Traveling to different countries around the world is a lifelong dream for most of us, and when we finally achieve that dream, we often get too excited that we often forget that not all places that we can visit are 100% safe. Whenever we visit some countries, we would sometimes get too carefree, and in these situations, there will be some nefarious people in particular areas that will take advantage of you and compromise your safety. So, to avoid these instances, it would be best to always stay alert and safe so that you won’t lose belongings or important documents. Here are tips for staying safe while traveling.
Do Some Research About Your Destination
Before you travel to the country you intend to visit, you will need to do some research first about the places within that country that are safer for tourists. Through this research, you will know which places or areas to avoid, as most countries would have “danger zones” that are typically filled with criminals and other people that can take advantage of non-locals.
Doing research is also beneficial if you want to plan out where you want to go so that you can maximize the days that you will be staying in the country. In addition, you will also have a chance to see the best hotels in the country that offer the safest and most comfortable rooms. So, don’t forget to Google for the country you are visiting to get these perks.
Create Multiple Copies of Important Travel Documents
There will be several situations where you may need copies of important travel documents like passports, visas, and other identification cards. So, it is essential to always be prepared by having multiple copies of these travel documents, which you may also need if one of those documents gets lost or stolen. Besides printing these documents, you can also scan them and save them online so that you can have a copy available on the internet if ever you can’t print them out.
Avoid Using the Public Wi-Fi
The internet is very important if we want to contact our loved ones while in another country or if we want to meet up with our travel buddies after deciding to walk around town on our own. Most travelers or tourists would often use public Wi-Fi since they don’t have SIM cards that allow them to use mobile data in the country. Unfortunately, the public Wi-Fi is often a place where hackers would lurk and find potential prey because of how open and unsecured the connection is.
To avoid getting your phone hacked, it would be best to buy a SIM card in the country you visited, although you would also need an unlocked smartphone that isn’t locked to one particular mobile service provider or carrier. In this circumstance, the next best thing you can do is to download a VPN (virtual private network) app before you go to another country. This VPN app would allow you to gain access to private internet connections in the country you will be visiting.
Always Send Updates to Your Loved Ones
While traveling, it is normal for most of us to contact our friends or family members to let them see what we are seeing at a popular tourist spot. But, contacting them actually has some neat safety features. For one, contacting them or updating them every once in a while will let them know where you are so that when they can’t contact you anymore, they can just report to the local police where you last talked to them. It is essential to keep them updated on the area you are in in the country so that authorities can have a much easier time locating you if ever your phone batteries are at 0% or if there are unfortunate incidents that occurred during your trip.
Keep Your Hotel Room Safe
No matter how well the hotel advertised their rooms as “safe,” you will still need to make sure that there won’t be any spy cameras or loose locks in the room you are staying in. Before you can fully settle inside the room, perform some inspection by checking every nook and cranny of the room for any spy cameras that are cleverly hidden in furniture or in the walls.
In addition, make sure that the lock of the room isn’t loose. If it is loose, you can call the hotel front desk services and ask for a transfer to another room that has a much safer lock. Always remember to inspect the room so that there won’t be other people spying or getting inside your room.
Try to Blend In
If you have been to a tourist spot in your country, you would often see that tourists act and look very different from the locals. Their “difference” would actually make them more susceptible to getting taken advantage of by scammers and criminals. So, if you are going to another country, you should try your best to blend into the crowd and look like a local. You can watch YouTube videos about the culture and specific mannerisms of the locals in the area you are visiting, and you may also want to learn a little bit of their language not to blend in better but to also help you communicate with the locals.
These are just some simple tips on how to stay safe while traveling. Remember to always remain alert and aware of your surroundings whenever you are traveling to a country you have never been to. By being aware and alert, you will have a much more comfortable and convenient time checking out different tourist spots while also avoiding dangerous places and people.