Yesterday was another one of those bad travel days. Not every day is good at home, so it stands to reason that not every day will be good on the road.
Yesterday was bad because our SLR camera was stolen and I lost my sunglasses. Double whammy.
When we returned back to our room last night, I realized I no longer had my sunglasses. I suspect I left them sitting on the table where we had dinner earlier in the evening. The sunglasses were only $20 from Marshalls, but considering I use them every single day, I’ll be missing those a lot.
Even worse is the stolen camera. We are in Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon is full of quaint trolleys, and the 28E takes you up and down Lisbon’s hills through its different neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the trolleys are also hotbeds for petty crime. One moment our camera was between us on the seat, and the next, after we stood up, it was gone. Some advise not to take fancy cameras on the road for this reason, but we always figured that if you are not going to use a fancy camera when you are travelling the world, when would you use it? Out of all the items we carry with us, the camera was by far the most expensive. And we lost more than the camera: we lost the zoom lens we upgraded, the Crumpler camera bag we purchased for the trip, the green polka-dotted camera strap from Etsy.com, the 8 gig memory card, and the two filters we never quite figure out how to use. And our room keys.
Luckily, we only lost about a day’s worth of photos because I try to upload our pictures to our camera every day or so. We are trying not to get too upset about it, but I can’t help but feel that I lost a limb, as we have been carrying the camera around everywhere. We have insurance, so hopefully it will cover the loss. And we have another camera, a little point and shoot, so it is not like we will be pictureless. But still. Not a good travel day, for sure.
I am so, so sorry to hear this. Grateful, though, that you’re not hurt physically. Their pickpocketers must be lightning fast ~ I hope the bad karma that comes to them will be just as fast and that it lasts a long, long time. Will it do any good to report to the police there? The green & white polka dot strap should stand out unless they ditch it right away. Sending positive thoughts your way that your travel turns back to good ~ and safe.
I almost puked when I heard this news. I want to cry for you….. and probably will. I am so sorry you had such a bad day….. and such an expensive day 🙁 My heart breaks because your pictures were so AWESOME! However, point and shoots can take some good pics….. don’t let one asshole steal your creativity! You’d be surprised what you can do with that little thing!
FYI— Matt said someone stole the Austrailian’s lap top bag off of his shoulder on the train in Paris… (Sean should know who he is talking about). One guy came and chatted him up while the other grabbed it and ran. So be careful with your computer and passports, etc.
Be safe and be aware of your surroundings at all times! It is a cruel world out there….. but also a beautiful and caring world as well. Try to harness the good stuff without letting your guard down.
Thinking of you!!!!!