A 3 million yen family trip. The battle between me, who wants to wear cute clothes because we're traveling in style, and us, who absolutely do not want to get pickpocketed

I went on a trip to Europe in January 2025.

The members were my mother (late 50s), me, and my sister.

It was a 10-day, 7-night trip, and since we used Emirates business class, the total cost exceeded 3 million yen...

Our family has always loved traveling abroad, but since I started my own business during the COVID-19 pandemic, I haven't had the chance to travel overseas for the past 3-4 years, so this was a major trip that finally came to fruition.

↓ Click here for the travelogue

I'll introduce our tips and tricks for how we managed to absolutely not get pickpocketed while still dressing properly for flying business class, going to afternoon tea at The Ritz London, and staying at a 4-star boutique hotel in Paris.

At the end, I also included a bonus section on a survey of what people in business class carry (※this is entirely based on my own research).

※As a result, we never encountered any dangerous situations during our trip. There are no stories about being pickpocketed, so please forgive me if you were expecting any nail-biting episodes. I hope this is at least a little helpful regarding safety measures.

Introduction to my defensive gear

Travel fashion is difficult, isn't it?

Especially abroad, you want to take security measures, but you also want to wear clothes you like, and in high-end places, the way you are treated can change drastically based on your appearance, so it's important to dress for the occasion.

Does it rain in Europe? Is it cold? Should I just go with a bag that doesn't matter?

Hmm.

I want to go in an outfit I like for this special trip.

So, I chose a HERNO coat and a PRADA bag. My shoes were comfortable Nikes.

I debated between this and a Uniqlo seamless coat, but I went with the HERNO. lol

I carried my passport and a few credit cards in a security pouch worn under my sweater.

To ensure it can be protected unless I'm stripped of everything.

The bag has a zippered pocket inside, so I attached the smartphone chain to it so the phone wouldn't be on its own. (The chain is from a 100-yen shop.)

If someone steals the phone, it's designed to come with me via the shoulder bag.

We carried about 5,000 Japanese yen in cash and about 100 euros for the three of us, distributed among us.

When going to nice places, I kept the PRADA logo facing outward. When I needed to be a bit more careful, I turned it around to face the back, making it just a plain black bag. (I never thought a PRADA bag would be so versatile.)

I chose a SPAM bag as my eco-bag.

Even if I buy nice things, I thought,people won't think there are luxury goods inside a SPAM bag, right?I hope.

The only slightly expensive thing I put in it was a Maison Kitsuné sweatshirt. Otherwise, I used it to carry items bought at local supermarkets.

I didn't put Hermes in the SPAM bag, after all. That would be a bit too much for it to handle, right?

Still, I felt a little embarrassed carrying a SPAM bag in front of the Burj Khalifa during our transit in Dubai.

(Well, nobody was looking, though...)

Apparently, people can skim credit card information on the subway these days, so my mother bought a skimming cover too.

Whether it was effective or not... is unknown.

The security I felt when I actually went there

On this trip, we went to London and Paris.

We stayed at hotels in THE tourist areas (the nearest stations were Russell Square in London and Tuileries in Paris), but winter in Europe is already dark by around 6 PM, and even in the city center, the streets aren't exactly bright, so it feels like human activity ends with the sunset.

Since it was a family trip and I don't drink alcohol, we didn't go to any bars or pubs at all. (We were in bed by 10 PM every night)

When I go abroad, especially at night, I feel a certain atmosphere of “tension” that the country has. Japan and South Korea are very relaxed. No tension at all. Everyone is completely at ease and not on guard.

Paris and London aren't necessarily dangerous, but they aren't bright either. It feels like there's a bit of tension. (Maybe Japan is the unusual one.)

The most nerve-wracking moment of our itinerary was when we took the Eurostar from London to Paris, at Gare du Nord!

Gare du Nord when you search for it, the second search term that comes up is "security," and “Gare du Nord in the 10th arrondissement of Paris is an area with very poor security, and many crimes typical of tourist spots, such as pickpocketing and theft, are reported.” is what Google tells you.

Naturally, you get a little braced for it, don't you?

Plus, at that time, we were each carrying a large suitcase weighing over 20kg, so we were not very mobile.

So, what was the rumored Gare du Nord like...?

Frankly, my impression was that I couldn't say the security was good.

First of all, there were an unusual number of people!

According to my research, Paris Nord station is a massive hub with 600,000 to 700,000 passengers a day, so that makes sense.

So, when you leave the station, there are people who look like they are sizing you up, and they don't look very clean (they have a slightly sketchy vibe),just standing there.

We are basically cowards, so we kept this information in mind beforehand. We wanted to take a taxi to the hotel after getting off the Eurostar, butthe taxi stand at Paris Nord station is apparently dangerous (there are rip-off taxis, and the area around the station is sketchy)so we went with the strategy of first walking a bit away to a less crowded area to call an Uber.

So, the three of us actually left the station, walked straight away from it, entered a Monoprix a little further away, and booked an Uber.

However, theglass door at the entrance of that Monoprix was shattered(it had cracks all over it like a bullet hole, and looked like it was about to break at any moment), so it wascertainthat the area wasn't very safe. Lol

As it happened, the guy who came to pick us up via Uber had a high rating, was clean-cut, and didn't look annoyed as he loaded our three 20kg+ suitcases into the car; he was a very nice person. (It was a clean Toyota, so I felt a strange sense of relief.)

Uber, the subway, and ticket counters

I generally think everywhere is dangerous, but especially before going to the subway ticket counters, we told each other,"If anyone talks to you, ignore them!"and we set off with that shared understanding.

Even if someone talks to you, ignore them.If you don't have that mindset, you'll end up reacting to them.

As it turned out, we didn't encounter any weird people or get spoken to, but the French subway ticket machines are so unresponsive that it's a real pain.

The touch panel doesn't respond, and the buttons don't press.

I don't want to fumble around there, but the system is designed to make you fumble.

I thought it was a trap.(Excuse me)

Public transport in the UK was very convenient because you can pass through the automatic gates using contactless credit card payments.

Buying tickets in a foreign land is tough, isn't it...

Golden rules: Don't stand near the subway entrance, sit down whenever possible, hide your bag, and don't touch your phone.

[Extra Edition] A survey of what people in business class carry

All in all, it was a fun trip without any dangerous encounters, but since we had a Dubai transit on the way there and back, and flew Emirates business class four times, I'd like to review what the people around us were carrying.

First of all, everyone was carrying so many designer brands!

Perhaps due to the destination and transit point, there were many Westerners and Middle Easterners, but I wonder if Louis Vuitton is trending globally lately.

When you fly business class, you get to deplane first, so there's a moment on the way to the gate where everyone who was in business class ends up walking together.

You can see what people are carrying then, and this time, Louis Vuitton was the overwhelming winner among luxury brands. (*Just my own observation)

People with monogram carry-on suitcases, the scarf of the person next to me, the bag of the person behind me, bags, bags... everyone had Louis Vuitton.

There was also a woman carrying a large yellow Chanel Matelassé, and she looked absolutely stunning.

I found myself looking at her many times. I want to carry a Matelassé like that too, but it doesn't suit me. I felt a boundary, like I could never carry one like that in my life.

The men's watches were also sparkling. They were so shiny I wondered if they were super elites or high-level scammers. (No offense)

Or rather, I wonder if it's really okay for everyone to walk around town carrying so many brand-name items.

In cities with many pickpockets, are they taking precautions even while blatantly carrying luxury goods, or what...

1st place: Louis Vuitton
2nd place: Goyard (more common among Middle Eastern and Asian passengers)

I think those were the most common. Everyone carried them in a way that suited their vibe, which was very lovely and a great social lesson for me.

Summary

I think the measures to avoid being pickpocketed are limited, and I suppose they are just not carrying large amounts of cash, keeping valuables under your clothes, zipping up your bag, keeping the zipper side close to your body, and being aware that you might be a target...that's about it.

Other than that, the only thing we can do is simulate what to do if we encounter such a situation—since I'm a woman, and my whole family is generally small and looks weak, we look like targets (lol)—so we talked about maybe we should just rattle off in Kansai dialect if we ever encounter that situation. (lol)

"Hey!!!!!! Stop it! You just touched me, didn't you! Did you take something??? Hey!!!!!! Show me your hands!?!?!?!?!?!" We agreed to say that in a loud voice.

Though, if we actually encounter that situation, we probably won't be able to make a sound (lol).

But if it's taken without us noticing, it's all over, so I guess we'll just take whatever measures we can for now.

If you have any pickpocket prevention tips, please let me know.

♡