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I've been doing some traveling lately, I started wondering. What happens if I lose my wallet (my ID, all credit cards, etc.) and my phone, or get mugged or such? How can I establish my identity? Say, my hotel key was in the wallet - would I be locked out of the hotel? How would they know I am me if I show up and ask for a replacement key? I mean, they can send a security guy with me to the room - and then what? All the stuff in my suitcase are very generic guy's clothes that could be anybody's. I probably don't even remember which exactly t-shirts and jeans I packed. They don't have labels or anything that points to me. How would they know? How would I get home, for that matter - I can't fly without an ID, and I can't get a new ID until I am in the same state at least - if I am not living in this state, they can't issue me a new ID.
I could go to the police maybe - though I wouldn't even know where "the police" is in a random city. But even assuming I just get lucky and encounter a traffic cop or something, and they explain me where the closest police station is - do I walk there then? And when there - how would they know I am me? Do they have access to other state's databases? Since I am a naturalized citizen, DHS for sure has a lot of my photos and fingerprints, but can any police precinct access it just on a word of a random dude? And after that - even if they do believe me, they can't issue me a new ID, right? So how do I still get home (or even to the airport, for that matter)?
Also, is there a good strategy to prepare for such eventuality? I can't just ask DMV for a secondary ID that I would keep in my suitcase in the hotel, for example, can I? I could probably take my passport, but the chance I lose it actually makes it more dangerous, and recovering the passport is probably even more annoying. Does a form of secondary ID that is not as costly to lose exist?
I misread this as international travel, so this is advice specifically for that, but if you get mugged or lose your passport, go to the embassy. I traveled in a group to Australia and one of the guys lost his passport (WYD Sydney, so we were mostly 14-18 years old with a handful of chaperones.) He went to the US embassy, made a few phone calls to his parents, and was back home before the rest of us.
As far as establishing identity goes, you weren't born with an accurate photo ID. At some point the government just takes it on faith that you are yourself if you have the right papers and someone willing to vouch for you. You hopefully keep your birth certificate, marriage certificate, SSN card, etc at home (in a fire proof safe if you're forward thinking.) People routinely lose everything in fires and floods and then start over again. Not great or convenient, but they don't suddenly become non-persons.
A lot of the advice is along the lines of, "Don't travel alone." You might lose your phone, but your travel buddy would hopefully still have his. Even if you are traveling alone, hopefully you still have some phone numbers memorized - family members, best friends who would be willing to drop everything for a few hours and help you out.
A lot of travelers wear something like this under their clothes with some cash and their ID. It's not going to deter a serious mugging, but it does protect against pick pocketing
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