The Best Places to Hide Money When Traveling

How can I hide my valuables when traveling? How do I keep my passport safe while traveling? Questions like these are customary for travelers looking for the best places to hide money and valuables while they explore. Theft and loss exist across state lines, country borders, and even continental divides, no matter if you’re traveling to a low-crime area or consider yourself an expert traveler. 

While street crime is still a common risk worldwide, the rise of ID chips has allowed thieves to advance from simple pickpockets to cyber criminals. Fortunately, tactics to hide money when traveling have also evolved for the better, from traditional hotel safes and secure travel bags to GPS trackers and RFID-blocking wallets. Here are the most practical tips to protect your belongings when abroad. 

Understanding the Risks of Traveling with Money and Valuables

Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer, touring with a group, or taking a family-friendly vacation, traveling with valuables like money, passports, and electronics always carries inherent risks. It’s vital to understand that these risks aren’t always location-specific — even U.S. airports are guilty of losing bags. Over 721,000 checked bags on domestic flights were mishandled in the first three months of 2023 alone. 

However, depending on your destination, the need to protect your valuables while traveling can heighten. Whether it’s crowded buses in Cuba, the streets of Istanbul, or hotel rooms in Italy, tourist areas create various scenarios for travelers to have their valuables stolen or lost in the shuffle. It’s critical to find the best places to hide money and keep your passport safe when traveling to avoid a similar fate. 

Traditional Methods to Keep Your Belongings Safe

Street crimes like pickpocketing and robbery are as old as time. So, it’s no surprise there are several time-tested, traditional methods to protect valuables while traveling. For instance, hotel safes and hostel lockers remain popular options to hide electronics while traveling, mainly due to their simplicity and effectiveness. There are also several wearable methods to store cash and important documents, such as: 

• Neck pouches that can be easily monitored while sightseeing 
• Money belts that can be hidden under clothes or undergarments 
• Hidden pockets in clothing like travel jackets, pants, or tank tops 
• Travel scarves with hidden compartments 

Beyond these classic methods to protect against theft risks, it’s vital to diversify where you store your valuables while abroad. For instance, splitting money between a neck pouch or hidden pocket and storing your passport in the hotel safe can help prevent total loss in the case of theft. It’s also wise to bring your own padlocks to secure your luggage at hotels or protect your locker at a shared hostel.

Innovative Ways to Hide Money and Valuables

Though clothing with hidden pockets offers discreet storage for valuables, there are now high-tech ways to steal items without physically taking them. Take Radio Frequency Identification (RDIF), for instance. RFID technology allows handheld machines to read signals from chips embedded in your passports and credit cards from a short distance, so thieves can steal your information without ever touching you.  

So, are there high-tech solutions to protect valuables while traveling? Yes! High-tech anti-theft travel gear like RFID-blocking wallets can prevent theft from happening, while GPS trackers can help locate items if they were physically stolen. Anti-theft backpacks designed with RFID-blocking pockets, cut-proof materials, and lockable zippers are some of the best places to hide money when traveling. 

Choosing the Right Travel Gear for Protection

When it comes to travel gear, the best places to hide money feature their own unique locks — like hotel safes, hostel lockers, and even luggage that’s equipped with lockable zippers. Once you’re out and about, anti-theft travel gear like backpacks and neck pouches with slash-resistant materials can help protect valuables while traveling. At this point, you might be curious, what is the best anti-theft travel gear? 

The short answer is it depends. When purchasing travel gear, you’ll want to consider the specific needs of your trip, including the type of activities on your itinerary and the level of security required for the destination. Here are a few tips for purchasing anti-theft travel gear based on your upcoming travel plans: 

• Sightseeing in a High Tourism Area: Invest in discreet storage options for your money and passport, like money belts and hidden pockets in undergarments that can be tucked under your clothes and more complicated for pickpockets to access. 
• Staying at a Hotel in a High-Risk Area: Backpacks, day bags, and more oversized luggage with built-in security like GPS tracking features are a must for hotel and hostel stays; plus, it’s wise to bring your own padlock for storing valuables. 
• Spending Time at the Beach or Pool: Look for backpacks or neck pouches that have lockable zippers and RFID-blocking pockets, or think outside the box and discreetly store valuables like cash in empty, clean lotion bottles. 

Travel Insurance as an Added Layer of Protection

What are the best ways to protect your money while traveling? Travel insurance, of course! Travel insurance is one of the best travel security hacks. Not only does travel insurance protect you from unforeseen expenses due to accidents, trip cancellations, and medical emergencies, but it can also provide coverage for your personal belongings, like your passport, electronics, and even credit cards.

Travel insurance with property coverage, like the Go Ready Choice Plan by Aegis, covers losses due to theft, loss, and damage up to the maximum covered amount. While the plan comes complete with trip cancellation, travel delay, and emergency medical and evacuation insurance, there’s also coverage for electronic and professional equipment, sports equipment, and baggage and personal effects. 

Can travel insurance cover stolen items? Yes! Baggage coverage is included in nearly all Aegis travel insurance policies. Provided that travelers take reasonable measures to protect their property (like concealing it in backpacks or similar travel security essentials), travel insurance for theft can reimburse travelers for their personal effects, passports, visas, and, in some cases, unauthorized credit card usage. 

Protect Yourself from Loss with Aegis Insurance

When leaving home for work or vacation, the best places to hide money include wearable options like money belts and hidden pockets, anti-theft backpacks and RFID-blocking wallets, and lockable luggage. However, you can find ultimate protection for your valuables with travel insurance. Travel insurance from an accredited agency like Aegis is a travel security essential to safeguard your belongings.

Explore travel insurance for theft by comparing the Go Ready Choice Plan to other Aegis policies today.