Security tips for traveling abroad

When you start traveling to other countries you will fall into one of these two categories: You will become extremely confident of everyone, you will think that everyone is your friend and they are there to help you or on the contrary, a paranoid believing that all they want is to kidnap you and hurt you.

The truth is that neither. Not everyone wants to be your friend but not everyone wants to hurt you. It will always be a mid-point, with a very pronounced inclination toward the goodness of people.

So it is important to always keep in mind a couple of safety tips to travel to Europe, Asia, and Africa or anywhere in the world.

Here are safety tips for traveling abroad:

Most of these travel safety tips may seem obvious or common sense, but they say that common sense is the least common of the senses so it is worth remembering them.

  • Always look at your surroundings.

It does not matter that the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, Machu Pichu, Angkor Wat or any other monument is before your eyes, if there is a crowd observing the same do not forget to occasionally look at your surroundings.

Many people take advantage of these small moments of tourist perplexity to make theirs so do not let that happen to you. You do not need to distrust anyone around you, just a little glance over your shoulder will suffice.

A security study revealed that a thief will avoid attacking people who are more alert to their surroundings, so as your first safety advice to travel abroad is to develop the habit of looking at your surroundings.

Continuing with this same study people select their victims due to certain traits, among them, why they walk or act as victims.

If you pretend that you are a person who is at least going to resist an attack, they will most likely not attack you. If I am a thief, why choose someone who will fight if I can choose someone easier to assault?

Nothing is as valuable as your life, so if someone asks you for your money, wallet, cell phone, computer, etc., give it to them and do not put up resistance.

Most likely, the thief does not look for problems and leaves once he gets things, so it’s better to act calmly.

  • Close your bag or backpack all the time.

When you are in a foreign country, everything around you is new and surprising and more than once you will want to take the camera out of your bag or backpack as fast as you can to take a picture, but it is likely that at that moment you will forget to close the bag again.

Most of the lost things of the travelers is because they do not have the due care of closing their bags again and it does not mean that they have been stolen, simply walking is more than enough for any of your things to jump on the street without you noticing.

Create the habit of constantly checking that your bag and backpack are closed and you will see that you will not lose anything again. This behavior I have seen especially in Europe, so as a safety tip to travel to Europe: Close your backpack.

  • Do not put your wallet back

Close the bag is important, but what about men? The recommendation is simple, load the wallet in the front pockets of the pants so you will know where you have it at all times.

Try to generate this habit since you are at home so it will be easier when you are traveling, with time you will realize that it is not only safer but also more practical.

  • Scan all your documents

Passport, birth certificate, national medical expenses insurance and international medical insurance, driver’s license, national identification, military service card (if you have one), proof of address, etc.

Scan them, save them in your email, send a copy of that email to your parents or best friend and also keep an additional copy in a USB to have them on hand at all times.

  • Learn a little about the most frequent scams where you are going

Each region has a scam that characterizes it, in another article I will talk about them but before traveling try to inform you. Most involve children who steal your wallet while you give them a candy or take a picture with them, other more elaborate involve Chinese students who want to “practice English” and end up paying for a tea game.

There is no country, no matter how developed, that does not have some kind of scam, it’s just a matter of being alert and not trusting people who are “overly friendly” or who “want to practice English” in the middle of the street.