Protecting Valuables

a private safe

after years of traveling on vacation, and now in retirement full time 'slow traveling' 2 years in Ecuador and now in Mexico City. One of the first things i do on arrival is to find hiding spots for the more valuable things we still have. We typically divide into 2 or 3 spots, like behind the frig or stove or tv, another favorite is on top of kitchen cupboards. i have resorted to under the mattress, but at the foot in the middle!! Can't help with safety deposit boxes. hope this helps.

xecutech wrote:

We are considering moving to the area around Merida and still in the research stage.

One question I have, that I haven't seen addressed, is what do you do with your valuables when you don't carry them with you. I'm not taking expensive jewelry or anything like that, but just day to day items like laptops, camera and things I wouldn't be taking with me into town.

Do you trust leaving them in your homes, especially when you leave while it's being cleaned?

Also, do the banks there have security box rentals for things like credit cards and passports?

Is there renters insurance available like we have in the US?

Welcome to the Mexico part of Ex-pat.com xecutech,

That's a good question you have there.  So your looking for a place to live and security is a concern. From experiance, I can tell you that if you make that home un-robber friendly you should be fine leaving your things there, 
The first thing I would do is find an area in plain sight where you can place your items, A non-interesting space that is not obvious. In other words, don't leave your laptop on a desk. The robbers go for what's obvious and quick. So use someplace which is in plain sight but doesn't look important. Secure all doors well. Here we had to use broken glass on the wall because they had just climbed over the wall and walked into the bedroom. broken glass on the wall is very effective. Get to know your neighbors.
Our problem quickly became a neighborhood problem. As it turned out it was because of construction close by. The people who were doing the roof were keeping an eye on the neighborhood from an ideal position. Be observant and don't be predictable.

I would get solid gold references before I left my house with a housekeeper, I inherited my housekeeper and she is very trustworthy. Even if the housekeeper is very trustworthy bringing her child along with her can be a problem.
I would think that banks would have safety deposit boxes, you would have to ask them.

As for insurance, check the services or classified section at the top of the page for those insurance questions.

All of the above suggestions apply except under the matrass that is usually the first place. It happens everywhere. We went for coffee next door and came back after about 45min they had cut the screens to come in the house. Now we have bars so they can not open the sliding doors. On top of that now we have three dogs and live in a very small village so it doesn't matter small or large town, just be aware.I is also a good idea to have cameras
Good luck,hnsberk

Were your windows closed and locked ?"Just cut the screens" seems to indicate that they were not.

Yes it is hot but you need windows with locks and you have to lock them.The bars will probably work, it depends on the bars. Dogs are really not all that helpful. They can befriend them and barking all of the time defeats the purpose.
The next door neighbors dog barks when I go out the door some times. but didn't say a word when I was robbed. Did I wonder if this was someone in my neighbors church group yep I did.

Before I got the glass on the wall they came back for a second try  . I was actually there going back and forth doing laundry. I didn't lock the back bedroom door because I was going back and forth. They only had a 15 minute window so they grabbed items, in this case items that made little sense like a very old laptop I was trying to bring back to life and connectors that didn't actually connect to anything.
Since putting in door braces and glass on the wall around the house There have been no problems.

You have to sort of put yourself into their mental frame work. Look at your house as a stranger. A stranger who has less than 20 minutes to look around.

again, split up, and a lot of the airbnb's and apts that we have stayed in have very few choices.