I definitely was thinking of doing this in the near future. I watched a documentary on a guy that took a train ride like this and the scenery was just amazing
You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you.
That used laptop might be worth a year of disposable income in some parts of the world. And temptations are had to resist when others understand that you can replace it after a single week of working.
> You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you.
No, in most parts of the world you cannot rely on plastic. Heck, even in Uruguay ("the Switzerland of South America") I had to take a bus for 1 hour to get to the next ATM; nobody in my beach side town would accept credit cards. The trick in such parts of the world is to distribute your money evenly into various pockets and bags and to have one dedicated pocket where you keep what you need for the day in small denominations so you don't have to flash an average, monthly, local salary when trying to pay for a roadside snack.
Ten years ago cellphone stealing was a thing, then market saturated and it became thing of past.
I've been to Uruguay and we had no problem using ATMs at Tres Cruces. Of course you need to carry some cash, but $100 equivalent is more than enough. Argentina, totally different story as you might imagine.
I've spent some time on trains in the equivalent of the 3rd class, and its just not an issue. Most people assume if you were wealthy you'd be on an airplane, so unless you're showing off cameras and laptops and phones (or jewelry?) they'll assume you're a crazy and/or poor hippie and have nothing to steal. Third class type lodging requires prioritization... you don't put your passport and wallet in checked luggage on a rack somewhere, you put your dirty socks in checked luggage and if someone steals your dirty socks you buy new socks at the next stop. Local clothes are often pretty cool to take home anyway. I lost a shirt once in Mexico (or was it stolen?) and it was actually pretty cool. Also if you are in 3rd class and you're sleeping on your wallet and your loot is in a backpack with your leg thru a strap, the entire coach PLUS the attendant has to be in on it if some dude starts going thru your package between your legs or your pockets under your butt while you sleep, so if you don't wake up someone is likely to say something unless you've implemented extreme levels of ugly american protocol. I never carry souvenirs past a post office. The annoyance of using the post office helps eliminate useless clutter too.
If you are in a private room with a kleptomaniac in 2nd class there's really nothing you can do about it other than just hope it doesn't happen. It probably won't. Everyone else is worried you're the kleptomaniac axe murderer, you know.
[1] If you have to, like your camera, just keep it with you all the time.