Not too long ago, there was a thread here on safety when traveling in foreign countries, esp the ones with civil and political unrest.

WikiHow has a pretty good article on just that subject at http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Safe-in-a-Foreign-Country

I found two of them especially interesting:

The Mugger's Wallet, where you have a throw-away wallet with a little cash and some of those fake credit cards that you keep getting from Capital One. If someone asks for your wallet, you give them this one.

The other was the suggestion to stock up your hotel room with food and water as soon as you arrive. They could come in awfully handy in a worse-case scenario. If you don't use them, you could always offer them to the maid as a gift. Cheap insurance, IMO.

Sue

Interesting. The wallet idea has been around for quite a while. Personally I never carry debit/credit cards and only keep copies of my passport around. Rest of it is locked up. There was a similar idea on the watch. Switch your good timepiece to cheap gshock.

Good advice I got when in Africa was to keep my watch on the arm that is inside the car and never on one that hangs outside the window. No point in getting you wrist choped off. I did quite enough driving around Kenya and Tanzania to know that it's a fact.

Good advice. Saves lots of money too. First thing I ask when checking in is where the local market/grocery store is. That way you won't be paying $5 for a bottle of water or a soda.