Why I was robbed and how to avoid it happening to you

I looked away from the road, towards a shop on my right. At that moment, a guy on a motorbike driving the wrong way down the road, next to pavement, picked up my Crush out of my left hand, with his right hand, and sped off behind me down the side of the bridge on to a large highway by the river. I think most of us would fail performing this the first 10 ten times. He was a total pro.

How did you react?

1. I was walking along with a reasonably small bag containing valuables held in my left hand. A bag at the end of hand is a super grabbable thing. It seemed more like I'd passed him a baton, than him taking my backpack, as I saw it fly off into the city without me 
2. I was walking with a bag that could be grabbed - by it’s top loop, on to which I was holding - by the road
3. I had been using a camera and taking it in and out of the backpack making it clear there was something of value in there
4. I was focussing on the person/stuff next to me on the pavement and not on the 180 degrees in my view
5. I’m another white, female backpacker tourist* walking through Ho Chi Minh City. You can guess what they have in their daypack. I drew attention for clearly not being from Vietnam, for being a tourist and - possibly - for seeming like a stupid, weak one. Easy target. And, on this occasion, he was right

1. I was complacent and feeling a little too comfortable in Vietnam having been here for 30 days - I had lowered my guard
2. In Vietnam there are so many motorbikes flying at you from every angle that after a while, I'd become completely accustomed to it. A month ago, a motorbike driving the wrong way down a busy road would have caught my eye. After a month of literally walking into a road of streaming traffic every day, I’d become numb to it
3. I was walking in hot weather at 13:00 just after the midday sun. I was hot and weary - not alert. I hadn’t had lunch. I was being sloppy with security and being pretty childish about it
4. I’d actually forgotten the fact that someone might steal my entire backpack from hands
5. I had a moment on the bridge when I’d thought “it’s not a good idea to be holding the Crush like this” and did nothing about it because I was hot and tired and couldn’t be bothered to pack it away
6. I wasn’t focussing on where my passport was
7. I hadn’t bothered to pack my main backpack properly before I left and just stuck the rest in my Crush

1. I had all that good stuff - passport, phone, cards, cash, camera - in one place. They are the things that I wanted to access most often. So that’s why. But still, they were all in one place. Bad move
2. Actually, I didn’t need access to my passport until I reached the airport next. I definitely should have had my passport in my X25 D-pocket safely against my back
3. I not only had my passport and visa for Vietnam in there, I had other visas in there. It has made all my further travel impossible
4. My travel insurance will not be valid because I didn't notice my trip is a few days too long for the policy I chose
5. I was in one of those phases where I thought it was cool not be tracked all the time on Apple’s “Find my phone” service
6. I deleted by phone’s most recent backup to free up space on the laptop
7. I didn’t leave any room in my travel plans for error 

1. I had emailed myself copies of all my most important documents before I left: passport and Vietnam visa
2. My Airbnb host was unbelievably kind and helped me by printing out everything I needed
3. I have dual nationality. Whilst my German passport was stolen I had my British passport in my main luggage. For a moment I thought this would be my quickest way out of Vietnam. But it turns out my ingenious plan was illegal under Vietnamese law. But still, good to have another form of ID to help in a crisis
4. I still had everything else in my main luggage. Most importantly, my laptop and external hard drives so I can still work and communicate with the world
5. I’m lucky enough to be travelling with my partner who has helped me - now a total wreck - through the jungle of police, embassies and immigration authorities here. I’m not through yet, and it’s doable alone but, on this occasion, I didn’t have to do it all alone 
6. After years of getting into trouble, at age 33, it's still my mum who has tried every method of getting money to me to save me - all the way from England. It's not an option for everyone, but in my case it was a life saver
7. My bank, HSBC, let me take out money without my card but just using my British passport. It look about 4 hours, and there’a limit of $500, but I could finally access cash
8. It happened in Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the cheapest places to get a taxi. After travelling for 30 days on a budget of £13 per day (that includes hotel, food, travel inside Vietnam and all tourist stuff) I suddenly went into higher-cost emergency mode. No more walking 10km across a city. I have taken more taxis in the last 5 days than I think I have in my entire life before. Each taxi, taking about 20 minutes, costs between £1.50 and £2.50. Imagine trying to do this in a city as expensive as London. (I once took a taxi from Brixton to the passport office at Victoria and it cost £35.)
9. Vietnam is a place where lots of backpackers go and get mugged! So plenty of people have discussed on TripAdvisor what to do and where to go. In my next blog, I’m going to bring it all together and up to date

* I am reminded, as I walk around Vietnam, that this country has been invaded by - and fought out - countries around the world. The French, the Chinese, the Japanese and the Americans and their allies. A stupid white tourist embodies a lot to someone who is down on their luck - or a professional thief - who knows their history; and Vietnam's history is everywhere to be seen. Someone who is so wealthy that they don't care for their belongings. Someone who thinks they can swan around in Vietnam without keeping an eye out. It is reminiscent of the swagger of colonial power.