21 / When you're travelling, you can't trust anybody
The following story just became relevant again, as my girlfriend's son set off on a trip around the world.
Many years ago Jon, my associate photographer, went on a large trip taking photos for one of my clients in a variety of Asian cities. His third stop was Bangkok, where he met a very nice man, a fellow Pommie, who was ever so interested in what he was doing and asked if he could come along to help him - in fact he had access to a car and could drive him to all the spots worth taking pictures of.
That went on for two days. Finally, when they had to stop for traffic, Jon said, "look, I'll just duck across the road to get something to eat, do you want anything?" As he got out of the car it flashed through his mind that this was the first time he didn't take his bag with him - with all his cameras, etc, and that it probably wasn't a good idea to leave his belongings with his new 'friend'. But he said, to himself, 'ahh, don't be silly,' went across the street, ordered his food, turned around … and, well, you guessed it, his 'friend' had gone, with all his gear, passport, money, etc.
When Jon went to the police they told him they knew of the guy, this was his spiel, he befriended people over many days, and when he had the chance, he pounced on them.
The morale of the story (and it is a very sobering thought), when you're travelling, you can't trust anybody.