Spokane, Washington & Northern Idaho area TV station KXLY reported a story about one newlywed couple who took more than 200 photos on their once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon trip to Belize last week only to have that camera stolen soon after they landed in Spokane Tuesday night. Police did recover some stolen items, including two disposable cameras. The digital camera may never turn up again.

The lessons? You should never leave valuable items in vehicle, even for a short period of time. Beside that, here are some tips for keeping your digital camera and photos safe while traveling.

• The best way to avoid lost luggage is to carry it on. Do not check your camera in with luggage.
• Immediate download and backup your photos as soon as possible or after a day of shooting. Put the backup media separate from your camera to minimize the chance of losing them all together.
• Do not perform a memory card reformat unless you are absolutely sure the photos have been saved.
• Label your memory cards if you have multiple of them. Develop a way of tracking which one is used and which one is empty. Write your email address or phone number on them in case someone found them.
• Purchase a hard memory card case to keep your cards from being damaged accidentally.
• Do not leave your camera unattended. Keep you camera bag in sight and check frequently.

Do you have a tip that may help fellow photography lovers? Please discuss it by clicking the comment link below.