorly paid it is generally easier to stand your ground. I have certainly stood up to a number of "officials" when if home in the UK I would just accept they were in the right and knew the law.
More often than not the 3rd world officials are interested in obtaining a little free "bachshish" rather than have to deal with paperwork.