CYNTHIA BARNES :: sharing the latest information on new media marketing

 I hope that reading this blog post will be a waste of your time, and you’ll never need this advice. But, in case your wallet or purse ever gets lost or stolen as mine was on a recent trip to Vegas, I’m passing along some advice I wish I’d followed.  I’ve travelled all over the world, and am usually vigilant about protecting my stuff, but somehow I let my guard down this time because I figured it was just a domestic trip. Follow these tips for a trip across the ocean, or across the street…

-          Carry More than one credit card, and stash them in different places.

I always put my cash and credit cards into 2 different places (like my purse and carry-on). That way if one of them gets lost or stolen, I still have the other.

Don’t carry more than 3 or 4 cards, though, because if you do lose them, it will be hard remember what you had. If you’re like me, you fall for all those discounts for opening a store credit card (I have them all from Saks to Sears). Thankfully, I left them home and only had a couple of calls to make. Don’t worry about keeping the actual credit card numbers, when you call to report your card lost, the bank can look it up with your personal information. If you do find the card stolen, call your credit card company right away. In the time it took me to get back to my hotel and make calls for 3 credit cards, fraudulent charges were already made on one of the cards.

-          Email a copy of your passport and drivers license to yourself.

You can access a copy from anywhere you have internet access. Some people will argue that having this information in cyberspace can lead to identity theft, but in my opinion, not very likely. Since I was flying domestically, it was surprisingly easy to get on the plane with a sob story and no ID…but I wouldn’t want to risk that again. And if you are travelling internationally, it will save you a lot of hassle with the embassy to get a replacement passport.

-          Keep a list of important phone numbers somewhere other than you phone.

A handwritten list, in your email, in an old school address book, anywhere. This is the hardest information to recover. I was trying to get in touch with my neighbor or my cat sitter, who both had keys to my condo, so that they could send me a copy of my passport but I didn’t have their phone numbers. I googled the cat sitter’s employer and called them to ask for his cell phone number. They must have thought I was stalking him and wouldn’t give it to me. Save yourself the trouble and store a copy of your numbers!

-          Save receipts for high ticket items.

They didn’t just steal my purse, it was my leather, Michael Kors purse. Thankfully, I am a pack rat and keep receipts for anything over $100, but it came in handy when filing an insurance claim. I was able to produce receipts for my phone, camera, even my Jimmy Choo shoes (which were also unfortunately in my purse after a night of dancing) so I’ll get the money back from insurance now that I can prove their worth.

-          Take care of business, then go enjoy the rest of your vacation.

This is hard, because personally, I just wanted to mope, but once all the credit card companies were called, police report filed, cell phone cancelled, I kept my plans and had a fantastic dinner with friends Aureole that night. Now I’ll look back on my trip to Vegas as a fun celebration with great friends, not just as the time I lost my wallet.