Tips to have a Safe Travel

1. Do Research

As soon as you make up your mind to travel somewhere, you have one primary important project to do; research, research, and research! You may ask yourself what’s the reason for so much insist on doing the research before travelling?! Or you may think we are exaggerating about it because you didn’t do research before your previous travels and you didn’t face any trouble. Yes, you were lucky! But always remember that it is out of control and you will make better decisions if you are aware of that situation. Also, you will enjoy better budget management and take more activities into account in your itinerary. First of all, try to understand what types of activities are available at your destination which can help you plan your itinerary and take the time to find online resources. Second, research is needed to perceive the vaccinations or any other kinds of medical precautions for travelling abroad. You should be aware of your destination required items such as checking with your health provider or going to a travel clinic. It’s also fruitful to check the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website to know more about infectious diseases and their consequences on humans. After that, you should check the currency and try to use the currency of the intended country during your travelling. Finally, try to learn more about culture and cultural differences to be able to interact appropriately with locals and don’t get shocked by some differences from your own culture.

2. Have Travel Insurance

I remember that I was always worried during my travel, especially when I was in a taxi, bus, or train. I used to put my backpack instead of a pillow on the train to be sure it won’t get stolen. Now, there are no other worries about my valuable stuff, especially about my laptop, camera, or cellphone. Try to get travel insurance and be comfortable because if you lose them they will be replaced by a new one; it doesn’t matter how careful you think you are, it may happen. So, for sure try to guarantee your travel with insurance and take it into mind to choose those with Covid-19 coverage.

3. Luck up your Valuables

You may think lucked backpacks will minimize the opportunities for thieves. But you should know that a lucked backpack is not a scary deterrent because the zipper will easily be opened by a sharp object. Don’t get scattered mind and keep an eye on your valuable stuff. One thing you can do is to ask your hotel maid for secure storage options, room safe, lockers, or a locked storage area. You shouldn’t also carry a large amount of money with you. Before leaving your city, let the bank know where you are going in order to create an international account for you so that you can receive money from the ATMs with your credit cards. It would be a good idea to use a neck wallet to keep your cash and credit cards close to your body but it may be annoying when you need to take them in and out often. The best way can be using mobile payment applications. Don’t ignore the effect of body language and the message your body sends to scams and thieves. If you are sitting in a comfortable manner without much attention to your surroundings, they won’t lose this opportunity to deceive you. Try to keep your head up and demonstrate you are aware of what is happening in the surrounding area.

4. Don’t be in Attention Center

When you’re travelling abroad, try to dress as the locals do and don’t be an obvious tourist. Women should put emphasis on this issue and get rid of unpleasant attention by dressing appropriately. There is another important factor regarding your dress: you should be culturally sensitive to dress codes to respect local expectations and as a consequence, enjoy your trip. If your destination country is a certain Islamic one, there are some requirements that tourists must obey such as covering arms, legs, hair, etc. You should take care not to use flashy jewellery which makes you an obvious target for robbery. Deposit them to your family or friends especially while travelling to crowded areas. One of the most important tips is to drink responsibly, and don’t forget safe drinking in public specifically if you’re a woman. Also, in case you prefer participating in the local nightlife, take care not to be in danger of scams or robbery.

5. Have Copies of Documents with you

There are some essential documents you need to have during your journey: driver’s license, passport, travel visa, all identification docs, travel insurance plan details, travel itinerary details, tickets for events, and COVID-19 travel docs. You should take some copies of those you think are more essential not to be in trouble if they get lost.

6. Let the Family Have Your Itinerary

No matter how old you are and how expert in travelling! When you decide to go on a journey, try to share your detailed itinerary with one or multiple people you trust. Unfortunately, we don’t get the importance until we face troubles on our trip. Some people complain that they are not a child anymore and there is no need to explain where they exactly are, but it’s a wise job to do so because you may yourself fall into trouble and need help or something happens to your family which you are not aware of. There are lots of people, especially those experienced ones that share their detailed itinerary even when they have a trip on a short distance.

7. Ask Locals for Help

When you are in a new and strange place, the best and most efficient way to gather detailed information about places is to ask for help from locals. But you should also pay attention that all strangers are not trustworthy to help you. You should test the perceived information; the wisest way is to check that information by asking two or more people to be sure you have the right details because robbers or scams will not lose the fortune to deceive a tourist or give him/her wrong details/address. If you’re intended to participate in some tours or call for a tour guide, locals are the best choice because they are familiar with that environment better, they can help you while facing problems, you can make new friends and sometimes get familiar with their families, and you will pay directly to the locals. Generally, it would be a good idea to learn some basic self-defence techniques and learn when to apply them. We don’t mean that you should have black-belt skills, but be able to defend yourself in unpredictable dangerous situations. As the author of Sam Harris stated:

“Do whatever you can to avoid a physical confrontation, but the moment avoidance fails, attack explosively for the purposes of escape.”

8. Don’t Trust Strangers

In the previous section, we suggested you receive help from locals but there is a caution here. If you are a nice guy, you may always think all people are as nice as you. However, there are lots of dissimulated people that you should take care of; it would be better to avoid giving information to strangers about your place, your aims of visiting, your job, etc. Don’t allow strangers to enter your room in the hotel or carry your stuff. If you need room services, call the person in charge of doing that and take your valuable things with you.

9. Don’t Put Yourself in Danger

Lots of people like having photos of all places they visit to share on Instagram or save in their albums. That’s interesting but sometimes, it can cause problems. Be careful not to do risky activities just to receive likes on social media. We’ve heard several news about people falling down from the cliffs or being attacked by wild animals when they were trying to take different amazing photos. Thus, pay attention to your personal limits and consider posted signs to avoid dangers. As the last point, try to respect locals and keep places clean in order to receive the respect back and spend a memorable time.

10. Learn about Scams

Everyone thinks s/he is so smart to be scammed but it can happen. As Matt suggests out of his several years of experience in travelling, there are several common travel scams such as broken taxi meters, overbooked/closed hotels, free bracelets or rosemary, spills on your clothing, fake police officers, the attraction being closed, friendly ATM helpers, flirtatious local woman, fake transportation tickets, fake hotel wakeup call, motorbike rental damage, fake WiFi hubs, child/injured beggars, group photo offer. Be aware and conscious about what is happening around you. You can read more about the travel scams and proposed avoidance ways on the link below: https://expertvagabond.com/common-travel-scams/