- Don’t be shy about locking your train compartment, if someone wants to come in and sit, fine - let them knock and wake you up first. If there’s no lock on the door, use your own, or use wire or rope to tie the door shut. Once, on a night train in Poland, I thought about doing that and didn’t bother. The next morning I woke up in Germany to find my daypack was gone. What the hell was I going to do about it? The train crew had changed at the border, and I was in a different country. By the way, I was a classic target: alone in a compartment on a night train, with the door unlocked. Don’t repeat my mistake.

- If you are in a group and you can’t lock your door, consider having someone stay awake at night, especially in Eastern Europe.

- Top bunks arc a bit more secure than bottom bunks.

- Be very wary in and around train stations, especially if you have just arrived in town, are a bit confused, and are loaded down with stuff. Distracted and unaware people are a pickpocket’s dream.

- Never, ever, allow someone you just met to “help” you put stuff in a locker at a train station. You will be putting it into a locker to which this person has a key or combination, and five minutes after your back is turned your stuff will be cleaned out.