rickg523

Wow. All I can say is as long as there are people doing things like that, I'll never worry about pickpockets. Why would they bother with me, when that kind of low hanging fruit is waiting to plucked?
I grew up and live in cities. I'm never paranoid but always aware of my surroundings. Wouldn't do any of that at home, no less while traveling - where losing a wallet would be a real pain, much worse than at home.

boybi

I haven't been using a dedicated camera for years since phone cameras have become great in taking photos.

Is it safe if I ask a stranger to take a picture of us using my iphone? I've been doing this in other place we travel to, so far, I still have my phone.

KLouis

How could anyone know whether it is statistically safe? The only people with a reliable answer would be the ones whose phone was stolen (the ones whose phones were not stolen can't know what would happen the "next" time). Thus, your stats would be based on victims only (i.e. 100% failure).

boybi

But would you do it?

Perche

You keep asking the same question and don't seem to be able to accept the answers. Given the fear you have of Rome perhaps it is not the vacation place for you. I can't imagine enjoying a vacation in a place that gives me paranoia.

Rome is a big city. For every 10,000 people, you could be the one who gets robbed, or part of the 9,999 that nothing happens to. As multiple people have already told you, just use common sense to reduce the risk. If you see a group of rowdy teenagers who look like they just broke out of jail, don't hand them your phone. If you see a nice couple taking pictures at a monument, ask them if they'd mind taking one of you. Please stop asking the same question about whether Rome is safe, because you've already received multiple responses from multiple people.

boybi

I am sorry if it seems I'm asking similar questions. I just wanted to prepare myself on possible events that might make my travel a nightmare. Losing any belongings during a vacation just ruins the mood.

My travels are not as frequent as most forumers here. This will be just my second time in Europe. And I will always be reminded by someone to take extra care of my things when going to Europe.

When I was in Paris 3 years ago, I was reminded to be aware of gypsies. But I have never encountered any during my one week stay there. If they were targeting tourists, I am pretty sure I will very much look like a tourist in Paris given my Asian features.

Now that I am set for Italy, I was told again that Italy will be worse than Paris. Add to that what I read from the local news, where a group of our government officials visiting Rome were robbed right inside their hotel.

The reason I kept asking in this thread is, the past couple of days, whenever I am going through our plans for this trip, I am thinking of the things that I do while on a trip that will possibly make me/us a victim of pickpocketing or robbery. That's why if you would notice, I am specific in my questions, like while looking at my phone for directions while walking, or asking a stranger to take a picture of us.

I do these in all of our trips. I am discerning on whom I ask favors from. But in this forum, some posted that robbers can be wearing decent looking clothes. That's why I asked again if it's safe to give my phone to a stranger. The answer that I was expecting is either "don't ever do that!" or "I've been doing it everytime and I still have my phone".

Again, I am very sorry if I sounded like a broken record in my posts.

firecracker725

I have no problem giving my phone/camera to someone to take a photo of me or my family....as long as that person is an asian man with a camera as big as or bigger than mine. I can be nearly certain that he's a fellow tourist and that I'll end up with a decent photo.

obscure2k

Don't feel apologetic about feeling anxious about travel. Many people have anxiety when they travel outside of their familiar environment. You would be well served by reading as much as possible about the destinations of interest.. Flyer talk is a great resource. There is no better resource for Italy travel than Perche.His posts in the Italy Forum are treasures.
Please try to relax and enjoy the unexpected pleasures, challenges and adventures. One can not possibly plan for every contingency.
I am confident you will be just fine. Enjoy your time in Italy and be sure to report back.

Perche

Your questions are always good, and very welcomed. They have added a lot to this forum.

Your fears of Rome are unfounded. If your home airport is MNL you should know that no officials from the Philippines were robbed in their hotel in Rome. There is a difference between robbery and theft. A theft is when something that belongs to you is taken without you being aware of it, like when someone breaks into your car or apartment and steals your belongings when you are away. A robbery is when someone takes something from you by force, threat, or by physically hurting you. The theft rate in Italy is high, only about 15% lower than the USA. However, the robbery rate, especially in cities like Rome, is very low compared to almost every other city in Europe and the Americas.

No governmental officials from the Philippines were robbed in Rome. Two journalists, one who was working as a reporter employed (?) by the Philippine government, were staying at a Holiday Inn located a 50 minute train ride outside of Rome, while covering a story for the, "Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process."

According to their statement, one of them left their bags on a couch in the lobby of the hotel and told the other one to watch them. The one who was supposed to watch the bags said he, "became distracted by a man, and left the bags." When he came back, the bags were gone. That is the story.

A picture was posted upthread, showing three people who left their bags unattended at a bar so that they could go outside and smoke. Similarly, if you want your things to be stolen from you anywhere in the world, just leave them unattended.

Last year about 3,156 thefts were reported in Rome. In Manila over 17,000 thefts were reported last July, along wth over 1,015 murders. Another 3,000 people are missing and presumed murdered. For comparison, in New York City about 330 people were murdered last year, and the entire country of Italy had just over 500 murders.

If I was staying in the Holiday Inn in the outskirts of Rome I can assure you, no thief would have been able to steal my luggage. I would not have left it with a companion who admitted he, "became distracted by another man," and leave it unattended. That's not going to happen to me.

My suggestion is to go to Italy, and take it as a low stress, low risk vacation, not as if you are going into a den of thieves or a war zone. Just follow normal precautions, or else you won't be able to enjoy yourself. It will be a wasted vacation if you cannot put the paranoia on the shelf.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/15...er-robbed-rome

KLouis

+1 Absolutely, definitely and certainly 100% correct. Take it from someone whose apartment was burglarized in Rome (19 years ago) at 4 pm, while my huge, nasty looking dog was barking (the thief first went to the kitchen, found some pancetta and "served" it to Max - the dog), and whose wallet disappeared from his pocket in the packed #38 bus. I've kept going back to Rome at least twice a year (was there 10 days ago) and I have zero fear! boybi, simply be careful...

rickg523

This.
Look at that picture again. If you are simply aware of where your stuff is while traveling, why would a thief mess with you when there's such easy low hanging fruit like that waiting for him? Thieves are lazy. All you have to do is make stealing from you more difficult than people like the ones who left their stuff there for the taking and they leave you alone.

GUWonder

Having valuables in a backpack on the back in Rome is not a good idea even when the backpack has a lock on it.

Even when Via Condotti in Rome has very little traffic -- at least relative to its shoulder times -- it's not unheard for a wallet inside a locked purse inside a locked backpack to get lifted from window shoppers around there.

The thieves in Rome aren't unaware of how to open the zippers without wasting time on trying to open the locks. They -- the solo thiefs and the thief teams -- are skilled.

The fewer valuables you carry around, the better off you are. I would say the same goes for not carrying passports as they get stolen a lot there too, but the government wants lots of foreign tourists to have them while moving around Italy. And the theft of passports causes quite the hassles too.

TravellingJames

I've read a lot of good info in the six pages. What are yalls thoughts about walking around with a backpack? During the day, I have a medium size day backpack that I throw my wallet, phone, bottle of water etc, in. I do have locks for the zippers. I wear it on my back in non-crowded areas but switch it to the front of me with my arms crossed resting on the bag in crowded areas like a train. I've read that snatches arent common so I'm thinking that someone cutting through the fabric and getting whatever is in that compartment is uncommon as well. Or do you recommend not wearing a backpack at all because it makes me stick out ?

silver_halide

I just got back from three weeks in Venice, Milan, Florence, Siena, Rome and Naples, and not once did I experience anything like described in this thread. Maybe it was low season, maybe it was because my wife and I took basic precautions and tried to be aware of our surroundings, but we took trains and the Rome and Naples subways regularly without incident.

I had had my wallet in my front pocket. I put locks on my camera backpack and took it off on the metro. My wife had a small PAC-safe backpack.

We weren't bumped or crowded. No flocks of children, no Vespa drive-by's.

This thread actually got me in trouble with the wife--scaring her before we went, and then no sign of it when we got there.

I don't know if we lucked out, but I have to think that of all the people visiting and living in these each day, only a tiny fraction get pickpocketed. My suggestion, for what it's worth, is don't be an obvious target, but don't let the possibility of a pickpocket dissuade you from doing anything or going anywhere.

Sciamano

Happy to read also a positive experience