Traveler Safety Tips From Seasoned Travelers

10 Traveler Safety Tips From Seasoned Travelers

Travel is not always a breeze. It is not always as glamorous as it is portrayed by the glossy and heavily edited pictures that crowd social media vying with each other to grab your eyeballs. Travel while a pleasant experience at most times can be traumatic and painful too at times. There are issues of safety irrespective of which country you are traveling in or whether you are traveling solo, as a couple, or with your family.

Here are 10 traveler safety tips while traveling that are sure to come in handy to ensure that your travel experience is as pleasant as possible. These traveler safety tips are based on our own experiences of traveling over the years in different parts of the world. These are good holiday travel safety tips as well as business travel safety tips.

1. Be Aware Of Scamsters

Whether we like it or not, scams are a reality and they happen everywhere. Most scams originate from Railway Stations, Bus Stands, or Airports. It is in these places that the scamsters look for their prey. One needs to be extra vigilant at these places and try and use credible means of transport like public transport or licensed cabs to get into town, one needs to be more careful especially during late hours.

We were once scammed in Delhi, the capital of our own country when we alighted at the railway station early in the morning. The scam was to get us into a hotel other than the one which had been booked for us. Thankfully, we did not fall for it though an elaborate web of lies and deceit was woven around it. Thankfully we learned a lesson and have been vigilant whenever we alight at an airport, railway station, or bus station, including in our own city!

2. Be Wary Of Strangers

Most travelers would at some time or the other come across that excessively sweet-talking stranger who seems Oh so helpful! He could be the driver who is taking you to your hotel or a stranger who befriended you on the train. Beware of these sweet talkers they are usually not up to anything good. There are genuine people too around but it is not always easy to separate the chaff from the grain and it is better to err on the side of caution.

We had an experience that ensured we missed our train when we were at Roma Termini. We have had drivers sweet talk to us but we have maintained a polite distance which always helps and sends the signal that we cannot be messed with. Travel security is of paramount importance and being vigilant always pays.

3. Keep An Eye On Your Bags

The mystery of the disappearing bag, can become a reality if you are careless and leave your bags unattended. This is especially so in crowded public places like Railway Stations, Airports, etc.. Always ensure that your bags are near you when traveling alone or deposited in lockers if you want some more freedom. If you are in a group, it helps as you can help each other to keep an eye on the bags.

4. Keep Your Cash In Different Places

One of the most frustrating moments is when you realize that you have been robbed. You have lost all your cash and cards! So what to do? The situation becomes more grave if you are in an unfamiliar city in a foreign land. To avoid such unfortunate eventualities, use the simple and age-old advice, “do not put all your eggs in one basket”. Distribute your cash in different bags and maybe your cards too. This will ensure that you have something to fall back on in case of emergencies. Indeed a one of the most useful of vacation safety tips.

5. Exercise Caution While Using Public Wifi

One very important aspect that could make you vulnerable while traveling to cyber attacks and data stealing is the use of public Wifi systems. This could be in a hotel, a shopping complex, or the airport. You may be exposing valuable data like personal information, bank, and credit card details, and much more to the prying eyes of a hacker. One must ensure that one logs in to secure internet access while traveling. To ensure the safety of your valuable data it is best to use a VPN service. If you want to know more about a VPN and how it can ensure the protection of your data, you can check out this resource about VPN.

This is important not only in the course of international travel but is also one of the very very important international travel safety tips.

6. Get All Required Vaccines

Health is another issue that can be a dampener while traveling. Again precaution is always better than cure. If you are traveling to countries that mandate certain vaccines, do ensure that you have taken them and well within the time frame prescribed. This ensures that you are fully protected. For example, one is required to take the Yellow Fever Vaccine if traveling to or from some of the African countries and so on. This is one of the critical international travel safety tips

7. Stay Safe At ATM’s

ATM’s are the places which can attract muggers or robbers. This is particularly true if the ATM is located in lonely and desolate places. If you are in a new city and need to withdraw cash, make sure you do not go to a remote or secluded ATM, rather prefer to use on in a public place with people around. Also, be vigilant before and after dispensing and collecting cash.

8. Beware Of Pickpockets in Crowded Areas

The Ticket collector on the train asked us to show our tickets. I reached for the back pocket of my jeans for my wallet. Of course, there was no wallet! My pocket had been picked. I had lost my cards, cash, and tickets. But fortunately, we had cash stowed away elsewhere and had to buy fresh tickets. That was the last time I kept my wallet in my back pocket. The wallet always goes into my front pocket since that day. We all learn from our experiences, don’t we?

9. Take Care of Your Travel Documents 

We were waiting at the airport in Zurich. A man was running, fully out of breath and stopped only when he reached the counter that was in front of us. The girl behind the counter smiled and handed him over his passport. The guy had apparently left it at the counter. He was lucky. But everyone may not be that lucky every time. So ensure to keep your travel documents on your person or safely locked in your hotel locker when you are traveling. Definitely one of the most useful of travelers safety tips.

10. Don’t Accept Food or Drink From Strangers

While traveling it is natural that you make friends. Strangers become close and friendships blossom and chance acquaintances transform into life long friendships. But this does not happen always. So be wary about strangers, at least till you have spent decent time with them and know something about their antecedents. Be careful when they offer you a drink or food, decline politely, but firmly. This could be a scam with the food or drink being spiked. It happens everywhere, so always best to exercise caution, rather than regret later. This is indeed one of the most important safety tips for traveling to be kept in mind.

We hope that these traveler safety tips come in handy and make your travel safer. However these are by no means exhaustive and just a collection of what we thought is important, based on our own experiences. Do let us know what is your most important safety tips for travel?

Do You Love Traveling?

Do you want to know how to travel the world? We have put together a very useful travel resources page with best travel tips. Go check it out now.

Thanks for visiting our site Voyager – imvoyager.com and taking the time to read this post!

If you wish to collaborate/work with us then reach us at [email protected]

We’d love if you’d comment by sharing your thoughts on this post and share this post on social media and with your friends.

[shareaholic app=”share_buttons” id=”27413782″]

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Follow our journey on our social media channels:
Facebook   Twitter   Instagram  Pinterest G+ YouTube