by Peter Dickinson

Created on: August 22, 2009

A few years ago I sold my house and practically all my possessions and hit the road. I have been travelling ever since. I have passed through Turkey, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, The Philippines and much of Asia. By necessity I move on and stay cheaply. My few possessions are valuable, valuable to me.

I have a mobile phone, a pocket computer, a small digital camera, my wallet and my passport. I keep my valuables on me at all times. None of these 'essential' possessions is heavy and if properly distributed around my person are scarcely noticeable. If I had anything larger I would have to rely on, sometimes suspect, hotel receptions or somehow hiding things in my room.

My trousers have six pockets. Two zipped at the back and two 'hidden' zipped at the front. The left hand front zipped pocket holds my computer and the right my wallet. The right unzipped front pocket holds loose change. The right back zipped pocket holds notes for daily purchases.

My shirt is a loose button fronted design. It is not tucked in but hangs down hiding my trouser pockets from view. The shirt has two velcro flap closed breast pockets behind which are hidden two zipped pockets. It is here I store my passport and any essential papers.

My trousers are held up by a belt. On the belt are looped the holder for my mobile phone (left) and my camera (right). My shirt hides both of these. I have three pairs of identical trousers though in different colours and one pair is shorts. The same for the shirts. Three, two different colours.

The belt is all important because it is a money belt. It does not not look any different to any other belt and I would have to completely remove it from my person to access the contents. The money belt is the safety back up. It contains enough money to keep me for a day should I be robbed. It contains details of my passport.

I planned my wardrobe before I set out. It has worked well and I really cannot see how I could improve upon it. I have been robbed, twice. Both times my own fault. I put my mobile phone in my backpack in the hold of a bus in Thailand. It was not there when I unpacked later that night. A month or so later in Vietnam a girl bought me a pair of trousers as a gift. I wore them to please her and had my computer picked out of my pocket in a very crowded zoo.

Mostly though I have found that 99% people are honest. If I join their honesty to my own common sense and practicality every day is worry free.

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