Labelling your stuff

Remember when you were at primary school and your parents labelled everything that you owned?  Well that's also a really good idea when you're an independent traveller.

You should make every effort to avoid losing things, but sooner or later it's probably going to happen to you.  Having a label with a phone number and email address on a lost item greatly increases your chance of getting it back.  Most people are honest and may either make an attempt to contact you or may leave your lost item somewhere official where you may be able to go and collect it.

There is another advantage to labelling your things – If somebody else mistakenly or intentionally claims that an item that you own is theirs, a label clinches the true ownership.  You are likely to be travelling alongside and mixing with other travellers who may be carrying much the same gear that you do – this is especially so in shared accommodation – so having labels on your things can save some arguments.

Labels don't have to be conspicuous, as long as you know where they are and anyone who's interested in getting your lost gear back to you can find them without too much effort.  

For digital electronic devices with built-in accessible memory, Such as smartphone, flash drive, camera, portable hard-disc drive, or tablet, you can save a small file with contact details in the memory.  I always place a text file (*.txt) with my name, email address, and phone number in international and local format, in the memory of any device that I own.