Security Tips
Introduction
In this blog post, I will talk about how I keep safe taking security measures when traveling (watch the use of the vocabulary: many times safety and security are used interchangeably, but we never use safety guard for a person protecting us but security guard. Therefore, we take security measures to make us safe).
The biggest mistake in this area is that people 'feel' safe without actually 'being' safe. Sometimes, they project the safety in their country to the new environment (see my student's story in the previous blog post), or they are just inexperienced.
Especially when traveling in a foreign country, a number of security precautions should be taken.
Safety and Security while Traveling
In this first series of blog posts, I will cover how I prepare and stay safe on trips around the world. I will give tips for particular destinations that I traveled to later when I discuss these areas in detail.
Having traveled extensively on my own as a woman on business and pleasure, this will also be a focus.
Today, I want to concentrate on keeping yourself, and your luggage safe on the move and at the destination as these are very different situations with different security precautions.
General Preparation
My first precaution and probably the most important is the power of information. I get as much honest and up-to-date information beforehand as I can about the travel conditions and safety at the destination to be able to anticipate what precautions I should take and what I can prepare before traveling.
Sources of Information
Sources can be reputable and up-to-date travel guides (like Lonely Planet (probably the most detailed regarding general information like safety), National Geographic, or Insight Guides, etc.).
I don't deem the Internet a good source as anybody can write anything, and you don't know whether the source is reliable. Even sites like TripAdvisor can be as unreliable as 'honest reviews' by fake customers with dubious motifs.
Another good source is a local tourist bureau, but not all will have personnel that speak English e.g. here in Loja, Ecuador where only Spanish is spoken.
By far the best source of information about the country of destination is the embassy of your country there. A word of caution as they like to paint a quite bleak picture to keep their citizens safe (see websites for information on embassies worldwide at the bottom).
When I stay in a country for longer than about 2 weeks, I will let the embassy (in my case the Canadian) know that I am there. The Canadian Government goes one step further and has a special service known as Registration of Canadians Abroad.
In return for signing up, I get regular updates by email about all kinds of important information whether it is adverse wheather, or an anticipated outbreak of a volcano (a very real threat here in Ecuador), or unsafe regions with a high rate of crime. Furthermore, in the case that you need their services, they are already aware of your presence in the country.
Luggage
One short remark about luggage: keep it as small as possible and inconspicuous, so as not to draw too much attention to it and yourself. Advice repeated over and over: NEVER leave your luggage unattended anywhere or accept to carry something for someone you don't know.
Always lock your suitcase (especially in the hotel room!). There are stories abound about stolen luggage or smuggling of drugs which is severely punished in many countries. That 'cute' Beagle at the airport will find you out.
Even if it looks weird, I always take ALL my luggage into the restroom stall as tempting as it may be to leave it on the baggage cart (trolley in British English). If possible, I check in my luggage first when I arrive at a terminal and keep my carry-on as small as possible like an old backpack.
This has been my travel companion on longer trips for the last 45(!) years: my beat-up Samsonite. Unfortunately, they don't make them like that anymore.
I once arrived back in Taiwan from a holiday in Nepal. My suitcase didn't show up at the luggage claim, and I got nervous, so I went to the baggage counter. They were very friendly with their beautiful Asian smile and assured me that my suitcase would come.
By the way, what is the difference between baggage and luggage? In this context, there is NO difference not even the ubiquitous British versus American English. I always get my students to start thinking hard about this and then I tell them. Baggage though has other meanings too like emotional baggage.
So, this is about how long I had to wait until my suitcase arrived. It was quite late in the day, and the hall was nearly empty. When I moved towards the green exit with my luggage, I suddenly realized that I had two men in uniform following me closely. I felt like running but tried to make a relaxed impression.
When I reached the exit, I was again received with the Asian smile, waved friendly to the counter and asked to open my suitcase. You probably know the feeling: despite the fact that I had nothing illegal in there, I started to get extremely nervous.
To cut a long story short: I had brought with me two liters of Himalayan Apricot Kernel Oil in a metal bottle. On the screen, it had looked like a bomb. We were all relieved, and I got another round of beautiful smiles.
The bottle that nearly got me into trouble.
On the Move
While traveling by plane, train, bus, or any other means stay awake and alert. I hope you have secured your documents and money the way I recommended in my last post.
If you travel with a partner or in a group, you can take turns taking a nap, but if you travel alone stay in well-lit and populated areas (on planes, trains, and buses mostly inevitable anyways) and stay awake if you can. You can always sleep when you are at your destination. When I traveled solo to insecure destinations, I even sometimes overdosed slightly on caffeine.
If I have a layover at an airport, train or bus station, I always try to get as close as possible to a TV screen as there are usually some people who watch the program even in the middle of the night.
At the destination, I had hopefully been able to already secure transport to my hotel before I arrived. If the hotel sends a car, for example, it is usually more expensive but in my view money well spent. If I don't have transport set up, I take the time to get information first at an information counter or tourist center. At most airports and train or bus stations, this information is in the meantime readily available because, after all, tourism is a well-paying industry.
After arrival at the accommodation, I secure my valuables first the way I described in the previous post.
At the Destination
Part of the joy of traveling is for me the process of exploring places, tours, and events at my destination while still at home. While doing so, I already consider safety concerns and possible precautions. My most important precaution besides the information is the attempt to blend in as much as possible (further information see below under solo women travelers and when I discuss specific destinations later).
I also always get maps because my sense of direction is practically non-existent, and they are also nice souvenirs for me. A word of caution, I try not to use these maps in public as they would identify me right away as a (lost) tourist.
In the evening in my room, I figure out my tour for the next day and write the route and other important information onto unassuming little pieces of paper including how I will get to and from the destination back to my hotel. Nowadays, I always book a hotel with WIFI in my room as the Internet can be a good source for details, pictures, and maps. I also get a business card of the hotel. With these preparations, I am ready for the new day.
During the day, I use a common-sense approach to avoid insecure situations and activities using my gathered information.
In future posts, I will point out precautions for the specific location when I talk about my experiences traveling (and living and working) on five continents.
Health
I take it that you get the respective health information for your destination and take every precaution recommended.
Nevertheless, I always pack a small medical kit with the core component being medication against diarrhea like Immodium. Even in a place deemed safe, I easily get Dehli Belly or Montezuma's Revenge, and I hate my travel plans to be disrupted by it. My explanation for this is that at every destination the 'bacteria landscape' is different and my gut needs to get used to it.
(Body) Language
Part of my preparation is the effort to learn the local greetings as language and body language because the well-known handshake is not everywhere appropriate. Furthermore, gestures that most Europeans and Americans think of as harmless like the thumbs-up might be offensive elsewhere.
Solo Women Travelers
My mother planted the 'travel bug' early in me taking me on at least two vacations a year from camping by Lake Ossiach in Austria to swimming in the Mediterranean in Sousse, Tunisia.
Therefore, I was thrilled when I could land a job that would have me traveling extensively across Europe. My assistant once joked that my office was in the air. Little did we know more than 30 years ago that with the invention of laptops this would once be the norm for business trips.
As I was a solo woman traveler myself many times either on business or pleasure trips, this is a topic close to my heart. I was always very aware of my status but also had numerous pleasurable encounters either with helpful locals or fellow female travelers as I avoid to get too close to men in that situation. You never know.
Is the destination far away or not quite safe I will try to find a reputable travel company that offers group tours. The advantage is that I am guided and protected and have company.
Clothing
Traveling alone as a woman is certainly not the time and place to show off revealing clothes and valuable jewelry in comparison to other women in the surroundings. It doesn't mean that we have to cover our faces in the Middle East for example, but moderate dress code is appropriate.
I made both mistakes:
In Paris of all places, I was clearly overdressed when after a business trip, I wanted to see a bit more and got on the Metro. After a while driving through the suburbs, I noticed some hostile glances in my direction.
I had broken the rule of paying attention to my surroundings. I felt so disheartened that I got off the train and went back to the city center where I was just one of many...
When I was in Israel, I spent the first 2 weeks in Tel Aviv, which has a completely westernized atmosphere including the dress code, so I would go to the beach in shorts and a tank top.
For the rest of my 3 months in the country, I had signed up for a kibbutz where I could stay for free in exchange for 6 hours of work per day. I had chosen one in walking distance to the beach near Haifa in the north of Israel.
When I arrived, nobody was at the reception, and so I changed into my beach wear and went for a walk to the beach.
What I could not have known was the fact that near the kibbutz was an Arabic village, and the agreement between the two was that the kibbutz would use the beach on the weekend and the villagers during the week.
It was during the week, and the beach was filled with children from the village. For them, I was dressed too revealing as a woman, and they started to pelt me with wet sand. I learned that day that wet sand thrown on bare skin is very painful...
Restaurants
Discovering restaurants with good local food is a hobby that I adopted early from my mother. We look where the locals go as tourist restaurants are many times overpriced and the food is not the best.
Although as much as I enjoy traveling alone, I never got used to eating alone in a restaurant. Over the years, I have adapted with the following strategy.
In a new place, I try out some restaurants and select the one I like best. I will ask the waiters about the food and their recommendations. Right after the first visits, I will leave a generous tip, so that they remember me when I return. This has always guaranteed a smile, preferential treatment, and a good table.
In Kyoto, Japan, I asked some clerks in a souvenir shop about a good restaurant, and they recommended one in the back of a fishmonger. Although it was in the Nikishi Market, a famous market frequented by many tourists, only locals knew about the restaurant, and the cook was stunned to see me. Luckily, he spoke some English, so on my last day, I gave him all my Yen and asked him for a good meal. As you can see, he delivered.
In many Japanese restaurants, the cook prepares the dishes right under your eyes. My last meal...
Happy and safe traveling to all of you!
If you have ever been the victim of any kind on a trip, please share your story in the comment box.
Please also comment on whether you have other tips and like the blog post. As this is my second post, I want every help to improve.
If you have a similar topic you want me to write about, please let me know.