Travel Safety

Everything is so dangerous that nothing is really very frightening.
Gertrude Stein

Most Americans, whether they travel abroad or stay at home, will die of health related causes, particularly cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and communicable diseases (like AIDS) that can be prevented through eating correctly, exercise, avoiding cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs, and many other non-glamorous but effective life style choices. Travel is nowhere near as dangerous as any of these behaviors.

Terrorism

• About one in a million American overseas tourists have been a victim of terrorism (an average of 26 Americans die per year). You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning than becoming a terrorist victim.
  
  
• To avoid terrorism completely, you would need to avoid anywhere large crowds congregate or could produce a loud and dangerous explosion (significant landmarks, schools, hospitals, nuclear/electric plants, military installations, and airports/train stations/bus stations). Think for a few minutes about what is surrounding your home and you?ll soon discover that you are in the heart of a potential terrorist target.
  

Three Canons of Safety

Canon One: Develop good instincts

• Remember that man, like all other animals, is instinctively trained to sense danger. We are constantly subconsciously searching our environments for things that seem wrong. No species can survive without these instincts. Crime experts, and police officials have a litany of stories of crime victims who somehow had a sense that something wasn?t right and decided to ignore these instincts at their own peril.
  
• Our conscious mind is not able to pick up on as many clues as our subconscious mind. Often if a crime expert carefully observed whatever seemed to make you uncomfortable, he or she would find good logical reasons why your instincts were right in the first place.
  
• Be suspicious of anyone who distracts your attention. I simply put my hand out in front of me and say politely ?I am not interested? if I sense someone is distracting me. This is one of the first phrases I learn in another country?s language before embarking on a trip. I particularly would advise you to ignore people who in anyway attempt to touch you.

Canon Two: Try to Fit in Anywhere in the World

• Dress like the locals as much as possible. In most of the world, men should wear casual business style attire such as Oxford or polo style shirts (long sleeve or short sleeve is fine), khaki or chino pants, and boat shoes.
  
• Do not go native in your clothing. You?ll probably buy the wrong clothes and inadvertently insult the locals. Many male travelers dress in native clothes that are meant to be worn by women. In addition, as the world becomes increasingly globalized, native costumes are becoming the province of the elderly and the poor.
  
• Respect local people. Find out about their history, culture, and values. Ask them for their advice and help. Before you say anything critical, ask yourself, ?Would I like it if a foreigner came to your home and said that?? If the answer is no, keep those thoughts to yourself. Remember if local residents respect you they will steer you away from danger spots and provide assistance should you get into trouble.

Canon Three: Learn How to Become More Alert

• If you live in a safe part of your home country, spend a couple of days in a less safe area before traveling abroad. Most of the survival skills and instincts that?ll serve you well in less safe parts of your home country will apply abroad as well.
  
• Learn what potential problems may exist in your destination. Then do some research about how to avoid these specific problems before leaving your home. This will help to make you a more prepared and comfortable traveler.

How to select safe traditional tourist options

Exercise some caution in selecting the company that organizes your vacation. Go through a travel agency to help you select the best option for your budget, personality, and needs. If you use a travel agency in your destination, investigate these local agencies ahead of time. Read guidebooks to help you choose your providers. Go on traveler?s bulletin boards and post an inquiry about the quality of a company you are interested in using.

Special issues for independent travelers

The most common problem independent travelers will encounter in developing countries (including former communist nations) will be locals who try to charge you more than locals. How you handle this is up to you. I usually will bargain with them a bit, but, don?t get upset if I have to pay more than locals. Remember most of these people are poor and you, by their standards, are rich. In many countries, even local wealthy people pay slightly more for services than average citizens. It is a way of redistributing wealth in countries without any social safety nets.

Places to Avoid

The world only has a few regions that should be avoided. Most of them are not places of significant tourist interest. At the time of this writing (Fall 2004) these are the places that travelers should actively avoid:

• Chechnya and parts of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
• Parts of the Great Lakes region of Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
• Most of rural Colombia
• Liberia and parts of the Cote d?Ivoire and Sierra Leone
• Parts of Zimbabwe
• Iraq, most of Afghanistan (with the possible exception of Kabul) and some border regions of Iran.
• The Kashmir area of India and parts of Northern Pakistan and Sri Lanka
• Most of Sudan and Somalia.
• Haiti

The areas to avoid change periodically. Check travel advisories by the US, Canadian, British, and Australian government to assess your travel dangers. Read the US State Department travel warnings skeptically. Like most things in the USA, they are written to avoid liability and are thus overly cautious. However, the warnings do sometimes provide useful information about places to avoid. Keep in mind that if the US State Department issued warnings about traveling in the USA, probably all foreign tourists would be confined to small towns in Iowa! Read the travel advisories for Canada or Australia to maintain a sense of balance. I have frequently traveled to area that US government advised against visiting that were quite safe. If all four countries advise against visiting an area, heed their advice.

Women Travelers

• Always pay attention to the way local women act and dress at your destination. Try to follow their steps. Ask local women for advice about how to act as much as possible.
  
• In some parts of the world, you may want to wear a wedding ring and indicate to local men that you are waiting for your husband to arrive.
  
• Sometimes, you may also want to travel in a small group preferably with at least one man in the group.
  
• In the rare event that something bad happens to you, contact your consulate. They may be able to arrange for health care, psychological counseling, and they can loan you money to get home.
  
• Watch your surroundings to make sure that you haven?t inadvertently entered a male only zone. In many parts of the world, men and women are much more segregated than in the US and Western Europe. Bars are often exclusively reserved for men and any women inside are considered prostitutes.

Transportation

• Vary the places that you pick up taxis so that your route is not too predictable to taxi cab drivers.
  
• Don?t have taxi cabs drop you off in front of your destination. Pick a corner nearby.
  
• Keep watch on your possessions at bus stations, train stations, and anywhere tourists congregate en-masse. These destinations attract the most organized and professional thieves.
  
• Find out as much as you can about getting from the airport to the city ahead of time. Generally, hotel shuttles are the safest and cheapest way to travel.
  
• In third world countries, try to take planes and trains over buses if possible. Accidents often happen to tourists overseas on local buses. If you do take a bus, take a first class bus, if possible.
  

Luggage and personal possessions

• If you have to put down baggage to go to the bathroom, place the luggage against the back wall and if possible select the stall that abuts the wall.
  
• Take as few valuables as possible with you. Don?t pack them in your regular baggage. Put only your least valuable things in easily accessible backpack pockets.
  
• Don?t put your full home address on your luggage tags particularly if it will be in open view. Use your business, hotel, or another more public address.
  
• Buy a luggage strap to put around your luggage. The bag will be easier to identify and less difficult to quickly enter for thieves.
  

Avoiding Trouble

• Develop a habit of keeping anything of value out of plain view. It is too much of a temptation especially to poor people.
  
• Think twice before driving a car in a third world country. This is particularly good advice if you will travel across a border. It is common to be assessed a tax (sometimes legitimately) to bring a car into another country. In addition, many countries will assume that you are guilty in the case of an accident.
  
• Be cautious about accepting food or cigarettes from strangers (particularly on public transportation). They are sometimes laced with chemicals to make you sleep so that someone can rob your stuff. Most travel safety guidebooks tell you categorically to decline these offers. However, I don?t know that I?d give this warning always. I would admonish you to follow this advice if you don?t trust the person; and/or are traveling on a popular tourist route.
  
• Generally, if there are a lot of people, food is fresh and doesn?t have much chance to attract bacteria. If you can, check out how the food is prepared. Avoid unpeeled fruits and salad. Pour some lime over your food. It?ll help kill bacteria. Check to find out if local water is drinkable. If it is not, buy bottled water or put iodine drops into the water.
  

Money

• Protect your money and passport in a money belt. Men may want to also buy a belt with an inside zipper. While it is too small for you to put your passport, it is a good place for you to hide some money for use in case of an emergency.
  
• ATMs are generally the best way to access money today. You can avoid carrying large amounts of money and avoid the high expense and problems associated with carrying travelers? checks. If you use ATMs try to keep your PIN out of sight of would be assailants. If possible use machines inside of banks. Some countries, like Brazil and Mexico, have gypsy ATMs that are designed to steal an imprint of your card.
  
• Stop putting your wallet in your back pocket. It is much harder for a thief to get your wallet from your front pocket. Buy pants with buttons or zippers to discourage thieves.