Travel Safety: What To Do When Your Guard Comes Down, And Things Start To Go Wrong, Go Wrong, Go Wrong….
Keeping one’s valuables safe from long fingered money-hungry pickpockets is something all backpackers try to keep in mind when travelling.
We dutifully buy a moneybelt with all the latest security doodahs, load it up with our important documents (passport, plane ticket, travellers’ cheques), and try to keep the pesky thieves at bay by being vigilant.
But sometimes, our guard comes down, and we forget to take all the precautions we meant to, or just get distracted – it only has to happen once, for a moment, and those stealthy long fingers run off with our precious, hard-to-replace cargo.
Christopher Coffman went backpacking recently and had just such an experience. He wrote about it for the Washington Post:
Life could not have been better that fateful morning in Madrid. I was riding the Metro with my buddy Pete, with whom I’d been backpacking around Europe for nearly six weeks. We’d just seen Picasso’s “Guernica” at the Reina Sofia museum. A recent college graduate, I was having the time of my life and would go home in five days as World Conqueror. Nothing could go wrong.
But go wrong it most certainly did…
When I reached inside my money belt for my fare card, I realized that, in the short ride from the Reina Sofia to the Plaza de Toros, I had been robbed…. My ill-advised tendency to use the money belt like a fanny pack (instead of like a locked safe) had caught up with me. I lost my European railway pass, my passport, my Air India ticket from London to New York, my positive mood and much of my perspective on the trip’s direction.
Backpackers might find the rest of the article rather useful – some great insights into coping with this kind of travel disaster, as well as how to avoid other common travel mistakes he made (like assuming that an airport used by budget airlines is easy to reach at all hours – and within a short time).
Related entries:
Do You Play It Safe When You Travel?
Travel resources backpackers might find useful:
KeepYouSafe.com – Keep safe copies of important paperwork, information, and documents in one place online
Book hostels – choose from over 12,000 hostels worldwide!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers
Travel newsletter – sign up for our free monthly travel newsletter ‘From The Road’
Posted in General Travel, Travel Tips & Planning
March 30, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Please feel free to reprint or share this article on travel safety by Master Hughes of the National Meditation Center.But plase send u a link to the article .
Email nmc@nationalmeditation.org ph 936-827-2486
Personal security and the adventurous traveler.
With the heightened awareness of the dangers of traveling the world. Many security experts have published articles on how to avoid being a victim.
But the adventuress American often travels alone to exciting destinations, such as the Philippines or Thailand. Despite the advice on how to travel safely we continuously find ourselves victims of the local criminal element.
It is becoming clear that the best security advice is often ignored by young and old, whom assure others that they can take care of themselves. The question is why do travelers ignore personal safety information.
There is one major problem with much of the personal security advice provided to travelers. First the writers fail to have the specific security training relating to travel and second they almost always exclude what is referred to as the human factor in security.
The human factor is the primary reason that year after year those traveling continue to be victims. Human factors can include our cultural or world expectations and our natural desires that create the situation in which we find ourselves at risk.
For example while we all know not to travel alone we often do, we also know that going to meet strangers is not a good idea but we still do, often finding ourselves victims of muggings, scams and other shenanigans in some foreign country. The human factor has also caused numerous fatalities. Even individuals who have undergone a specific training program have become victims.
Simply because the human factor in security is not correlated to logic or common sense.
For example you may weigh a total of 100 pounds soaking wet, but you go to the local bar in the Philippines, secure in the feeling that you can take care of yourself. Because of the human factor we consider ourselves invincible only to become victims. You will also often find out that the local police think you deserve what we got.
Commons sense tells us we could be placing ourselves in a bad situation but we ignore it. The human factor also encourages our belief that we are American and every one knows that we are the best at every thing. We often fail to even research the customs of the country that were going to, were quick to criticize something if we fill it is ignorant.
Both bad mistakes when we find ourselves surrounded by local citizens who feel that we have insulted there belief system. Were also especially at risk to social engineering often referred to as con man tactics. Social engineering in some cultures is very advanced at certain levels. Americans are often easy victims were obviously ignorant of the realities of life in many countries. Social engineering is a basic survival system for people living in poverty stricken countries.
How many travelers have been taken, by simple to advanced con games even as simple as the local gang of kinds emptying our pockets while we think they just love us.
How to avoid being a victim of the human factor.
1. Learn about the customs of the country your visiting and don’t judge it by your own beliefs.
2. Understand that in many countries being out spoken is not considered polite or appropriate. Our human factor encourages us to teach others, even if it they don’t want to know.
3. Remember your natural desire for companionship makes you an easy target especially at the local club.
4. Assuming others will tell you the truth or come to your aid, is a bad mistake in countries like India or the Philippines you’re on your own.
5. Dresses in a reserved way don’t expect to do what you always do without attracting the wrong kind of attention.
Yes wearing a money belt that others can’t see is an important physical security method. Also looking to see if the taxicab driver has the proper Id on the mirror.
But the minute you set foot on foreign soil your natural beliefs ideas and ways of life, make it easy to become a victim of social engineering and manipulation. Don’t go to meet the girl you meet at the bar or sightseeing with the extra friendly tour guide you meet on the corner. Include the human factor and realize that your regular and natural habits make you a target.
Take the time to learn about situational awareness create an understanding of the Human factor and have a great and safe adventure.
Article by Master Hughes of the National Meditation Center http://www.nationalmeditation.org The center gives Personal Security Awareness (PSA) training to improve situational awareness and avoidance strategies for home and travel security, invasions, car jacking, burglaries, and armed assaults. Survival mindset. Attack recognition, vehicle security, residential security & criminal mindset. Risk assessment; assess people, reading body language surroundings.