I was just days away from going home after my first time trying solo travel. I had a certain confidence I didn’t have when I left Colorado. I managed to drive all the way around Ireland by myself, navigating solely on roads that should really be called sidewalks. I talked to strangers. I drank Guinness. My Ireland trip was a success in all regards until I hit Belfast.
I checked into my guesthouse, right near Queen’s University. I was already impressed by Belfast. I had driven through years ago with family, but I was more preoccupied by men with machines guns and barbed wire than getting a sense of the city. At a guesthouse that seemed so small, just a few rooms, I innocently put down my purse as I went downstairs to get my suitcase.
Perhaps other solo travelers of the world can explain how you do this successfully. If you use a rolling suitcase and have a computer bag, you are going to need to make two trips most likely or one trip of Superman strength when conquering stairs. After making this trip so many times at hotel after hotel, bed and breakfast after bed and breakfast, I figured if someone in this tiny guesthouse could steal my purse in 20 seconds, the individual would be a true con artist. It was quiet and seemingly empty. I put my trust is something other than myself and returned to my room. Everything looked as it should be.
The impressive Ulster Museum in Belfast
I set out to see Belfast in all her glory on a late afternoon. I toured the impressive Ulster Museum, one you shouldn’t miss for what it holds but also for its free admission. I wandered around Queen’s University, contemplating just how lucky these students are to attend a university so beautiful, so regale.
As it was the end of my trip, I decided on pizza for dinner for Irish food was getting old after a month. I found a nice pizzeria where I was surprised by the quality of service and pizza. I opened up my wallet to get out the only pounds I had taken out. Since I was only going to be in Northern Ireland three nights, I only exchanged 50 euros worth, thinking this would be more than enough for meals. As I opened up by big red wallet, I was shocked to find my money gone. I looked in every compartment. To little avail, I was left with just my credit cards, thankfully. This thief apparently needed US Dollars, Euros and UK Pounds. Perhaps they were traveling too.
The only time my purse left my side while in Belfast was for those 20 seconds of lifting my bag up the stairs to my room. I had left the door unlocked, my own mistake. When something horrible happens to you while you travel, the whole trip can suddenly seem tarnished. The great day you had prior vanishes in an instant.
One of the West Belfast Murals Along Falls Road
I wrote in my Moleskin on that day, March 25, 2011, “This teaches me, in other words reminds me, that even if you are the most aware person, bad things can still happen. None of us are immune. The incident also calls into question how one bad experience can reverse a trip of good experiences.” Looking back on those feelings, I know I wrote in anger, not just to lose the money, but that someone looked at me and thought, “Let’s rob her.” The fact that someone other than myself touched my purse, looked at my ID, got to me. I felt defeated, despite the rest of the trip being flawless. I was safe, secure and cautious. I felt as though I let myself down, the super-protective and aware person that I am.
Theft while traveling however is not someone’s fault. Sure, you can go over it a thousands times in your head of what you should have done, but the reality is it could happen to anyone and anywhere, even to the incredibly aware. You can’t beat yourself up about it and you cannot, most importantly, have it ruin a trip and a city. I still enjoyed Belfast, maybe not at the time. Sadly, theft is just a part of travel, just as it is a part of life. All you can do is be thankful you are alive and dream those thieves, like my Belfast thief, donated your hard-earned money to charity.
Have you ever been robbed while traveling? How did you cope?
Being robbed on holiday is a horrible feeling. We lost our passports along with about £100 in cash in Malaysia, they were taken from the floor in a cafe right next to my wife’s foot. The only reason they were even in her handbag was that we had just got off a night train and we hadn’t got around to putting our money belts back on. To be honest that did kind of spoil my whole experience of KL although it didn’t put me off Malaysia in general. I don’t know if they gave the money to charity btw, I rather hoped they bought themselves something they choked on 😉
I haven’t been robbed (touch wood) but John has had a few really bad experiences. He was robbed once by other travellers who used their key to access his room (not sure the details of why their key worked in his room but I don’t think the place he stayed was very secure). He knew exactly who they were and has made him a bit paranoid about locking everything up all the time. He was also drugged and mugged in Prague, waking up in a jail cell because the police found him in a ditch with his passport and everything else in his money belt stolen. I so agree with you that bad experiences tarnish everything else. We’ve had a few unpleasant and unfair experiences this year and trying to put them out of our minds and continue has been tough. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience travelling – I guess it happens, expecially if you travel a lot.
Luckily I’ve never been robbed while travelling. I think it’s easy for something like this to get you down, but I agree that getting robbed can happened even if you are very cautious.
Such bad luck, Suzy! And the worst part is that it’s hard to not let something bad like that colour your overall impressions of the city. The thief took not just your money, but also some of your trust in people. How rotten.
Oh man, this really stinks!! I’m sorry it tarnished your trip. I personally have not been robbed, but the friend I was with was, right under our very noses. We all blamed ourselves, and wondered how we each could have done something differently to prevent it. Like you said though, it can happen anytime, anywhere, no matter how cautious you are. That experience though, has made me hyperaware now when traveling through bus stations or markets.
I haven’t been robbed, but I was harrassed and threatened by Muslim extremists in Lamu, Africa recently, and the feeling was similiar to what you described here.
Traveling isn’t always turning a corner and seeing something beautiful… it often is and thats what keeps up going but one things that’s inevitable is that along the way, you’ll get something taken from you. A few weeks back, answering a question of: what is the best travel tip you can give someone – its not to dwell on the bad stuff that happens. A thief (of any kind, time or money) has robbed you once – don’t let him/her/them rob from you twice (time), take a deep breath and move on to turn the next corner and look for the beauty around it.
I can relate to this story and know exactly how you feel. I fell in love with Barcelona, but on my last day I got pick pocketed. At that moment, all the good things from that trip just vanished and I just focused on that negative event. I couldn’t believe it happened to me. I was so careful everyday the were there, except that one time. They got me. You’re words ” not just to lose the money, but that someone looked at me and thought, “Let’s rob her describes the anger I felt.” Especially, since it was a group effort in their part. One person pick-pocketed me while the rest worked on the distraction, while I was boarding the train. Luckily, I had awesome friends who tried to cheer me up. I’m still traumatized by the fact that someone had the nerve to do that. However, I still love Barcelona once I overlook that one negative event. I can’t wait to go back there on February.
I want to apologise on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland for the theft of your money!!!!! We are not like that! The vast majority of people here are not like that at all! But those people are about. Growing up in the UK I was always taught to never leave my bag unattended, my car unlocked, my door unlocked. I am always shocked when people in countries like New Zealand do it, but I am also shocked to discover that they come back to find all their posessions still there! So I’m not saying it doesn’t happen in NI, but please don’t let it ruin your opinion of us, just keep your money on you at all times next time you travel!
Spot on! That feeling of knowing that someone looked at you and thought, “This guy is a sucker,” and than seemingly proving it to be true is such an awful, sinking feeling. I always try to be as careful as possible, and have managed to avoid much trouble, but I’ve had my moments traveling. One that comes to mind is when I had just withdrawn $500US in New Zealand knowing in the back of my mind it was a bad idea to have that much cash on hand but tricking myself into thinking that it would be safe short term. Of course, as luck goes, that would be the day I apparently had the word “SUCKER” written in caps across my forehead. My only consolation is that perhaps, just perhaps, they may have needed it more than I.
I have traveled far and wide with a partner always [mother, husband, friends etc]. Now I am 61 yrs old, a widow and motherless. I have traveled within the US solo but not outside so far. Heading to the UK/Ireland next spring, your story will remind me to be xtra careful, thanks for posting it !