In 2.5 years of round-the-world travel to many countries where muggings are commonplace, I never once had anything stolen. I was never held at gunpoint. I was never robbed. The situations where things got a bit hairy were ones I chose to be a part of: climbing Putucusi with a busted rib, hopped up on diclofenac; taking a rickety boat through the Sumbawa straight with nary a life jacket in sight; sticking it out in Bangkok while the city tore itself asunder; perching myself precariously atop a minivan barreling across Indonesia with a goat in my lap. With the exception a fleece in Bolivia and a few errant socks, I never lost anything at all.
Until I came back to the States.
Yesterday evening, Craig’s apartment was robbed in Brooklyn. He lost his laptop and camera and expensive DSLR lenses and a slew of other belongings. I lost my new MacBook Pro (my birthday present to myself) and my Canon G9. I had a lot of personal information on the laptop – invoices with my bank number, blog posts, journal entries. They also took all the hard-earned money from my summer of stoop sales – $1500 in cash that I was going to deposit today. But worst of all, they took my 500GB backup hard drive, my netbook with another backup of my photos and my 32GB flash card with the 3rd backup of my photos. All of these were in different places in the apartment, and all are gone.
I’m angry. I’ve been watching my pennies this summer and was happy to have made some extra money downsizing my belongings. But the worst of it all is the loss of my memories – they took handwritten Moleskines full of notes from Burma and all of my photos. With the exception of a flash drive I found on the floor with my photos from Burma and Cambodia, I’ve lost everything. I have the blog and photo galleries, but all of the full resolution pictures are gone, as are all the photos I never uploaded to any gallery.
My lesson: back up your travel photos in the cloud
Here’s Where You Come In:
1) I’ve set up a Picasa album on my Legal Nomads account. I’m asking all of you who have met up with me on the road or crossed paths and have photos to contribute to please upload them to this album. Help me get my travel memories back. I’d love to see an album of places from around the world, crowdsourced from the amazing people I’ve met along the way.
2) I am going to the Apple store tomorrow to see about tracing the MacBook but if anyone sees a 13″ MacBook Pro in and around NY with the serial number W8027XK5ATM(and the remnants of a Canadian flag sticker on the front) please raise your hands.
3) Help spread the word by passing this post on to your friends. Don’t let them make the mistake I made by not backing up photos to the cloud. Even with 3 separate copies of my photos, I’m left empty-handed. Also, if anyone has suggestions for sites that allow you to backup your computer’s contents online, please leave them in the comments.
To those of you on Twitter or Facebook who have offered support and/or ass-kicking skills: thank you. Many of your comments brought a smile to my face in an otherwise difficult few days.
Update: Wow, 54 retweets in just a few hours. Thanks everyone. Just a small update. First, it goes without saying that I’m thankful for my health/not being in the apartment when the robbery happened, but I’ll say it anyhow: it could have been worse. Part of me wishes I was there to beat these people with my own tiny shoes, but I’ll concede it was better this way. Second, police were called immediately and they took photos and found fingerprints. However, unless the theives have been arrested prior, the fingerprints won’t trigger a match. Finally, I’ve been keeping an eye on Craigslist and called pawn shops in the area to try and track down my stuff. No Moleskine notebooks in bushes/hedges around here either, I checked.
Thanks again for all the help, suggestions and retweets/posts to Facebook – I really appreciate it!
Jodi
Oh, this sucks SO MUCH, I’m really sorry. I don’t have photos of you during your travels, but if I can carry around some of that outrage on your behalf, I’m happy to do so.
A special place in hell, that’s what there is, for memory thieves.
That SUUUUUCKKKKKKSSSSS! Karma’s a bitch, thieves, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your nether regions.
Hey Picasa/Dropbox/Flickr/Mozy, time to drop your storage prices a bit and build a campaign around Jodi’s loss.
I’ll look in my albums and upload what I can, save for that picture of you beating up that old lady who asked you for spare change.
Unfortunately, I can’t help you with reclaiming your memories but I can totally sympathize: this past weekend, both of my Macs unexpectedly died (one of old age/disk drive failure, the newer one of a mysterious coma it has yet to awaken from). I had backed up my stuff…but the portable hard drive I backed it up on was in the new mac when it went into a coma and couldn’t eject properly- the files are now apparently corrupt. I lost a lot. It hurts. It must be so much worse losing your paper journals as well. I wish I could help you.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. While it’s not much of a condolence I hope that your message reigns clear and true with other folks who are not backed up.
My friends have nagged my for months to go with Mozy.. Unlimited automatic backup for at the most $5 a month. You of course get a huge discount for paying for numerous months up front. There are tons of coupons online that make it even better, I’d go to and look at the promotions they are running.
Carbonite.com is good too but not as cheap.
I’m so sorry for you! It must be awful to lose all these souvenirs. Thieves don’t realize how much stuff means to a person, especially when it’s on a computer.
I am retweeting this at the very moment. Good luck!
Jodi, that’s horrific. I feel ill just thinking about it. There are any number of backup services (I’ve tried and liked Carbonite), but I’m in the process of uploading my pictures to my web host. $88/yr for unlimited space (fatcow.com), so we’ll see just how unlimited that is. They’re also wind-powered. :)
Good luck.
I am so sad to hear that! I just lost my I-Phone one day and it made me sick. I can’t imagine losing all that stuff. Wandering Earl just tweeted this. I have been following you for a while and always love your travels to the Philippines.
Good luck and I will retweet. Thanks for all you do!!
Jodi, sorry to hear that all that happened to you. There is definitely a lesson learned in that. My laptop crashed on Sunday and fortunately, I was able to get my data back. I bought a Seagate 320 GB hard drive to back everything up but have failed to do it. This is a good, but solemn, reminder to get off my butt and do it. Hope you get your travel memories back through the recovery of your stuff or the help of your travel friends.
I still can’t wrap my head around how someone would have gotten into your building & taken all your stuff. It’s an absolutely horrible thing to happen to 2 really awesome people. We’ll be harassing any Canadian flag toting MacBook Pro using people we see – it’s a convenient excuse.
We’ll definitely be adding images to your albums – Awesome that you found copies of images from Cambodia & Burma.
wow, that’s really horrible awful thing to have happen to you! Shame they don’t build tracking devices into things!
I’m so sorry this has happened to you. ((HUGS))
It’s not much but I can send you some photos from TBEX.
Be sure to keep an eye on Craigslist. I read an awesome story about a guy who got his bike back.
I am not a regular reader unfortunately, but a drive-by via Johhny Vagabond… I am just sick about your loss, and wanted to express my condolences. I hope and pray that the culprits find a conscience and leave your memories somewhere they can find their way back to you. Somehow, someway, some good may come of this. I have no idea what it could be, but that’s the best I can come up with. Good luck.
sorry for your loss. have a look around the neighborhood sometimes the ‘robbers’ will toss unwanted things into shrubbery or in peoples backyards. I’d put up fliers in case someone runs across one or more of your items.
One day i woke up and had a bunch of car radio faceplates tossed in my bushes. My bro-in-law in Boston found some of his items in the neighbors backyard.
good luck to you….
How sickening! I am always panicking about stuff like this and back up in multiple places like you did, however, what happened is a sad reminder that keeping them all in one place isn’t any good if something happens. I need to look at online back up as well (I have well over 50,000 photos from the last 2 years). We luckily don’t really have to worry about theft as we live on the 24th floor of the tightest security building I’ve ever seen, but I fear a fire, or earthquake/typhoon that we are so prone to in Taiwan.
My heart goes out to you and I hope you are able to recover at least some photos from your travels. I hope someone spots your laptop and the scum who did this.
Hi Jodi,
I’m a fellow traveler, a legalnomads.com reader, and a Brooklyn-based tech consultant and writer. FYI –There may be a couple of things that you can do if you find Apple can’t help you…. feel free to contact me at my site or on Twitter (@Veritrope) if you’d like and I can help you sort that out.
Kind Regards,
Justin
This is horrible, why on earth would they take your handwritten notes?! Sorry we’ve never met so I’m unable to share any memory, but only moral support. Any other thing you think other travel bloggers can help you with, just shout :) Meanwhile, I’m spreading this post around.
Oh my gosh, Jodi, that’s so horrible! I’m sorry you lost all proof of your travel memories. I think losing those would be more upsetting than the loss of the physical stuff. I can get a replacement Macbook, but there’s no replacing the thousands of photos I’ve taken!
I wish there was more I can do. At the very least, I’ll pass this around on Twitter!
Hey Jodi,
I feel your pain and hope you will recover your most precious things. Remember that the most precious of all is in your mind and heart, nobody can take that away from you :-)
Apart of that – for everything digital, try to use an online backup service. They are quite cheap (several good providers for less than $10/month) and a lot saver than an external HDD.
Keep your spirits up high :-)
I’m sorry to hear about the theft — your story is, sadly, a cautionary tale on the importance of backing up data in multiple locations, particularly on a remote server. It’s crazy that they took your handwritten journals. Here’s hoping that you end up getting the stolen material back.
Jodi,
How terrible! I am so sorry to hear the news! What is wrong with people? I can’t believe they took your handwritten Moleskines full of notes and photos!
Years ago, I was in Europe for the summer, and I purposely left my computer at my parents’ so I would be sure to not have it stolen. Of course, some jackasses broke in and stole everything they could get their hands on, including my computer, which had a bunch of my college papers on it and all of my pictures from college and summers in Europe, as well as family photos and videos. I was far more upset (obviously) about the memories than about the computer (even though it was an incredibly cool tiny Sony with a built-in video camera, which was a big deal back in the day).
The good news about such loss is that while one does not really “get over” the loss, one does find comfort in the people that made those memories special. And, what I’ve realized to be true in my case was that the thieves did not steal my memories; they stole the evidence of my memories.
That said, I really, really hope you find your stuff!! And thanks for sharing your story; I’m sure it will save more than one person from a similar loss.
Jodi, I am so sad for you. I think I have a few photos from the meet-up in Bangkok with Chris G. I’ll have a look tonight when I get home.
I’ve been looking at web backup and just signed up for a free account with dropbox.com. I haven’t used it much yet, but have read good reviews. The first 2g’s are free.
So sorry – that sucks!
That’s terrible. I know you’ll get through it ok, but the entire situation just sucks. I don’t know how I’d handle having my Mac stolen like that… makes me want to make two backups, just in case.
New York has taken from both of us; I lost my Canon G10 in Grand Central Station, after taking a full week of pictures around the northeast.
OMFG. Why would someone take your hand-written journals?
That’s brutal. I’m so sorry. I wish we could just wave a magic wand and fix it. :(
Oh man. This is awful. Completely awful.
With regard to the Macbook, watch eBay and Craigslist! A close friend managed to recover a pilfered ‘book when it showed up a few days later for sale.
With regard to the lost memories – that really, really sucks. I’m sorry. We invested in a ‘Pro’ flickr account and a lot of uploading time so that we could store full resolution images out on the ‘tubes. Maybe look into that from now on? It was 25$US per year.
.. the moleskines? Who the Hell would take your personal notes?
Guess going in to the fact that being ‘safe at home’ was the least safe part of your travels wouldn’t help any. :-/
Again, so sorry to hear of your loss. Don’t think of the memories as gone forever because you’ll always have them, even if not in a tangible form. Before I left, a good friend told me to put down the camera and take pictures with my mind, not a lens. I know it’s not the same, but I’m sure you did much of that as well and still have those great memories in even better storage.
I’m ready to kick some robber-ass whenever you and C find these jerks. Be thankful for what you did find and stay optimistic that the rest will be returned. In the meantime, I’m happy to contribute as many photos as possible from our time in Bangkok together. Lots of love sent your way.
On 3), Its not online backups, but something I do while on the road is that every time I fill up an SD card I try to burn it asap and I send the dvd to my parents. And I keep one myself somewhere in the backpack. Then even after I’m back I keep that stash at their place so it’s backed up in a different location.
@Sophie Blanc – there actually ARE tracking services. One I read about is Prey https://preyproject.com/ that works on laptops, desktops and cell phones and I’m pretty sure there’s several others around.
Really sorry to hear about your loss. That’s horrible and I truly wish you luck in finding your lost belongings. GOOD LUCK!
Sorry for your loss… I hope you still recover them…I’ll pass this on.
Carbonite or JungleDisk. Don’t use Mozy or Crashplan, both have issues. JD is more flexible, Carbonite slightly easier but JD is still pretty easy and is my personal recommendation.
Hi Jodi, I feel for you, that’s a big loss and hope you are able to recover as much as you can. For cloud recommendations I’m a huge fan of CrashPlan. I use both their paid and free services:
Here’s a step-by-step on setting it up I wrote up a while back:
http://www.techguidefortravel.com/2010/06/29/how-to-use-crashplan-to-create-a-free-robust-and-online-backup-system/
Also, a free program like Prey might help you located, identify the crooks, and recover your stuff next time. I also highly recommend it:
https://preyproject.com/
…along with recommended settings:
http://lifehacker.com/5643460/how-to-track-and-potentially-recover-your-stolen-laptop-or-android-with-prey
I hope this helps, that karma hits those jerks hard, and with some luck your stuff turns up.
Sorry about your loss :( I accidentally left a new external hard drive on a overnight train I got once after being shuffled out quickly so I know the feeling somewhat).
Taking the external hard drive and notebook is just harsh, very little value in them to be worth it for the theft, I guess they might be fishing for account details rather than your thoughts. Suggest changing passwords on absolutely everything you can remember if you haven’t already.
I think Google offer online storage, you can transfer all documents to them and get photos elsewhere like FlickR or Picassa. I used sugar sync once which automatically backs up folders on your computer online which is good, but the price can add up, not sure how to get at it all if computer has been stolen though.
Wow, that really sucks! I’m sorry to hear about that. The cash being stolen is especially awful. I don’t have a suggestion for online backup – since I don’t currently use any – but you’ve convinced me to look into it.
Jodi, from what memories we have from Perhentian Kecil and the Red Shirt demonstrations, I have copies and can email them to you. A x
Hi Jody: How absolutely, horribly awful. I travel 4-6 months at a time, take a break for a month or so, and then go right back out, and one of my worst fears is losing all my photos. I carry an external backup and try to make sure it is in a different place from the laptop at all times, but even that did not make me comfortable, so I started looking into the cloud.
I tried Mozy and Carbonite. The latter wouldn’t work for me because I needed it to backup an external hard drive as well as the local, and Carbonite doesn’t support that. Mozy did, but their upload speeds were so abominable I only had something like 3% of my photos uploaded after nearly three weeks – if it didn’t work from home on a fast broadband, it certainly wasn’t going to work on the road.
I solved the problem with SmugMug.com. The owners are photographers, so they are really tuned in to our needs, and they offer three levels of plans, one of which is free. I chose the middle plan for, I think, $59 per year, which gives me unlimited storage of jpg’s, gif’s, png’s, and videos. It also allows me to create slide shows and embed into my posts, so I’m not taking up storage capacity from my host.
They also have an association with Amazon.com servers, which allow you to upload other types of files, for a ridiculously low price, and if you ever wanted to sell your work, their top level plan provides a service where the customer selects the photo and SmugMug arranges for printing, framing and shipping for a small cut, so it’s totally hands off for you.
I know it won’t get your previous work back, but it might provide you with an option for the future. Again, so very sorry…
Jodi ~
You so don’t deserve to have this happen to you. I’m sorry I don’t have any back-up photos that I can contribute to your photo album, but I recently had a friend recommend a back-up online site that you might want to look into. I don’t know if it works for photo storage, but it might be worth checking:
Best of luck to you. My fingers are crossed super tight for you!
@Neil: Any issues you can mention? bit of extra info would be nice.
A friend of mine has recommended SugarSync to backup files. I haven’t tried it yet. Why the hell would anyone steal someone else’s moleskines? Good grief. I so, so hope they catch whoever did this and get your stuff back. And that they get jail time. Grrr.
F***********ck!!! My heart aches for you, it really does. I’ve had a computer crash on me and the stuff I lost was priceless, so I can only imagine how sad you are. But well, thank goodness our travel memories will ALWAYS be in our heads. Big hugs!
Ughhh Jodi, this is beyond horrible, I am SO sorry. So much money lost. Karma is a bitch, though, and I’m sure SOME good will come from this…no matter how small.
I’m so sorry to hear about the stolen memories. I haven’t personally met you in your travels yet but I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time. I hope that you are able to regain your stuff. I’d be happy to volunteer to kick them in the shins myself.
sorry about your loss, your photographs and other stuff from your around the world trip cannot be compensated …I Hope those culprits be busted and all of your stuff be recovered.
This is very shitty, but you might want to have a read of this. Obviously no guarantees, but you might get some ideas!
Well that’s pretty rough. I would be absolutely gutted to lose all my photos, as I’m sure you are. I use Amazon S3 for backing up to the cloud.
They even stole your moleskin!? Bastards… Maybe you should start re-writing as much as you can remember from your journal that’s not already on your blog. Sounds like a massive pain in the ass but you can probably remember more today than you will in say 20 years time.
Hey Jodi!
Really am sorry for what happen. I hate those people! Really, I myself would wanna kick their ass so BAD! Not just their ass but I would include their fronts if you know what I mean. Suck that they have to steal everything from you. I hope the police officer catch this assholes! I feel sad that you lost all the memories, at least you have it still in your mind/heart and mostly, you’re safe.
If there’s anything I can do for you, lemme know. Hug n Kisses!
Jodi – check out truecrypt
http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net/
We use it to encrypt our computers and backups.
I’ll see Jen in a week. We’ll get our pictures together from Peru and upload them to your Picassa site.
Good luck!
Have you thought about reaching out to local media with your story? They could really ramp up some hype, which might lead to some more recovery…
They took your moleskins, that’s just cruel.
I’m so sorry this happened to you! My heart goes out to you. Losing my photos is always one of my biggest fears. I found it really bizarre that thieves would take hand written notes too! Usually they only take things that are worth money and they can easily sell.
So sorry to hear about your robbery, Jodi. I can’t imagine losing all of those photos, writings, and of course money, though I’m sure the photos and writings are worth much more than that $1,500. Best of luck with finding anything and everything.
A quick anecdote…My wife and I were robbed earlier this year. We were in St. John USVI to get married in May and the day before our wedding, we awoke to find that our villa had been robbed – laptop, SLR camera, phones, and our passports. At first we were irate and couldn’t imagine anything worse. But when we settled down, we realized that these were only THINGS that we lost. We were fortunate that, although our we and our families were all sleeping in the villa as we got robbed, no one was hurt. We were able to get emergency passports prior to departing for Vietnam for our honeymoon 4 days later; the other things we never recovered.
I’m sure you will be able to move on and create more, even better memories down the road..