As an European I find "weird" that US credit cards have a chip but not a pin.
In any case I understand there are people that don't think they need to "prepare" much when travelling, leading to the example from CDTraveler. My mother is one of them and she drives me crazy...

My meaning of being prepared:
CC issuer number and emergency stop number stored in phone contacts
Make sure to have a working phone/sim when going abroad. And at least one charged power bank.
CC number stored in a secure app/file on phone
Everything said previously about leaving IDs and at least one CC/Debit card in a safe place where one is staying, etc.

Of course if I lose my phone I'm a bit screwed