I lost my wallet the other day. Five things kept on tingling in my head though.

1) My money could have been used for something useful.

2) All my bank cards, licenses, and identification are all there an I have to go through the hassle of calling each provider to have the lost ones canceled and renewed plus the unnecessary fees for doing so.

3) Whoever got it has no heart at all

4) There were a lot of people who recently lost their homes and their important documents, all are left with nothing but the will to move on. I didn’t lose shelter, or food, and most of my legal documents are still intact.

5) I would have panicked big time if I lost my passport. Good thing it doesn’t fit my wallet. So next time, I have to be responsible with my things.

The lesson here is simple. Things like these happen. Learn from it. Move on.

Its never too safe to be too safe nowadays, so based on a backtrack, here are the best ways not to lose your wallet when traveling.1. Follow your gutfeel. I actually lost my wallet because some friends were going to have dinner somewhere and decided to go with them even if my gutfeel said not to. They didn’t force me to go so its my fault I went.

2. Be aware of what you’re carrying at all times. You should know where your valuables are at all times. I actually forgot that I carried a wallet and thought I only had my “anti-theft” phone which is too old and low-tech to even be stolen.

3. Your wallet should be attached to yourself – I used to carry a wallet with a chain when I was in college only because it was a fad during those times. I should reconsider getting myself one of those wallets with anti-theft chains. Its probably safe (but ridiculous) to get chains for anything important like cellphones and ipods even. For anti-theft chain wallets, checkout brands like Carrefour, PacSafe, Civilian, Victorinox, or Travelon. I have yet to get my own so I cannot recommend any for now. Suggestions are most welcome.

4. Keep your wallet zipped inside your bag – If youre not the fancy chain wallet type, especially if youre a lady, then make sure to keep your wallet not just inside your bag but on a zip-protected pocket inside your bag. This ensures that your wallet is really in your bag and not peeking over and enticing snatchers to say hello. Its also good to carry your ids, cards and everything on a separate secure and organized holder in another zipped pocket inside your bag and just keep things that you wont likely need to worry about too much in your wallet when lost.

5. Dont bring a wallet. - Of course the best way not to lose your wallet is not to have one at all.  Sounds pretty smart-alec but true.

So there you go. I hope we never lose a single wallet to anyone with selfish hearts.

I have to apologize that I couldn’t include links to this post. I have been waiting for someone to tell me that there was another glitch somewhere in Indonesia where another cable system has been going loco and affecting every bit of our internet connection. Unfortunately, I have yet to discover the cause of such slowness in the world wide web lately.

Its not getting better but I have to post something at least. Here’s my heroic attempt to do so. I hope it works.