It’s a fact – you are most likely to be the victim of theft or crime when travelling. This is generally because you are distracted by finding your direction or admiring new sights, and paying less attention than you should to people around you. Tourists are more likely to travel by public transport, raising the risk of pickpockets, and unfortunately tourists are likely to be carrying all their personal valuables and electronics with them, unlike local shoppers! All these reasons make it essential to be aware of your vulnerability as a traveller, and take steps to minimize the risk. Here are travel tips to keep you streetwise in a foreign country.
- Designer bags and matching luggage look really nice but they mark you out as someone worth mugging! Designer brand clothing, fancy gadgets, luxury watches and expensive status symbols are best left at home. Instead, use costume jewellery, cheap watches and basic luggage and let some other fool be mugged when travelling abroad.
- Beware of anyone that approaches you. Fund raisers, beggars, persons asking for directions, and even kids are always suspect as they can be a distraction. The fund raising scam is very popular in Paris. A group of girls who claim to be deaf and mute will approach you with a clipboard requesting your signature and while signing, an accomplice will try to pickpocket you.
- When you check into your hotel or hostel, pick up a business card when you check in. keep it in your pocket and it can serve as a local contact in case of emergency. You can also show it to a taxi driver in countries such as China and Russia that do not have a Roman alphabet. It may not make sense to you, but it will to a local taxi driver.
- When you leave your room to go hiking, leave a note detailing your destination. If you have an accident or fail to return, the maid is likely to see it and it will give the emergency services a good place to start searching for you. Of course, you are highly likely to return to your room safely so you can rip up the note, throw it in the bin and no-one will be any the wiser.
- Avoid standing on a street corner studying a map – nothing marks you out more as a tourist! Although most locals will be happy to offer genuine assistance, it has been known for opportunistic thieves to direct you to a dark alley or a bad part of town and then take advantage of your situation. If you need to look at a map, sit at a café table and do it discreetly. Alternatively download maps onto your handheld device and view it offline. If necessary, take photographs of maps and view then as PDFs on your smartphone or pocketsize tablet.
- When it comes to food and drink, never accept a drink from a stranger, whether on the street or in a nightclub. It may not have been hygienically prepared and your drink may have been spiked. Make sure all water bottles have an unbroken seal to ensure it has not been filled with local well water or worse. Keep you drink with you at all times, even on the dance floor and show you are streetwise and not an easy victim for criminals.
Of course, millions of travellers every year return home and safe and sound. By following these useful travel tips you can ensure you will do the same.
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