A WOMAN was left devastated after her bag was stolen while on holiday – and was forced to walk nearly two miles in the heat.
TikToker Jess, from the UK, was on holiday in Salou when she realised she was missing her passport and bank cards.
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The contents of her bag were stolen while she was at a restaurant, despite being attached to her pram.
She posted a video on her social media which has since been watched thousands of times.
She said: “My passport, my two cards – everything is gone.”
Jess said she didn’t know how she was going to get home after her passport was stolen.
Read more on travel hacks
She said she was forced to walk 1.4miles to the police station, after freezing her bank cards.
She warned her followers: “I’m just putting it out there. Just keep your stuff on you and not around you.
“Anything can happen anywhere. You just never know when it’s going to happen to yourself so always be alert and on it so it doesn’t happen to you.”
She was eventually able to get a replacement passport after making an appointment with the embassy in Barcelona.
However, she issued another warning to her followers to make sure to “make an appointment” and not just turn up at the embassy.
It is advised to avoid taking your passport out with you, and is better to leave in the hotel safe.
And there are two ways to protect yourself when on holiday.
One of those is to always leave an emergency bank card in your hotel room.
If you don’t want to just carry cash, then this means you still have a means of paying for emergency food and transport if your cards are stolen.
You should also always have a printed version of your passport page in case you lose the real thing.
This makes it much easier to get a replacement passport at the embassy.
However, it is still a pricey mistake – replacement passports cost £100, and can take up to two days to get one.
You will also only be able to use this to travel home, travelling through up to five countries to get back.
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This will then be kept by border staff, and you will then need to apply for a new passport when back in the UK.
We’ve also explained why you should never throw away your expired passport.
What are the passport rules?
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained exactly what Brits need to know.
“Travellers used to be able to roll over up to nine unused months from their old passport onto a new one.
“But post-Brexit, anyone wanting to travel to the EU can no longer rely on those extra months.
“In order to travel to the EU, all passports must be no more than 10 years old on the day you arrive in your European destination.
“And you’ll need at least three months on your passport on the day you head back to the UK.
“Figures have shown up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than 10 years old.
“The 10-year rule only applies to countries in the European Union but every country may have different rules on what is accepted – some countries like South Africa, for example, insist you have at least six months left on your passport when you travel and a full clear page.”
