SEATTLE — Could your vacation become a crime-ridden nightmare?

It's 2:30 p.m. on the second day of our summer vacation in Washington state.

The six of us leave our van in a crowded, busy and seemingly safe public parking lot in downtown Seattle for a two-hour visit to the iconic Space Needle, only some 300 feet distant.

When we return one hour and 45 minutes later, we discover our van had been broken into and burglarized. The installed video system had been ripped out and bags and items scattered about the inside.

I call 911 and report the theft. In the hours that follow, the value of vehicle damage/missing items (mostly electronics) escalates to almost $9,000. We realize the thieves may have spent an unhurried 10 or so minutes inside our van, given all the bags they sorted through, instead of just grabbing them.

I consider the city of Seattle somewhat at fault because there were no warning signs of possible theft in this public parking lot. (Later that week we noticed many such warning signs all over tourist areas of British Columbia.)

We thought we were safe in the Seattle version of Disneyland ("Seattle Center," where the Space Needle is located), given it was afternoon in a busy place. But we didn't look closely around us. There were no security cameras and no attendant for this automated lot.

So, we were truly clueless in Seattle to possible crime.

The police said this was the second crime involving an out-of-state vehicle in that lot that week. We later felt somewhat fortunate, because our loss could have been much worse. No one was hurt, our vehicle was still drivable for the rest of the trip and most items we lost can be replaced.

Notwithstanding, we felt violated and far less safe in a city that had seemed so spotless and hospitable.

Here are 10 suggestions to help you avoid being an out-of-town crime statistic:

1. Look carefully around the areas you park/visit.

I would have chosen valet parking at Seattle, in retrospect, given the lack of security. Also, the parking slip in my window listed the expiration time of my paid parking, easy for any thief to see.

I might have spotted suspicious people loitering around the area, too, if I'd have looked closely. The thieves probably staked out the lot I was parked in.

"Try and look at situations through the eyes of the criminal," detective Jeff Bedard of the Salt Lake City Police Department said. "Learn what the places are that locals go or stay away from — especially at night."

He also advised if you feel uneasy about a certain area on a trip —"Don't write off your instincts. Follow them."