Excellent point. When you are visiting an unfamiliar place, don't behave like a typical tourist! Standing at a busy intersection with your nose in a map/guide, or glancing around in bewilderment, is like wearing a sign that says: "I'm a tourist; I'm clueless; rob me!"

What you should do is always walk with purpose, as though you know EXACTLY where you are and where you are going (even if you really have no idea). Walk at approximately the same speed as everyone else...if it's NYC, it will be about 30 mph. Then, quickly duck into a store or coffee shop or another protected place where you can pull out your map and reorient yourself in tranquility and safety. If no option exists for getting off the street, at least find a place where you can back into a corner and lean against a building, a little bit concealed from the street action and with your back protected.

The key is, on a busy streetcorner, don't be the poor shmuck standing around wide-eyed with a map, looking helpless. There's nothing pickpockets love more!

And one thing's for darn sure: don't put anything of value in a back pocket of anything! I wouldn't even do that in my home town!