When you travel to other countries, you will fall into one of two categories: You'll trust everyone and think everyone is your friend and there to help you, or just the opposite, you'll be a paranoid who thinks they just want to kidnap you and harm you.
The truth is neither. Not everyone wants to be your friend, but not everyone wants to hurt you either. There will always be a middle ground, with a strong inclination towards the kindness of people.
Therefore, it is important to always keep a few safety tips in mind when traveling to Europe, Asia, Africa or any other part of the world.
Most of these travel safety tips may seem obvious and reasonable to you, but they do say that common sense is the least used. So it is worth remembering.
1. Always look around you.
It doesn't matter if the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat or any other monument rises before your eyes, if a large crowd is watching the same, don't forget to look around occasionally.
Many people take advantage of these little moments of tourist amazement to make their mischief, so be careful that this doesn't happen to you. You don't need to be suspicious of everyone around you, just a quick glance over your shoulder is enough.
A security study has shown that a thief avoids robbing people who are more attentive to their surroundings. Therefore, your first safety tip for traveling abroad is to develop the habit of paying attention to your surroundings.
2. Don't act or look like a victim.
Criminals choose their victims based on certain characteristics, including walking or acting like victims.
If you pretend to be a person who at least resists attack, they most likely won't attack you. If I am a thief, why would I choose someone who will resist when I can choose someone who is easier to rob?
3. Let it go.
If you were the unlucky one and got mugged, let it go.
Nothing is as valuable as your life. So if someone steals your money, wallet, cell phone, computer, etc. Give it to him and do not resist.
The safest thing is that the thief doesn't want to have any problems and disappears as soon as he has your things. Therefore it is better to act calmly and give in.
4. Don't carry all your money with you.
This is one travel safety tip you should remember: never put all your eggs in one basket.
If something happens, such as a robbery, this way you can be sure you haven't lost everything and can still continue traveling.
5. Always close your bag or backpack.
When you are in a foreign country, everything around you is new and surprising and often you want to take the camera out of your bag or backpack as soon as possible to take a picture, but almost certainly you forget to close the bag at that moment.
Most of the travelers' things are lost because they don't take care to reseal their bags, and that doesn't mean they were stolen. Walking around is enough for some of your things to fall out of your pocket onto the street without you realizing it.
Make it a habit to constantly check that your bag and backpack are closed, and you will see that you will not lose anything.
6. Don't put your wallet in the back of your pocket.
Closing your pocket is important, but what about the men?? The recommendation is simple: put your wallet in the front pockets of your pants so you know where you have it at all times.
Try to get into this habit while you are still at home, so it will be easier for you when you travel. In time, you'll find that it's not only safer, but also more practical.
7. Scan all your documents.
Passport, birth certificate, health insurance and international health insurance, driver's license, ID card, military service card (if any), proof of address, etc.
Scan it, save it in your email, send a copy of that email to your parents or best friend, and keep an extra copy in a flash drive to have on hand at all times.
8. Educate yourself a bit about the most common scams of the place you will be traveling to.
Each region has a con that characterizes it. Most involve children stealing your wallet while you give them candy or take a picture with them. Other better made ones involve Chinese female students "practicing English" Want and where you end up paying for a tea service, in another scam you tour the city in a tuk-tuk and from one moment to the next you pay for a suit tailored for you.
There is no country, no matter how developed, that doesn't have fraud. It's just a matter of being vigilant and not "overly friendly" Trust people or those who "practice English" in the middle of the street Want.
9. Have travel insurance.
Accidents and diseases can happen at any moment and in any place. There is nothing worse than having to interrupt your trip because you had to pay a hospital bill and you have no money to continue traveling or, even worse, to leave the country.
10. Don't forget the vaccinations.
Before you start your trip, be sure to visit a clinic that specializes in travel sickness to see if you need any special vaccinations.
The only mandatory vaccination is against yellow fever, but this only needs to be administered if you are traveling to or coming from a high-risk area. The rest are recommendations, I personally believe that you should not skimp on health, and if there is such a thing as a vaccination that eliminates the risk of getting sick, I will have it given to me.
11. Avoid drugs.
I am not against them, but in some countries the use of drugs can have very serious consequences, such as the death penalty.
No need to be "strong Be drugs, in some countries even alcohol is forbidden. So be very careful and better informed before you go to this country.
12. Do not show affection in public.
Some of us are very affectionate and we have no problems kissing, hugging or walking hand in hand with our partner or close friend. In other countries this is very frowned upon and can even result in fines.
If you are traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and some regions of Africa, better limit your displays of affection to the privacy of your hotel.
13. Don't part with your belongings. If you have two backpacks with you, they should always be close to you and all zippers have a lock.
Your bags and backpacks should become an extension of you, you should never part with them unless absolutely necessary.
If you are traveling on a train with bunk beds, try to have your backpacks in the same bed you are sleeping in. I have heard stories from travelers throughout Asia of individuals scurrying through train cars at night to pull out what they can find from backpacks.
Make small locks on all zippers of your backpacks. If someone wants to steal from you, they will find their way, but you should at least not make it so easy for them to do so.
14 – Do not give money, sweets or gifts to anyone on the street. And even less to the children.
There are two points why you should not do it.
In terms of security, often the one thing you do when you pull out your wallet for a donation is you use it to show others where you keep it, so it's likely that a person will be willing to pull it out for you later on.
On the other hand, there are countries where poverty will break your heart, but it's in these countries that you'll do more harm than good if you give the kids some money, a piece of candy, or even a pencil.
If you do this, you are still supporting poverty and that people will continue to beg. Especially children who see that they can get something by reaching out to a tourist, prefer to go to the street and beg instead of going to school. In time, as they grow older, they see foreigners only as a means to get money.
As harsh and radical as this may sound, it is reality. Please avoid giving anything to the street kids. If you want to help, you'd be better off making a donation or volunteering at a non-profit organization that addresses the problem from the ground up.
15. Avoid using your credit card or passwords in an Internet cafe or public WLAN. Use ggfs. better a VPN.
Many internet cafes have programs that save what you type on the keyboard. It can therefore be risky to use a password. If it is UNCONDITIONALLY necessary to access a personal account in such a place, change the password as soon as possible afterwards.
But this is not all: in some public places where you can use free wifi, there are people who can read the data you send and receive, including your bank details when you buy something online or access your electronic banking.
The safest way to avoid this is to use a VPN.
16. Avoid feeding wild animals.
The only thing you are accomplishing is getting the animals used to receiving food from humans, which not only changes their behavior patterns and makes them more aggressive, but by extension, modifies the entire ecosystem.
Animals are largely responsible for maintaining the balance of the ecosystem by feeding on certain plants, animals or other insects that could be pests. If you get a species used to consuming what the tourists give them, rather than what they should be feeding on, this can have a very strong ecological impact.
Without forgetting that you are also encouraging them to become aggressive towards future tourists if they decide not to feed them. Therefore you better break this vicious circle.
17. Don't give in to social pressure.
Whether you are the killjoy or the boring traveler, if your instinct tells you that something is not good or risky, you should not do it.
This doesn't mean you become an anti-social person who avoids people or doesn't want to party. Just listen to your instinct when it is necessary. Many of the most dangerous activities I've done were because I got carried away with collective thinking.
18. Don't look at your cell phone when you walk down the street.
If you get lost or need to reply to a message, stop and go to the side to do so. If you're in an unfamiliar place and focused on the cell phone, you'll lose concentration, making you vulnerable to accidents or robberies.
19. Always lock your hotel door.
Not necessarily because of muggings, but on more than one occasion, some confused drunk or another has tried to enter my hotel room at 4 a.m. while I was asleep. To avoid these types of situations, better always lock your door.
20. The problem is the bowl or the ice.
In countries where there is not a good drinking water supply, the main problem is not the food itself, which is cooked at high temperatures, killing bacteria and microorganisms.
The problem is in the fruit or vegetables that are washed with this water and then not cooked. In Asia and South America, most foreigners, especially Europeans, marvel at the variety of fruits available and their low prices, but they are the first to fall victim to Moctezuma's revenge.
If you are going to eat fruit, try to make it thick-skinned like oranges, or if washed by others, this should be at a reliable water source. If not, wash it yourself before you eat it.
An exaggerated recommendation that is often given is that you should brush your teeth with bottled water. Honestly I never do this and personally speaking I find it ridiculous.