Travelling can be great fun. It’s a great chance to explore the world, relax with your family and friends, celebrate a loved one’s wedding/birthday/anniversary/whatever-else-you-like-to-celebrate or do whatever you like.
There are no right or wrong reasons to travel, they just have to be right for you! While this is the case, it is also very important to stay safe and ensure you get the most out of your holiday.
You want to come back from holiday with memories, possession and everything you left with pretty intact and not the other way around so it’s important to pay attention to the following tips and tricks to stay safe on holiday.
1.) Keep shiny and attractive stuff out of sight
The easiest way to avoid being a target. Showing off your possessions or sticking out like a sore thumb can attract unsavoury characters to you like bees to honey!
2.) Do your research and find out how safe the location is
Before you leave, find out information about where you’re headed off to so you don’t arrive cluelessly.
It only takes minutes to do this and websites like the UK’s Official Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Travel Website provides relevant advice on each country you could possibly visit.
The advise is also not just UK-centric (though some things like mention of embassies and British tourism stats are) so anyone from any country can get great travel advice from the FCO website.
3.) Make sure your phone is charged
If you need to use it to make calls or even your Google maps (or offline maps), you want to make sure that you can access it.
Back up phone chargers also come highly recommended (e.g. This one here, here or here)
4.) Dress comfortably
Effectively the point here is that if you need to get into action, the last thing you want to do is to be barely able to move in those jeans that are too tight or to be tottering down cobbled streets in high heels.
This is context-specific of course – if you were sightseeing in Central London then you can pretty much wear whatever the heck you like (pardon my French) 🙂 but I probably would advise that you exercise a bit of caution if you’re headed on a night out in Honduras.
Of course, I’m not saying wear slacks everywhere but ensure your clothes are apt to whatever situation you’re in.
5.) Be aware of your surroundings
You can sometimes spot something dodgy going on around you and so many tourists have avoided being in sticky situations but being alert in certain travel destinations so this is an important tip to remember.
Immerse yourself in your surrounding but be aware that you’re not at home and so how you act and what you should look out for is slightly different from being at home.
6.) Beware of gifts from strangers
Seems like an obvious one doesn’t it but I can’t tell you the amount of ‘gifts’ that could potentially slip under the radar with this one – an offer to taste some food/snacks for free… free drinks from the handsome/beautiful stranger at the bar.
These type of things seems harmless and fun but can be the start of a person getting drugged, robbed, assaulted or so much else.
Again, I wouldn’t be as worried about this in certain travel destinations but it’s always worth bearing in mind that unless you know the source of said ‘gift’, you can never really guarantee what it is.
7.) Make note of landmarks and if you’re travelling with a group, organise a meeting point
I always advise ‘getting lost’ in cities but by getting lost, I don’t mean for you to have no idea where you are entirely (though that can happen sometimes). By getting lost, I mean, get rid of the maps and just wander where your heart tells you – while doing this wandering, of course, make sure you pay attention to where you’re going to so you can trace your steps back.
8.) Tell people you trust what your plans are
Let people know where you are and what you’re up to so if your behaviour is a bit ‘out of the ordinary’, they know how to contact you or where to find you.
9.) Make a note of the local emergency services numbers
Remember though that emergency service responses vary from country to country so it’s probably best to get a sense of what the emergency services are like prior to your journey.
10.) Keep your precious/expensive belongings in the hotel safe
If you have no access to a safe, speak to the reception – they typically have storage facilities for expensive items.
11.) Speaking of expensive items, perhaps try to leave them at home
You do not need that Rolex watch on a holiday to Italy (it’s probably best to even take no watch so you can forget all about time.
That watch is probably not going to make your holiday any more enjoyable and if anything is just something else to worry about.
12.) Take out travel insurance
Everyone knows how insurance works so no need to explain that on here but the last thing you want is to be stranded on holiday/travelling with no backup plan!
Let someone else worry about the hassle of financially securing your belongings for you.
13.) Don’t play around with stray dogs or cats
They are NOT like the ones you have at home.
They might be sweet and nice but in some cases, they can be quite dangerous and the last thing you need is to be bitten by a stray dog or worse still, contract rabies.
14.) Keep a backup source of money
Always have an emergency stash just in case! It helps spread the risk of losing all your money in one go.
Most countries accept debit cards so it’s probably good to advise to travel with as little cash as you possibly can.
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