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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 keep an older phone. Primary reason is backup in case the primary phone battery explodes (or other weird shit), but it doubles as backup phone when I travel.
While traveling, I have a big conspicuous wallet where I keep cash and enough of my cards, and inconspicuous one with one other credit card and folded-in paper with important phone numbers.
Never been mugged, as I travel in boring touristy places, my primary worry is pickpockets.
TBH my primary worry is me. I've never been mugged or pickpocketed, I just added it for completeness sake. But I have lost a lot of things over the years. If I get to thinking deeply about something or reading something interesting, I could get quite absent-minded sometimes. Usually the victims are hats, umbrellas, sunglasses, chargers, water bottles and such small items, but one day I could get especially unlucky.
That's the list of Stuff I Lose as well. You know what the common thread is with all those items? They're things you don't carry in your pockets every day, just when you're out and about. Life gives us very good instincts to take care of phone/wallet/keys - in fact, when I travel, it often takes me a day or two to get over not having my regular keys in my pocket. This is the other thing about passports, they're easy to lose because you're not used to carrying them.
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