1) You're googler friend is now fired.

2) Sounds worse than a 3rd world country is $1k is such a meaty target. In Europe I often have more than that in my wallet without thinking anything about it.

I lived in the UK for nearly a decade and knew nobody who walked around with that much cash.

For that matter, I grew up in a third world country and nobody walked around with that much cash there, either.

The UK is is as bad as the US is. Don't wear a backpack on the tube in London because it will be empty when you get off.

Maybe you should get a credit card?

And when you walk around with $1k in your pocket, do you wear big a sign saying that you have it? Trust me, that might get you in trouble even in Europe.

Depends on where you are in Europe. I'm in a very safe western Europe country. I don't have a sign, but most people have several hundred on them and they don't go to great efforts to hide that fact the way you have to in the states.