I've never been to PI, but I lived in Indonesia back in the 80's when I was in the Marine Corps and traveled quite a bit around that part of Asia. The biggest issues we dealt with was US tourists getting robbed. Women with their purses, men losing their wallets. Never carry a wallet, and put all your cash, debit card, credit card and ID in your front pockets. Be sure to make copies of your cards and keep one in your luggage and give another to somebody at home who you can call in case of an emergency.
I never carried any clothes with me when I traveled. They are so cheap there that I would just buy something when I got there to wear. You can even have just about anything you want custom tailored for a fraction of what it costs here.
We always drank bottled water and even used it for brushing our teeth.
Find out which taxi company is the trusted one. In Indonesia, Bluebird was the one we tried to use all the time because they where considered the honest, safe one. The other companies would hire drivers that where known to take a passenger to the wrong place, demand money and then leave them. If you didn't pay, the drivers friends would be right there to take it from you. If you did pay, his friends would also want money to help you get a taxi out of there. Most tourists have no idea how to get around a new place, so this was a fairly common scam. Just like here in the US, be sure the taxi drive has a picture ID in the cab, and that there is a meter. You can also agree to the price to get where you are going before getting into the taxi, or tuk tuk, or whatever vehicle is available there to take you. Locals know what to pay for each trip and it's usually a fraction of what a meter will charge you on a taxi, but you have to know this beforehand. Your girlfriend should be able to what to pay and who to use.
Never go to somebodies house that you do not know. I don't know if it's still a problem or not, but tourists meet friendly people, get an invite to their home, have something to drink and wake up the next day laying on the side of the street somewhere without any of their belongings. This wasn't very common for Americans, mostly we heard about it happening to Australians more then anybody else.
For me, I always liked eating a the smaller places and trying everything new there was to offer. Sometimes my stomach didn't like me, so be sure to bring plenty of Pepto or Imodium AD. Also, if you have any prescription medicine, be sure to have it in the original bottle.
Don't forget adapters for your electronics and chargers. I also bring a power strip with me so I'll have extra outlets. Airports have outlets and charging stations all over the place, and they will all be crowded with people charging what they have. I have universal adapters because you never know what will be available to use.
Bring a laundry bag. Lots of places in Asia will do your laundry for you every day for very cheap, or at least they used to.
Bring brand new personal hygiene items. You can buy it there, but it will be different and I prefer what I'm used to.
I'm a big picture taker and always have at least two cameras because I've had one break on me before the first time I went to Paris. Fortunately I managed to get a couple pictures of the Eiffel Tower before it froze up on me, but I didn't get any other pictures. Now with digital cameras, I carry an extra fully charged battery with me for my good camera and it has a 32 gig chip in it. Last trip I went on, I took over 7,000 pictures. I only kept a couple hundred, but I did go through every single one to find the best ones. My thought is that if I take enough pictures of something, changing it just a little bit every time, odds are that I'll get at least one good one.
Pay the money for a good, up to date travel book. We download Rick Steves books when we where in Europe and found it to be very helpful for things we had no idea about. Like where is the best place to get gelato in Florence Italy!!! Same thing with finding restaurants, what to see and some information about those sites. We're not big on tours, and like to explore at our own pace.
Have a good map of where you are going. My wife has At&T on her phone, I have Verizon. We've found that one works and the other doesn't in different places. In Venice, we got lost chasing a sunset and by the time it was dark, we had no idea where we where. The place is a maze with dead ends and more twists and turns then we thought possible. Her map on her phone saved us. Even when we couldn't see where the next turn was, we trusted it and it got us out of there. If your phone doesn't work, or you cant get a local map on it, buy a paper one and keep it with you.
If you party and like to stay out late, be sure to be with people you know and trust.
