How do you prevent your motorhome from being broken into? People who don't have a motorhome can sound very worried when you tell them that you are caravanning or camping in Europe. "But what if you get gassed!" Experienced motorhome travellers tend to sound much calmer. But of course you have to think about it!
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ShareTips for avoiding burglary in your motorhome
Thefts and burglaries can happen, of course, and often you have valuables in your motorhome, such as computers and cameras. Here are some tips on how to protect yourself from burglary, or minimise the damage should it happen. Do you have any other tips?
1. Choose your car park/night spot with care
Feel free to stay with other motorhomes or in areas that feel calm and safe.
2. Have an alarm on your motorhome
Have both alarms on doors and motion alarm, in case someone breaks in through a window.
3. Do not put valuables in plain sight
Often it is the opportunity that makes the thief. Never place mobile phones and the like where they can be seen from the windows.
4. Have a safe
In the safe you can store things like passports, tickets, extra credit cards and occasionally cameras and phones. The safe must be bolted to the motorhome.
5. Hide valuables
Valuables that do not fit in the safe can be hidden in an unexpected place in the motorhome. Thieves are often in a hurry and may not have time to find them.
6. Close the door when you leave the car
If you leave your car for a while, you can close the curtains. This makes it difficult for the thief to know if you are home or not.
7. Take extra care in risky areas
Of course, some areas are more at risk than others. We have been warned about southern France and southern Spain, particularly Barcelona.
8. Don't leave your car (in some areas) outside large supermarkets.
Thefts have occurred in mobile homes when the owners are shopping. In high-risk areas, it may be worthwhile for one person to shop and one person to stay in the vehicle.
9. Be insured
Of course, if you do become a victim of burglary and theft, it is important to have good insurance.
10. Save essentials on an external hard drive
If the worst happens and your computer is stolen, it's also good to have a copy of its contents on an external hard drive.
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Lena in Wales says:
I don't have a motorhome, but even for regular cars many of the tips are good.
Interesting about space in the motorhome. I have never thought that it should be too small, as long as the weather is good. Then I can't imagine being indoors so much. Nice tour of the nooks and crannies.
Lidl is good in every country I have shopped in! Good prices and good stuff! In the UK, for example, they have very good wines at good prices, in Spain as well as a fish shop for fresh fish and charcuterie with meat and cheese over the counter at the entrance. Have previously also used Lidl in Germany, the same result.
Take care!
19 January 2015 - 11:48
FANTASYDINING-A blog about themed restaurants and travel says:
Great tips! We actually camp sometimes, but not so often 🙂 For the summer again maybe.
19 January 2015 - 12:05
Ditte says:
No, I wouldn't be too worried. I haven't been, but on the other hand I have only "free camped" in New Zealand. But I have lived in tents and free camped in Hawaii and around the US. But we thought it felt safer to sleep in the car and at a campsite than to free camp in a tent. (Better access to shower, toilet, water...).
Would like to try a week in a motorhome in Sweden and have of course noted your tips.
19 January 2015 - 12:52
Anders and Birgitta says:
Great tips, it's important to think about it and you can minimise the risks considerably. Pepper pepper pepper, we have not encountered anything. Have a continued good trip and maybe we'll see you somewhere.
19 January 2015 - 13:20
Jennifer Sandström - travel, love & dreams says:
Great tips from the experts! My mum and dad have told me about the time they were sleeping in the car on a country road and were suddenly woken up by some young people shaking the car and shouting "kooom igeeen, we're going to tip the car over!". - they thankfully managed to open the door and calm them down, haha.
19 January 2015 - 14:57
Rantamor on the retina says:
We were robbed in our motorhome in Malmö last June.
We were in a car park and were just going to take a shower with a couple of acquaintances at around ten o'clock in the morning.
When we came back after an hour, the back door was broken open and all my camera equipment was gone, everything was in a camera backpack, a computer (a week old) and then the whole suitcase with travel clothes (we were going to go over to Denmark the same day and take a 10 day cruise up the Norwegian fjords).
I can still feel the panic when I write about it.
All electronics are subject to theft and almost not replaced, think we got eight thousand..... =(
The clothes were better paid for.
But the panic we felt afterwards cannot be replaced.
Tjingelingen from Rantamor.
19 January 2015 - 15:59
admin says:
Lena in Wales, I sometimes think Lidl is boring, but you can find some really good stuff there at a good price! Shopped there today... Hope you have a good time in Spain!
FantastDining, good to think about it. No fun if that happens...
Ditte, but of course you should try a motorhome!
🙂
Anders and Birgitta, that's what you try to do... minimise the risks. No fun if that happens!
Jennifer, but what lunatics!!!
Rantamor, I remember when you told me about the theft! Ugh! It's something you really don't want to be involved in... Impossible to protect yourself completely...
19 January 2015 - 16:54
Alexandra says:
Yes, there is always the risk of being robbed and it is not necessarily more unsafe in a deserted place. When we lived in our campervan in Brisbane in a residential area just outside a hostel, we were robbed during the night when we were sleeping. Didn't notice anything, just that a door was open in the morning. So it can happen anywhere, you should be careful but not worry too much.
19 January 2015 - 17:39
Frankie & Co says:
Our tip, in addition to using the alarm, is to possibly lock the front doors of the driver's cabin with an unclippable wire or chain threaded through both door handles across the car seats - the weak point of cars is often the locking mechanism in the driver's door handle which is easily opened with an awl, and if the driver's cabin doors have the smaller fixed non-opening windows which are pressed into the rubber moulding and the window is easy to just pry off and try to open the door and gain access into the motorhome that way.
For your own safety if you are in the car, you should probably be careful with some extra safety locks so that you do not jeopardise your chances of escape.
19 January 2015 - 20:40
BP says:
Good tips that to some extent also apply when travelling in a regular car.
Oh hey - be careful outside the car too.
After our robbery in Spain, I can advise you not to pay by card in shopping centres or supermarkets and not to carry a purse on your stomach - sounds ridiculous, I know. But if you've been robbed, you learn a few things...
19 January 2015 - 22:06
Lard says:
Great tips. Have to tell you about a strange thing that happened to us when we went to Rödby-puttgarden with our motorhome. Me and our two children went into the shop on the boat while my husband was waiting outside. Then a foreign man came and stood right next to him. He didn't say anything but spoke into a headset in some strange language. My husband thought the man was standing a bit too close to him and went for a walk on the boat. Wherever he went, the man followed and talked into his headset. When we came out of the shop, we sat down on a sofa and the man sat down next to us. I didn't know at the time what the situation was. When the doors opened, we rushed down to the motorhome and locked ourselves in. The man came down after and looked around before disappearing.
I don't understand why he followed us. A completely ordinary family. He did not know that we had a motorhome because we were parked right by the doors where we went down.
Ugh, it was really an unpleasant feeling, and at the same time you were scared. It was still in the middle of the day. Has anyone heard of anything similar? As I said, I don't know what he was looking for, but it was unpleasant.....
Thanks for a great blog! So fun to follow your journey!
19 January 2015 - 22:43
Anki says:
Lots of good tips - thanks for the great information.
20 January 2015 - 7:50
Snows says:
You can't guarantee anything and there can be burglaries even at home, but for an amateur your advice sounds good.
20 January 2015 - 8:32
admin says:
Alexandra, how sad! Yes, it's a balancing act there... To be careful, but still not worry too much!
Frankie & Co, interesting that you write about the wire between the driver's doors. A man here in the car park has one, after he was the victim of a theft that way...
BP, how nasty about your robbery!!! I did not understand exactly how it happened? Please tell me!
Suss, what a strange and unpleasant experience! Sometimes you get strange vibes and feel that something is wrong... I haven't heard of anything like this, anyone else?
Glad you like our blog!
🙂
Znogge, that's right! There are no guarantees in life, but you can reduce the risks a little...
20 January 2015 - 10:37
Kjell & Solveig says:
Good advice. After our burglary above Barcelona last autumn, I can add that it is important to keep receipts for all your valuables, because the insurance company wants to see receipts to pay out full compensation. We were burgled even though we were sitting outside the car, so even for short breaks you should be careful. The weakest point of a motorhome is the living area windows. You just have to grab the edge and yank and the window picks will give way. According to the police, it only takes a few seconds to get in that way.
20 January 2015 - 11:20
admin says:
Kjell and Solveig, great tips! Could it work with photos of the gadgets too? I can understand that the windows are easy to break. We have motion alarms inside the car... one can hope that it discourages them a bit...!?
20 January 2015 - 13:44
Ninni, Henrik and the Knasen motorhome says:
Hello!
Ugh yes, I can be a bit grumpy in some places when I stop. But not excessively. But what nasty events are written about here above. Ugh... nasty! One must hope that one does not happen to anything.
21 January 2015 - 18:11
admin says:
Ninni, yes, you do hear about some things sometimes. It's important to be careful, without getting too crazy...
Stinas Bucket, yes you are right!
21 January 2015 - 19:43
Stina's Bucket says:
Great tips! Many of the tips apply even if you have a caravan or live or rent a house/cottage.
/Stina
21 January 2015 - 19:39
Madeleine says:
Hello there!
We have travelled by motorhome in Europe on 5 occasions. Mainly Understood through Germany for further travel to Austria, Italy (Recommend Garda lake), Croatia (coming from Stockholm, via Gothenburg) Often sleeps at rest areas where there is a restaurant / petrol station on the way through Germany. Feels safer if there are more motorhomes / wagons, lorries. We have gas alarms (we have heard that it is rarely used as it apparently takes a lot & the thieves can not have this with them) alarm / movement alarm. This year it will be a trip into mainly northern France, Normandy....
Googled motorhome burglary & it came up mostly with warnings from southern Sweden....
so we shouldn't think it's worse outside Sweden's borders?
So happy travelling everyone out there on the road. ???
Drive safely & be fair in traffic ✌?
01 July 2019 - 10:10