My advice to future tourists: Never leave valuables in the car or trunk.
That's general advice for anyone who's ever been in a car.
Did you have travel insurance? I've never had to use it but this seems like something that would be covered.
At some point later in your life, someone you dearly love will die or be severely injured. Or you will witness something tragic. Then you might reconsider what is your saddest day.
1) Report your passport stolen to your nearest embassy. This is critical. Make sure this is done first
2) Report the theft to the local police and describe everything in detail as much as you can. Do it soon so that it is fresh in your mind
3) Keep an eye on sites like craigslist for sale of macbooks in the area. Yes this is pretty much a long shot but you never know. There are plenty of stupid thieves in this world and the thief might try and sell it right away.
4) Did you have any kind of tracker app on your ipad etc ? I think Apple has something right ? If yes, try and use it to locate your belongings. UPDATE: as ericcholis mentioned, you should always have an account with https://www.icloud.com and use "Find My iPhone" to track your MacBook and iPad
And yes, for all of us, PLEASE never leave anything in your car that can be seen easily. Even if you think the area is safe or who will bother stealing a backpack, think again. I always make it a point to either put things in the trunk of the car or glovebox if you must leave it in your car.
I don't really have to watch out for thieves. Of course they exist and you can never be too careful with these things. But occasionally having left valuables in view inside my car, or a bag at a cafe table while I visit the restroom, I've never had anything stolen. I'm not afraid to walk in the city at night.
A friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight in SF, which came to me as a big surprise. I couldn't imagine that could even happen. Obviously I need to travel more to broaden my worldview...
While there's downsides as seen here ( where personal property is not held sacrosanct by all cultures ) there are upsides as well that may outweigh the costs. For example: Americans get exposed to many unique cultures in the course of their daily lives. One could argue that this is beneficial.
I had set the change from a parking garage on the passenger seat. At my next stop, Japantown, I parked at a meter and forgot about the few bucks sitting in plain view. I came back 20 minutes later to find the window smashed. Hundreds of dollars in repair costs and hours of my and other people's time. All for $2 or $3 in somebody's pocket. It gave me perspective on how desperate some people are.
Anyhow, I'm sorry that you experienced this in my city. The advice you give applies pretty much any where in the US (and in a number of other countries I've been in). If something is visible and looks valuable, 5 mm of glass is not much of a barrier.
Edited to add: Feel free to contact me (details in my profile) if you need a hand from a local with anything. E.g., I'm glad to go with you to file the police report.
Question:
Why doesn't Apple log stolen serial numbers so that the second they show up (connect to iCloud, brought in for repair, or whatever), alarms, dogs, sharks with lasers, you know, the usual.
I feel like computers shouldn't be any more thieve-able than cell phones.
Wait, what?
What country do you live in where phones aren't worth stealing?
I paid $10 for a parking space somewhere near Union Square thinking my car would be safe from towing and what not. I left my backpack in the trunk because it was too heavy (big mistake). Went back 3 hours later and the rear window was smashed and they got to the trunk from the reclining passenger seat. Filed a police report and they told me chances of me getting my stuff back is slim. Went to Apple Store and tried to get a discount for the second purchase but they only offered me the usual student discount. Called my credit card company but apparently I don't have any coverage for my purchase.
Most credit card companies have car rental insurance to cover the damage to the car.
If it makes you feel any better, you're in good company: nearly everyone I know has been the victim of smash-and-grabs. At my last company, two of our employees had their laptops stolen from a parked car. I've even had windows bashed because someone wanted to open the glove compartment to see if there was anything inside!
Most recently, we discovered some crackhead cutting through our front gate because he wanted access to some bikes that were visible. He would have had to cut through the gate, then another security door to get them, but that was no deterrent. It's one of the "charming" aspects of city life that makes you want to move to the suburbs.
As codegeek says, you should report your passport immediately. Your laptop has probably already been fenced for drug money, but you could try to find it on craigslist, or down at the various stolen-property yardsales at 6th/7th and Market. That's a long shot, though.
Same advice in a better form: Never leave anything that looks like it might contain valuables in a visible place in a car. Trunk is usually fine, since nobody can tell what's in there, and thieves usually won't break into random cars in the hope that there might be something valuable in the trunk. On the other hand, a bag with nothing valuable in it on the seats is not fine, since the car may get broken into anyways, on the assumption that there's something worth stealing in there.
I've lived in an urban area for a while, and have seen this happen in several different ways...
Do this as soon as possible, and check back constantly. Good luck!
Do you have renter's insurance in Boston? If so, check your policy, it may cover theft.
