This is not to discourage anyone to travel the world independently but to tell you to be careful, not to let your guard down
and always trust your gut feeling. No matter how much travel experience you have, unfortunate things can and will happen.  


Phnom Penh, Cambodia 1997
The land border between Thailand and Cambodia was closed for foreigners at that time. A lot of travelers were taking a boat
from Sihanoukville, Cambodia to the Cambodian island of Kohkong. From here they would take a small motor-boat to Thailand.
They would enter Thailand illegally but went to the immigration office in Bangkok and got their entry stamp. They were just
told not to do that again. This was going on for years. I applied for a Cambodian visa and attempted to do this the other way 
around, from Thailand to Cambodia. I arrived first by motor-boat on Kohkong island where they checked my passport but didn't 
give me an entry stamp. They said I was going to be given one in Sihanoukville. When I arrived there by boat from Kohkong island
I was told I wasn't going to get my entry stamp here either but I would get it in the immigration office in Phnom Penh. I arrived
there and the immigration office was closed for 4 days due to Chinese New Year. I did go back every day to check but it was
always closed. The very first day I found it open I went in and explained everything but was told to go back the same way I
entered Cambodia. When they asked me why I waited so long to come to the immigration office I told them I came every day but I
always found it closed. They called me a liar, grabbed me and threw me in jail. During the day I got interrogated, a French and
English translator present, like I was the biggest drug trafficker in South East Asia. I spent the rest of the day and night in
jail and was driven the next morning back to Sihanoukville and put on the boat to Kohkong Island. On this boat were a few 
foreigners going to Thailand. We arrived in Thailand where police was asking for our passports telling us we are entering
Thailand illegally. I told them I didn't go to Cambodia and showed them my entry stamp for Thailand which was still valid and
also my visa for Cambodia which was not stamped with an entry stamp. So according to my passport I had never left Thailand.
Upon my return to Bangkok I bought a flight to Cambodia and after landing I took a motorcycle taxi to my guesthouse and on
route passed the jail where I was held. At the end of that same year I am staying in a guesthouse in Damascus, Syria. Another 
traveler starts asking me where I am from and where I have traveled in the world. I told him I was from Belgium and after I
mentioned Cambodia as one of the places I had visited he tells me that he had cycled through Cambodia and heard of a Belgian
that was thrown in jail. That was me I said. 


Amman, Jordan 1998
My $5 watch that I bought in Vietnam the year before got stolen in the guesthouse I was staying in in Amman.
I had put it next to my bed in the dormitory, silly me.


Tanger, Morocco 1998
Approached by two men with a knife hidden in their coat pocket asking for money. When I said that I had just arrived
and only carried traveler’s checks they told me to go to the bank and exchange some. I did go to the bank and explained
everything to the teller who told me to use the back door and get a taxi out of there. I never had traveler’s checks on me.


Basse-Santa-Su, Gambia 2000
My Walkman got stolen out of my room, I had left the room unlocked for a few minutes. After I asked the locals in the 
guesthouse if they had seen anyone they said they knew a guy who they had just seen leaving the guesthouse. We went to his
house and explained everything to his mother. An hour later the guy who took my Walkman was held at the police station.
I was told to stay for a few more days until the judge would come but I didn't want to. Therefore the thief never got charged.
I was happy I had my Walkman back.


Bamako, Mali 2000
Attacked by a guy who pulled my money belt from my neck. It had only a few dollars in it. It took me a second to realize
what happened and then fought the guy and got it back. He then left.


Quito, Ecuador 2008
My four year old, $300 camera and memory cards, batteries and charger were stolen from my small daypack. I am almost sure
it happened in the guesthouse while left unattended for a brief moment. Fortunately I only had a few street shots on it from Quito.
I bought a new camera and accessories.


Santa Cruz Trekking, Peru 2015
At night, my backpack was under our tent's rainfly, someone got in it and took about $800 in cash.
I normally have my valuables in my sleeping bag, not that night, my own fault.


Cape Town 2023
My phone got taken from me while walking to the hotel from the bus station. I had it in my hands because I was using it to follow the route to the hotel.
I should have been more careful and should have probably taken a cab even for the 1 km, it was dark and it was Cape Town after all.