Unfortunately, the next day the same wallet was snatched out of my pocket in the Plaza Mayor, and I didn't realize it until I reached to pay for a meal. Talk about variance.
No one tells you to pin your pockets shut when you visit NYC. Everyone tells you all sorts of ways to keep your belongings safe in Europe.
I guess weirdness is a matter of culture.
In any case touristic areas show a distorted reflect on the honesty of the country. Honesty is directly proportional to stability. Work in touristic areas is seasonary and unstable
Not to mention I’ve never in my life seen a firearms check next to the coat check in any establishment.
Meanwhile as I age, the number of healthcare/medical related problems become more real.
Few people talk about obesity being a problem, Fewer talk about the other 50% of causes of death.
I don't recall any museums in the US with such instructions, either.
Although in Plovdiv, an ancient Roman historical site accessed by stairs down on a busy shopping street, does have a sign explicitly indicating that you shouldn't take your guns in (also no dogs, no smoking); https://goo.gl/maps/ucGTpQQNwxK8hCMi6
Sure, they didn't have a place for you to leave them and pick them up later, you were expected to figure storage on your own, I suppose.
You can also see such signs at train stations.
In France, it's very hard to legally own a gun.
So, as another commenter remarked, I suspect that this plays a major role in the apparent contradiction you highlight.
It's a stark contrast with big cities in parts of Asia where I go. Sometimes I'm toying with an idea of moving to Europe but apart from troubles getting digital nomad visa petty crime is also a thing that scares me.
(However it's not generally supported by published crime stats so I'm not 100% sure whether to be worried)
I’ve I’m gonna get robbed, I’m gonna get robbed. Rather not have a Glock stuck in my face while it’s happening.
You should not. There is some level of crime anywhere, but big cities have become much safer than they used to be, at least in the West. Shit still happens sometimes, but there is no reason to be worried if you have a reasonable behaviour. I know of a couple of people who got their phone stolen or who had a burglary, but many more who lost wallets by dropping or forgetting them somewhere.
I mean cities in other countries, without such a central CCTV network but still safe. Walk with XL sized phone hanging out from your back pocket in city centre safe. If you can do it in Paris (or leave your laptop in a cafe while you go pee) then sure.
But I read a story how phone was snatched out from guy's hands at a crossing in central London so I doubt it. I use phone while walking a lot so in Europe I should better be rich enough I can buy a new one easily.
Not true. Major asian cities are pretty much safe throughout.
> That said, having lived in Beijing for a bit I would guess it is technically safer there, you just are living in a panopticon.
The guy said asian cities. Not beijing. Also if beijing is a panopticon, what is london? Super panopticon?
Are most asian cities panopticons too? Or are you just picking on beijing because of an agenda?
But living in NYC, riding the subway, and walking through Times Sq on the regular (NYC's 25 screen multiplex is there, across the street from a 13 screen) I never heard of anybody getting pickpocketed.
Maybe there's a pattern there?
When I took my family from Brazil to visit Orlando, every single person and tourism agency told me to do just that (and hide the money out of pockets).
I imagine they do that for NYC too. Looks like a universal rule that wherever you go there will pickpockets specialized in tourists.
In Paris, I never had a problem, because I look local. But my mother from the country side actually got troubles, because she looked like an easy prey, despite take much more care about her sutff than I do.
Too bad japan isn't on the list. I would expect a high level of personal honesty there.
That said, there is still yakuza in japan. I wonder how that works.
2 hours later when I started searching for it, a couple of ex-military dudes found me on the road - they were looking for me all around on their scooter, as they saw the backpack fall from the bike next to the dam they were guarding. Took nothing from it as well. I gave them some cash as a thank you of course.
Rural India seems like a very safe space to loose things in as a lot of people seem to be helpful and not opportunistic.
I guess they might just not be accustomed to european stuff so might not really know what to do with it. Regardless I was extremely grateful to those two guys that saved me a lot of hassle reissuing my passport.