So you’re going on a fun-filled adventure wrought with excitement, peril, and beauty. You may travel to the exotic or familiar. You may travel by automobile, plane, train, or foot. Whether you’re in it for the journey or the destination, nobody likes being put between a rock and a hard place, you want your itinerary to be fulfilled without a hitch.
Here are some tips on how to travel safely:
1. Watch your back
My mother would always tell me this. She never felt I had my own best intentions in mind, and, admittedly, I’m a bit of a space cadet, so she’d constantly worry that I wasn’t watching my back. It’s important to keep your wits about you. Speaking as someone who has been mugged at gunpoint, I know how quickly you can go from being lost or unfamiliar to being in mortal danger. That was an adventure, but not the type anyone wants to have. Everything can be replaced, a human life is much more valuable than his or her possessions, but some things can’ be replaced when you’re traveling — don’t lose your passport when traveling internationally. Always stay with your group and protect each other, and keep the items you need to survive the trip close at hand or in a secure and accessible place.
2. Remember Your Brain Is A Computer Too
It’s great that you have a fancy smartphone that you can bark directions at and it will obey your every whim, but it isn’t as reliable as you are to yourself. Study maps and directions to plot out your adventure beforehand, and try to memorize them. This will allow you to enjoy the sights you came to see rather than have your head glued to a screen, not to mention you’re less likely to attract undesired attention now that you aren’t flashing around a shiny gadget.
3. Trust No one
I don’t just mean to be worried about kidnappers and bloodthirsty crooks. We all know stranger danger. I also mean it in the lighter sense. If someone gives you directions or where to travel to for this or that, there may have been a misunderstanding in communication on your part or theirs, even if you speak the same language. Take everything with a grain of salt, and get a second opinion whenever possible.