Is wearing your camera around your next safe when traveling to a foreign country?

<p>Questions for those who suggest home or travel insurance.</p>

<p>- Does the home insurance cover damage or loss that occur away from home?</p>

<p>- What damage or loss proof is required for a claim?</p>

<p>But don't wear it around your neck or you will look like a tourist. Wear it over your shoulder.</p>

<p>Wow, thank you so much for all of the responses. I feel pretty at ease right now about traveling with my equipment and I will wear it around my neck. I know that I will be with someone almost 100% of the time and awareness and common sense with surroundings is the biggest thing. I'm just going to make sure I get insurance specifically for it, and hopefully nothing goes wrong! If it does, I DO have a couple of backup cameras that are still pretty good. I am so excited!! I can't wait to go out and take pictures :-D</p>

<p>Where are you going in Mexico? As long as you are not going by the Texas/Mexico border (not advised at any time), you should be fine. I've been going to Mexico frequently for the last 20 years with no problems at all. Most of the time, I travel alone. I hate carrying a camera around my neck so I've switched to the Spider Holster. You can lock the camera in to place so no one can grab it and run off with it OR use this feature while you are hiking or scrambling over rocks so the camera stays secure. I use the Spider Holster because it suits me (not because I'm afraid of crime). I use it no matter where I go to shoot. For more info go to <a href="http://www.SpiderHolster.com">www.SpiderHolster.com</a><br>

FYI, statiscally Mexico's tourist areas are some of the safest places in the world to travel to. As with anywhere in the world, you'll want to be smart about not flashing expensive jewlery and be aware of your surroundings just like you would if you were walking downtown Seattle or Chicago. In 2010 over 23 million tourist went to Mexico for vacation. No tourist has been injured in the drug related violence that you see reported on the news. The new stations don't bother to tell you that! All they want to do is create fear and hype so they will get viewers.<br>

Enjoy your trip. You can see my most recent Mexico photos from Cancun and from the Riviera Maya by doing an internet search for my name. (I don't think I'm allowed to post the website here)<br>

Enjoy!<br>

Julie Roggow</p>

<h1>Dangers Lurk in Some Spring Break Destinations</h1>

<p >By Mary Quinn O'Connor</p>

<p >Published March 02, 2011 </p>

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<p>In the minds of most college students, spring break means excessive binge drinking, the occasional blackout, and sex with strangers. <br>

That’s scary enough for some on U.S. soil. <br>

But what happens in a foreign country, where spring-breakers can easily get mixed in with common drug violence, or be abducted? According to the State Department, about 100,000 spring breakers will travel to Mexico and “the vast majority” will enjoy their vacation at the destinations listed here. <br>

But perhaps not everyone. <br>

“Several may die, hundreds will be arrested, and still more will make mistakes that could affect them for the rest of their lives,”according to the State Department. <br>

<strong>Acapulco, Mexico</strong>: A popular spring break destination off Mexico’s Pacific Coast, drug cartels have turned Acapulco into Mexico’s most violent resort city. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven C. McCraw warns American tourists that “various crime problems exist in many popular resort areas, such as Acapulco, and crimes against U.S. citizens often go unpunished.” The Mexican government’s official accounting of drug cartel-related deaths in Acapulco jumped to 370 in 2010, up 147 percent from 2009. Rival drug cartels have battled police and each other within the city, as well as in nearby towns. Suspected drug traffickers continue to attack police in the adjacent resort area of Zihuatanejo. <br>

<strong>Jamaica</strong>: The two international airports in Jamaica, Kingston and Montego Bay, have experienced regular violence, including shootings. In many popular resort areas, such as Negril, you should be safe as long as you are on resort soil. But once you step off resort property lines, all bets are off. According to a spring breaker who traveled to Negril in March 2010, “there is literally a line where you can see the sand changes color. Once you go into that different color, you are off the resort property and locals can come up to you and offer you drugs and other services.” Even on resort property, there have been instances of sexual assault on U.S. tourists, some by resort staff. It is important to keep in mind that law enforcement is understaffed and ineffective in most areas of Jamaica, so sexual assault, drug trafficking, theft and violence receive little to no attention. <br>

<strong>Cancun, Mexico:</strong> A typical spring break hot spot, Cancun attracts more than 100,000 U.S. college and high school students, not only for its beautiful beaches and world-class resorts, but because MTV began filming annual spring break shows there. “We get a lot of people traveling to Cancun, but Mexico is the place with the most [safety] uncertainty,” said Tom Crosby, AAA's vice president of communications. Because of Cancun’s growing population, crime is becoming more prevalent. Ross Thompson, co-founder of travel safety company Mayday360, says that the biggest danger for spring-breakers in Cancun is that they “act like they are still in the U.S. and that the U.S. law will protect them. That’s wrong and that can add up to disaster,” said Thompson. According to the U.S. State Department, “rape commonly, but not exclusively, occurs at night or in the early morning hours, and often involves alcohol and the nightclub environment.” Aside from violence and crime, Cancun’s strong undertow presents another danger. The undertow stretches along the beach from the Hyatt Regency all the way south to Club Med and, already this season, several U.S. citizens have drowned because of the ocean conditions. <br>

<strong>South Padre Island, Texas</strong>: Right here in the U.S., South Padre Island is a relatively safe vacation destination, provided you don’t stray too far south. Just 30 minutes away are two major Mexican drug trafficking hubs, Matamoros and Nuevo Progresso. Gangs are constantly competing for control of narcotics smuggling routes, which can be very dangerous for U.S. tourists traveling just south of South Padre Island. It long has been the practice of adventurous vacationers on the south end of South Padre to take advantage of the inexpensive alcohol and lower drinking age south of the border. Ongoing gang wars and firefights are expected to persist in the Matamoros area, into and beyond the spring break season. <br>

<strong>Mazatlan, Mexico: </strong>Mazatlan, located just a few hundred miles north of Puerto Vallarta, has been perhaps the most consistently violent of Mexico's resort cities during the past year. It is located in Sinaloa state, home of the country's most violent cartel, the Sinaloa Federation, and bodies of victims of drug cartels and kidnapping gangs appear on the streets there on a weekly basis. “Underestimating the violence in Mexico would be a mistake for parents and students," said McCraw. "Our safety message is simple: avoid traveling to Mexico during Spring Break and stay alive."<br>

<br /><br /><br /></p>

 

<p>John,<br>

What the article is not saying is most of the Spring Break crime and violence is perpetrated by the tourists themselves, not the locals! Before pointing fingers at Mexico, Jamaica, or anywhere else in the world, maybe you may be interested in checking out the crime statistics in Detroit, Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Paris, Venice.... Statistically, the tourists areas in Mexico are very safe places for vacations.<br>

23 million tourists went to Mexico last year and not one tourist was injured in the drug related violence you are seeing reported in the Texas/Mexico border towns which comprise almost all of the reported incidents. Creating fear and hype without a factual basis makes no sense!<br>

Spring Break students need to accept responsibility for their own actions. <br>

-Julie</p>

<p>I just keep an updated customs declaration form you get from the nearest customs desk..In the international departure area of the airport. Also located by cruise ship docks and at all border crossings..You fill out form list cameras w/ serial No.'s, any expensive lenses also w/ SN. You can also list jewelry and Ipods/phones etc.. After the customs officer verifies the form they draw a highlited line through the listings and sign the form.. I always make a couple copies of the form keep original in camera bag, one in your moneybelt (ALWAYS WEAR A MONEYBELT!!) another in your homes important papers file .. You only need show customs that form to prove you own the items on the form..If gear lost or stolen you'll have needed insurance info in your files.. Been to China, Italy and Costa Rica in the last 5 years and have always traveled alone and never a problem anywhere.<br>

Have fun and stay aware of your surroundings, people ..Rule of thumb NEVER FLASH lots of cash..Only carry the money you expect to spend during any outing, you can always use a locked bathroom/stall to take more from your moneybelt..</p>

<p>Peoples attitudes to risk differs Some always look for a justification not to do something, others look for a reason to do things regardless. A couple of things strike me as being obvious.</p>

<p>First, Mexico will get a lot of tourism this year; a large majority of these tourists will have a great time and get back without being exposed to danger. Governments are not recommending against travel to Mexico; they are recommending that particular behaviours and particular locations are avoided. If you search hard enough you will find someone, some authority, to tell you that you shouldn't go. Meanwhile when a body like our FCO in the UK doesn't discourage, and the reality is that if you cancelled a trip you'd booked for Mexico an insurer would simply deem it disinclination to travel and fail to pay out. </p>

<p>Second, the OP has agreed to cover the wedding and so she should go unless the situation in Mexico changes much for the worse in the meantime. </p>

<p>Third if you go then reality is that you should carry a camera how you want in the context of how you'll be likely to use it. If you aren't prepared to do that then maybe you shouldn't be going. Personally I don't carry a camera round my neck but that isn't a safety worry- I'm worried about the style police, and I don't wear photo vests for the same reason. You can never guarantee the good behaviour of 50 million Italians or 100 million (?) Mexicans or for that matter 10 million Londoners or a few million Parisiens. Just stay alert, look like you belong, and when cogent sources tell you that the lobby of a Grand Hyatt is a safer place to be after midnight than a chicken bus between two cities, then listen. </p>

<p>I got jumped by three pre-teens one time in Durban South Africa at 11 AM on the street, also full of other people. The rule in the US is that if the streets are full of people in a business area, there's not much risk. Depends on the level of poverty. Even a cheap P&S would look good to someone who knows nothing about cameras. One went for the wallet in my front pocket (never put it in the rear pocket), one went for the othe pocket with the handkerchief, and the 3rd went for my camera. But as the guy said up above, "I always preferred to carry my camera on a shoulder strap bandoleer fashion," which is what I was doing. That means over your shoulder and your neck, so it's harder to pull off. I spun away reflexively when the three hit at exactly the same time. The camera kid failed to get it loose, the wallet guy failed to get into my front pocket, but the handkerchief guy was a success. They were pure hit and run. So, off they went, assuming that no one would chase them. The joke is, of course, that there's no way I would want to fight with three kids on the street in any country. If they had just faced me and asked for the camera and wallet, I probably would have given it to them. And I'm about 6' 6" with shoes on! That's suppose to make them all shy too. Don't count on it. So, unless you're using the camera, keep it over your shoulder and neck, and if walking a lot I always put the camera in a small bag, also over my shoulder/neck. The real bottom line is, however, insure all your camera gear so that when any is stollen you get to replace it with brand new equipment. That thought will make your trip very merry indeed. By the way, I only had this happen once in 30 years of traveling and working around the world. It's only good for an occassional story. </p>

<p>Of the 195 countries in the world Mexico would not rank high on places to keep your camera out</p>

<p>Get insurance and get over it.</p>

<p>Insurance is a foolproof way of losing money. You pay for a limited possibility to get paid part of what you lost under some limited circumstances. The insurance companies make money, and you are sure to lose money in the long run.<br>

The only time insurance makes sense is if it is a matter of something you absolutely need and an amount you would not be able to pay from your savings.<br>

House insurance? Yes, I would not be able to buy a new one, if my house burnt down, and I need somewhere to live, so insurance makes sense. Car insurance? Yes, if I am involved in an accident, I cannot exclude that the damage will be so big that I cannot pay for it myself.<br>

However, for camera gear a) I could survive without it if it got stolen, b) I could pay to replace it with my savings. There is absolutely no reason why I would ever get any dedicated camera insurance.<br>

The only reason I can see to insure your camera gear is if you depend on it, for example if you are a professional photographer, and you are too poor to replace it if you lost it.<br>

Otherwise, just live with the risk and save your money.</p>

<p>I was once a Mexico aficionado and since I live rather close to the Mexican border at San Diego, I spent many happy days in Baja California. My son-in-law lived in Baja for several years and sold property down there. We both speak Spanish quite adequately.<br>

However, neither of us will cross the border until the violence of the drug wars ceases. Although I love Mexico and the Mexicans, I consider it too dangerous to travel there.<br>

And this is from a guy who was a combat camera man in Vietnam!<br>

The two safest countries for a tourist are China and Japan (nuclear threat, earthquakes and tsunamis excepted). I would walk virtually anywhere in those countries day or night.<br>

In Europe, I would simply use my intuition and good sense. I would not walk into any type of environment in which I would not feel comfortable in the U.S.A.. This includes rough areas and deserted areas. I would also not ever follow any person who pretends to want to guide you to a "great place for photos" or a "great place for shopping".</p>

<p>I would not place my camera or camera bag on a seat next to me or on a table in a sidewalk restaurant without having the strap connected to me in some way. A good way to carry camera equipment is in an insulated bag meant for food. The likelihood that a snatcher will rip off a bag which may contain an apple and a ham sandwich is (IMO) rather small.</p>

<p>A standard procedure for the rip-off artists in Naples, Italy (mostly young kids) was to hit your shirt pocket hoping to pry loose some cash or other valuable articles. They were experts in catching the items mid-air and beating a hasty retreat.</p>

<p>Two precautions that I will usually take when traveling ANYWHERE. I don't carry a wallet and I do not display large quantities of cash. I carry my passport, one credit (not debit) card and the majority of my cash in a pouch around my neck under my shirt where it is not visible. I have a small leather pass case in which I carry small denominations of local currency and that goes in the front pocket (rear pockets are too vulnerable) of my trousers. I replenish the ready cash from neck pouch to pass case in an area such as a men's room where my cash is not obvious. I also like to wear a vest when traveling... I can carry the camera over my shoulder but, under the vest for security. Also having so many pockets (my camera vest probably has over 20-pockets) a pick pocket might be confused.</p>

<p>In order to foil a "cut and run" thief, take a look at this camera safety strap which incorporates a metal reinforcement making it impervious to cutting.<br>

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/catalog/carrysafe-camera-security-strap-p-337.html</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Just to put it in context, you should probably behave more or less as you would at home. Obviously, the US has extremely high crime rates, so if you continue to take the precautions that you would take while in the US while you're abroad, you should be OK (though nothing is ever guaranteed, anywhere).</p>

<p>There are one or two 'buts' to this. One is that there may be particular thieves who target tourists specifically, on the basis that tourists tend to be carrying amounts of cash around, and maybe less aware of the nuances of their environment. So try not to look too lost and vulnerable. Just behave like a normal human being and blend in. The other thing is that as a tourist, you may be faced with a choice of whether to carry items like laptop with you, or leave them in hotel room. Hotel rooms are probably the most vulnerable place you can leave items, they're much more likely to be nicked than if you have them with you on the street. So don't take so much stuff that you are forced to leave loads in your room, and the stuff that you do leave behind, check it into the hotel safe at reception.</p>

<p>To put it in context, I lived in Russia and Poland for around 13 years, and spent much of that time wandering round with expensive cameras on my shoulder, and more goodies in bags on my shoulders. I didn't have a problem, and don't recall feeling threatened, and perhaps stupidly didn't feel the need to bother with insurance either. I had a bad habit of forgetting bags full of cameras in public spaces, like cafes. Once I left a bag full of Nikons lying by a pillar at the main entrance to Moscow airport, where all the taxi drivers tout for business and with thousands of people walking past. I remembered it a week later, and it was waiting for me in lost property, all untouched. I also left cameras in four different bars in Poland, and they had always been handed in to the barman and were waiting for me behind the bar next day. Of course, I was lucky, and I don't recommend doing what I did, but I don't recommend being paranoid about 'abroad' either. Just use common sense, like you would at home.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have traveled a lot and typically in touristy areas so many people have nice cameras. Maybe just take the lenses you need for that day especially. Keep your bag closed and stay low key. Just have fun and be aware though that the gear is very expensive, and in areas such as mexico represent more than a years income. Be aware of this, but not afraid! Use your camera this is what you got it for!</p>