Originally Posted by xchpstang

I just got back from a couple of weeks in Spain and France and as a first timer I was hyper aware of presence of the presence of pickpockets especially riding crowded Barcelona and Paris trains. I never ever let my guard down whether I'm walking in downtown SF or I'm riding BART. In fact my personal rule in situations like BART, downtown SF, (or on this trip, Barcelona or Paris) is to never carry anything on the streets I wouldn't be willing to take a loss on. My iPhone, my Apple Watch, my credit cards, my Tesla key card are all items I'd quickly give up to a knife or gun wielding thief. Same goes for pickpockets, any of those items would be annoying to lose but it wouldn't put me at an unthinkable loss and they are ultimately replaceable. The only compromise I have to make is carrying my driver license which unfortunately would expose me to identity theft if stolen but it's a must to carry it.

This time during our trip though, the wife wanted to buy a nice handbag at the Chanel store in Paris. I was ok with doing that as long as it was store to taxi and back to hotel to leave bag. She decided that we should walk around for a few blocks and look for a cafe or restaurant after leaving the store. I was really paranoid because, although the neighborhood looked fine, I felt extremely vulnerable walking with a bag that says "I'm carrying something very expensive, come and take it!". This definitely was breaking my rule of not carrying anything I wouldn't be willing to take a loss on. Fortunately everything was uneventful

Same as others have said to OP, I just wouldn't carry valuables such as an expensive watch and I would always have my guard up. The reality is the situation is just deteriorating worldwide.