Sweetie!

Once again, I checked the bag to confirm it had our passports, credit cards and cash. It was a small anti-theft nylon bag, no bigger than my hand, that barely managed to hold all these things entrusted to it. I then slipped its strap cross body over my bra and stuffed the pouch inside my trousers, before wearing my shirt on top. For my other belongings like the inhalers and hair brush etc, I wore an outer cross-body bag over my shirt. It was quite a chore, and it had to be repeated daily. 

Walking with the nylon bag tucked inside my trousers, which had a lot already tucked inside them, was uncomfortable, to say the least. 

And when I needed to buy something, it was another story. I certainly didn't look very dignified lifting my shirt, digging into my trousers and then struggling to pull out cash or a card from the depths. And then carrying out the process in reverse to put the money back! 

It was no wonder I used to fling the bag in the hotel room at the end of each day. It was such a relief to get it off me, that anti-theft Auntie. 

The reason for all this was simple. We were travelling in Europe. I had been robbed of all my cash and cards the last time I was here alone and did not want to go through that hell again. No way. And if that meant I had to wear a nylon anti-theft bag across my body and into my trousers in the heat of summer, so be it. 

The first phase of our month-long trip was over. Today, was a busy day. We were travelling from Malaga to Tirano to start the second phase- scenic train journeys across Switzerland. Malaga to Milan by air, and Milan to Tirano by an inter-city train. 

As much as I love train journeys, trains give me anxiety. I find platforms confusing. I find finding seats nerve wracking. I find luggage storage stressful. So, when a woman stopped by and offered to help me put our luggage in the storage above the seats in the train in Milan, I was relieved. She called out to a couple of other friends and they all lifted one bag and tried to put it in the storage compartment. But what a clumsy lot they were. The luggage kept slipping from their hands and I ended up holding it up most of the time. Wait, one of them was pregnant- heavily pregnant! Why was she helping me pick up a bag?

That's when I felt it- a hand tapping on my waist. The moment I realized what that hand was up to and uttered my discovery to Aloka, my luggage was magically back down on the floor and the helpful ladies nowhere to be found. All the zips of the outer bag were undone, obviously by the woman standing closest to me. She had made full use of my extended arms and distracted head to go through everything in the outer bag. Fortunately, there was nothing of value in it. Everything of value was safely tucked away inside the inner bag in the depths of my trousers.

When we finally reached our hotel in Tirano, I took off the anti-theft bag, folded its strap and placed it gently on my bed-side table. Good night sweetie, I whispered.