The entire nation got a shock when none other than the famous reality star, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in a Paris hotel when she visited the city with her sisters. The assailants reportedly snuck into her hotel room, handcuffed her and walked away with over $10 million worth jewelry. Very few of us have so much wealth, but the prospect of getting robbed on vacation is still real. If a security-flanked celebrity can become the victim of a robbery, ordinary people should certainly take some concrete steps to secure their next trip. We all have a habit of following what our favorite celebrities do, so let’s look at lessons that you can learn from Kim Kardashian’s robbery case.
Be careful with geotagging:
Tagging or sharing your location on social media can clearly give a tip-off to thieves. Kim posted on Snapchat shortly before the robbery took place. The reality star posted a series of selfies and messages at 2.17 a.m. Paris time and the break-in reportedly happened at 3 a.m.
While after the incident, Kim Kardashian’s family is planning to cut out unnecessary travel and limit public appearance, it is important to understand that even though you are traveling to exotic locations, there is no need to share every detail about it on social media. Even if you don’t have millions of followers swiping through your every snap like Kardashian, it is advised to refrain from frequent logging into on your social media accounts.
Before posting, remove geotags on Twitter and Facebook, else delay your photo posting till the vacation is over. You should note that Instagram can publicly log your location even if you are not directly adding the location to a photo post. To avoid this, turn off the location service by going to your phone’s privacy setting.
Stay away from showing off valuables on social media:
She has been reportedly blaming her ignorance for the robbery in which a 20-carat diamond ring, worth $4 million was stolen. This dazzling gift from her husband along with other diamond-laden baubles was profusely flashed by her across different social media pages. Now, she has started unfollowing people on the social networking site and has also decided to maintain a low profile on social media for the time being.
Anybody who posts photos of the precious possessions could be putting themselves at a higher risk of being robbed. Learn from her and either keep your posts private or be careful about what you are broadcasting to the world.
Choose a place which is safe and secured:
While Paris is undoubtedly one of the safest locations in the world, the hotel where Kim was staying had some lapse in security. In fact, the concierge was forced to lead the intruders to her room. In this case, the ‘concierge’ was a night security guard only who was alone at the front desk.
At the time of choosing your hotel to stay during vacation, always make sure that it is equipped with all the latest safety features. Choose locations that are safe for tourists with round-the-clock security service.
Make sure you have travel insurance:
Kim Kardashian lost $10 million in jewelry in a wink of seconds. However, most of the items have been fully insured, and her insurer compensated her for the monetary loss. Take a lesson from Kim and make sure that your every journey is adequately protected with a comprehensive travel insurance policy.
Travel comes with a fair share of potential risks. Travel insurance is designed to cover the individual from a wide range of perils like the medical emergency, loss of baggage, loss of passport, evacuation due to political unrest, etc. In the case of contingencies, having travel insurance will ensure proper assistance and save you from hassles and worries that you would have to undergo in the absence of a trip insurance policy. Further, in the case of theft, you will have a contact person to get foreign currency and avoid the financial crunch. A vacation is a time to relax and enjoy and with a travel insurance policy, you don’t need to worry about contingencies.
Keep your family informed about your travel itinerary:
As soon as the robbery news spread, Kim’s family made it a point to be by her side in this disturbing situation. Her sisters rushed to be with her, her husband Kanye stopped his concert midway. Her family members shielded her away from paparazzi. Similarly, if you are traveling abroad, make sure that your family back home knows about your whereabouts. In the time of crisis, your family acts as your defense. You would also want someone to be with you if you ever go through a similar traumatic experience. This point also highlights one of the key features of travel insurance, which says that in case you get hospitalized due to a medical emergency or accident and your family member visits you in a foreign land, the insurer will bear his/her traveling cost.
Kim Kardashian’s robbery case has highlighted two things—the tag of celebrity can’t save you from robbery and robbery can take place even in the most secure places like Paris. We can only imagine how the entire incident would have terrified her and our sympathy is with her. Be safe out there and plan your journey cautiously. Take a lesson from this robbery case and plan your next trip carefully! As you never know who is watching you!
