Good day,

This is the serious matter of my bag being broken into and an “attempted robbery” of some of my belongings. I checked my bag in Jakarta, Indonesia with a lock on it, when I got to Phuket, Thailand the lock was gone and the tops of the zippers were broken. This was 100% deliberate as it must have required great force to break the tops of the zippers.

I typically had my most valuable possession in there, my backup with all the video footage and countless photos from this trip. I decided to carry in my “digital equipment pack” for safety on the night train last night from Yogyakarta to Jakarta.  Nothing was stolen as apparently there is not much of a market for old white t-shirts from tesco lotus, ha.

Being a gentlemen and knowing this can happen on any airline, I will not mention which airline. I will just say their initials match that of “Alcoholics Anonymous”. If you can’t figure that out, I do not know what to tell you.

I was the first through customs and when leaving I looked at the guy who checks bags and said you want to take a look? He was still comfortably seated in his chair and just waved me through. Check your bags BEFORE you leave through customs. Imagine if someone had broken in to plant something, effectively making me their “mule”. I’d have a hard time selling my story had they found some unmentionables tightly packed in my sack, yes?

These things happen, if you lock your pack, use the rings at the base of the zipper, lesson learned.

Tips hat,

P.S I will still ALWAYS lock my bag and so should you. They even have a “shrink wrap service” available as added precaution from “wandering hands” where they do not belong. These things happens, be aware.