Those Darn Thieves!

At the time of posting this, my trip to Rome and to my best friends wedding is less than a week away. It has been quite a journey of preparing and making sure I am ready for this trip. It will be my first trip off the continent of North America in exactly 10 years (my last trip was to Australia and Hawaii in 2016 at this time as Facebook reminds me of my photos that I posted while I was there. Maybe I will do a blog series of that trip as I kept a journal while I was there). And this will be my first solo trip going somewhere where English is not the first language. Am I learning Italian? A bit, but not much. Just the simple words. But along with the language barrier comes other challenges. From ensuring I have all the tickets I need to get into the big historic sites to figuring out which spots I want to go to take photos of with the short amount of time I have available. The biggest challenge that I don’t deal with on a daily basis: the thieves. So prepping and ensuring everything will be safe and that I have a plan so I don’t look like a lost tourist has been a lot, but fun. This will be a bit of a different blog post as it will not be photo heavy as I have not been to Rome yet.

I have always wanted to go to Rome all my life. I am a big ancient history buff so having the opportunity to see these thousand year old places has me super excited. The Coliseum, the Vatican, the Pantheon, and more elaborately designed and decorated churches than you can shake a stick at. Luckily, booking tickets to these places and getting transportation to everywhere I need to go was done by the great group of people at The Travel Lady. They have been super helpful at getting my tickets, working out my flights, and planning a great itinerary while still allowing me time to explore in the short span I have. I am only in Rome for 4 days with one of those days actually be in Florence. This meant I have watched countless videos of the different places to go, the foods to eat, the best spots to take photographs, and how to get around so I can see and do as much as I can and not waste time at locations that are unnecessary. Luckily, most of the sites are fairly close together so I could potentially knock out a good chunk my first afternoon there and still enjoy myself. Only time will tell. My plan right now is to get photos of what I want and then go back if I have time. And I have bigger things I absolutely have to see and smaller things where I can take it or leave it. The 8 churches I have on my list? Maybe I only do 3 or 4. The Baths of Caracalla? 100% I will do my best to see because it just looks amazing there.

With all these sites and things I want to see, I have actually made a checklist of places to see. It is not a “Let’s see how many I can see as quickly as possible” list, it is a “These are the places I have researched and want to see so let’s not forget about them” kind of list. I have even made a Google Map with all of the places so I can see where they are. I do have the spots sectioned out on the list to where they are in relation to other things, but it is still nice to have them on a map. I do not intend to be on my phone all that much out in crowded areas as that puts a target on my back, but I will be able to go to a quiet spot and look when needed. Along with this checklist, I created a detailed day by day itinerary of my flights, where and when I have to be at an attraction, transportation between towns, and when I have free time to explore. And part of all those days I stuck in all the tickets in the order I need them so when a day is over or a ticket is used, I can just toss it and not have to keep it with me any longer. We shall see if I actually do that because those make for really cheap souvenirs haha.

Then there comes the packing of items I have to bring that are unique to this trip. One thing I had to buy was a plug converter. As we all know, European plugs are not the same as ours so if I want to charge my phone, or my headphones, or most importantly, my camera batteries, I need a different plug. The one I got has multiple plug ports plus USB ports so I will be set. And it comes as a set of two. So these will come in very handy. Another thing I bought, which I will most likely be using for all my travels, are some air tags. I got some that work for Android as I do not own an Apple product and I plan to use these extensively. I will stick one in my suitcases as well as one in my bag. And I will be bringing extra batteries for them as well to ensure they last the entire trip. As I mentioned, I am bring a bag with me to carry my stuff in. Not a normal backpack, not a reusable grocery bag, but a sling bag that is designed to be as thief proof as a bag can get. And one that goes on the front of your body rather than your back. It is an excellent bag and it will fit what I want in there. And then of course I have to bring my camera with a couple lenses and other accessories. I have the camera body, adapter, and then my 24mm lens and my 50mm lens. But I am also bringing a few extra batteries, memory cards (which I hope I can fill with amazing shots), and the wall charger with required cords. Then, I had to get some Euros for when I don’t want to use my credit card. Lastly, there is what I need to bring for the wedding which is at the end of the trip: my nice formal wear and the present. I think that covers most of my extra packing.

Lastly, I did a lot of research on how to safely experience Rome and not get robbed by those darn thieves. They are the reason I had to buy a new bag, the catalyst for buying those airtags, and why I chose the camera lenses I did. I would have loved to have just had a normal bag where I could fit more lenses and not worry about it. Why I will be pulling my camera in and out of my bag instead of just wearing it around my neck. And why my pockets will stay empty instead of being emptied. I have been told numerous times that thieves there know what they are doing. And that most of them have been doing it since they could walk. I am typically a friendly, talkative person who will be more than happy to listen to people trying to sell you a bracelet and other junk, but still say no at the end. While in Italy? I need to not be a nice Canadian. I will be ignoring people and not trusting anyone. It is not because I intend to be a jerk, but it is for my safety. The thieves dress like everyone else and can disguise themselves as any type of person. And their goal is to distract you to try and rob you. I had already planned on walking everywhere, but my plan was set in stone when I read about how bad thieving can be on the Metro. They rely on crowded spaces and the Metro can be one of the busiest. So outside of my day trip to Florence and my trip down to Naples, they will be avoided. My bag is RFID blocked, slash proof, and will not be leaving my body at any time unless absolutely needed like going through security at attractions or at the airport. It is a serious problem down there and is my one biggest concern. But I am going in with vast knowledge of how they work and what they do and how to avoid being a victim. So I am at an advantage.

I hope this gave you a bit of an insight as to my planning and what to think about if you ever decide to travel to Italy or any other European city. I didn’t want to delve too much into what I am doing and seeing as that will be revealed later on through a series of blog posts along with my usual bird and wildlife and tour posts. And down the road, I will more than likely do a series of blogs on my Australia trip so look for that. And while I am away, you can follow my personal account, @snapsolife , as I will be posting a photo a day while I am away.