Great Travel Safety Advice from 4 Top Women Travel Bloggers
I was recently asked by a reader to write a post on travel safety for women. It’s a really relevant topic and one that every woman who thinks about traveling probably pores over in her own mind. Since I believe in the notion of, “ask 7 people, you’ll get 7 answers”, and because each of those answers probably has something valuable within it, I decided to call upon 4 of my favorite women travel bloggers to ask them about safety issues while on the road.
This group of women includes those who have traveled alone, with partners and with family. They are citizens of the U.S., England, Canada, and South Africa. They have traveled six of our continents (unless one went to Antartica that I’m not aware of!) and their travels have spanned nearly 4 decades.
I’m pleased to present some great travel safety advice for women from Janice Waugh of SoloTraveler,Lea Woodward of Location Independent,Cath Duncan of Mine Your Resources, Evelyn Hannon of Journeywoman and my own two cents as well.
What do you look for when choosing a destination in terms of safety?
-Janice- I choose my destination first and then look at safety issues. If I conclude that I won’t feel safe where I want to go, I don’t go alone – at least at first. I find someone to enter the trip with and from there decide whether to continue alone.
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-Lea- Well, if I’m researching somewhere completely new, I’ll usually start with checking out the basic requirements like finding out about civil wars/unrest, recent natural disasters, weather warnings or very high crime rates – www.fco.gov.uk (or the US equivalent) is a good place to start.
Even if somewhere has a supposedly high crime rate, it’s useful to look at the types of crime before ruling a place out and speak to locals & other visitors to get the real story. For example, you often hear how violent and dangerous South Africa is and yet we spent 9 months in Cape Town and a couple of other places in South Africa without any problems with crime whatsoever.
Also, when it comes to weather, I’ll consider different seasonal threats like hurricanes, storms or heatwaves. Although again, we stayed in Grenada during hurricane season and it was absolutely fine & much cheaper being out of season.
I’ll also consider the availability & quality of medical facilities – and this is going to be even more of a consideration now that we’ll be traveling with a baby.
-Cath- When it comes to crime and safety, most of the places we’ve traveled to are safer than my home country, South Africa, so we don’t pay great attention to considering how safe a destination is! Having said that, we haven’t done much travel to developing countries – we’ve been traveling mostly Southern Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. We choose our travel destinations around my husband’s work contracts and since he’s in software development, we’re usually on the “first world” continents where most people speak English. We have a bunch of other criteria that we use, to decide our destination (such as the quality of internet connection so that I can run my business, whether we have friends we’d like to visit there, and what sort of events and experiences that destination gives us access to), and safety is probably pretty low on the list – I guess we assume that safety isn’t a big problem.
-Evelyn- I do what I tell all my Journeywoman readers to do — Research, research, research in books, on the internet and, most importantly in discussion with other women who have traveled there before you. My research always includes a visit to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website (www.voyage.gc.ca) They have a section on Travel Reports and Warnings that serve as my personal travel safety guide. I recommend HERmail.net a free directory of women willing to mentor other women traveling to their part of the world, as well as the booklet, Her Own Way, A Woman’s Guide to Safe and Successful Travel which I wrote for the Canadian Government. Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Journeywoman.com my own online travel resource for women that contains thousands of tips for the female traveler.
- Carmen - I want to say first that I look at general safety of an area. This has nothing to do with being a woman but more generally whether it is safe for anyone to travel in a region at a given time. For this I use the U.S. Department of State site on international travel. You can look up any country in the world, read about safety concerns and see the latest warnings. If the descriptions or warnings raise my concerns enough, the destination is off the table (I’m particularly conservative about this because I’m traveling with my 3 daughters). After that I do a lot of Google research, read travel forums and expat forums where safety of particular places may be discussed by people who are actually living there or have traveled there in recent times. It’s important to be sure these are current because safety can really change from year to year or month to month even.
Have you had any travel experiences where you felt unsafe as a woman? What did you do?
-Janice- I have been in such situations. To feel safe I stay in very public and well lit places. If I feel that I need help, I look around and ask for it – usually from another woman. Even if I don’t speak the language, people usually understand quickly that you just need a bit of assistance and become protective.
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-Lea- Years ago, when I went inter-railing around Europe with a couple of girlfriends, we visited Budapest, Hungary before it really took off as a tourist destination. Having decided to split up for half a day, we all went our separate ways. Perhaps it was the combination of not speaking or understanding the language whatsoever, it not being particularly touristy and it being a dark, rainy day with strange men wandering about everywhere but I felt quite unsafe & threatened. I headed to the nearest McDonald’s and stayed there for the rest of the time!
-Cath- Only the times when I was sitting on the back of my husband’s motorcycle, driving 100km/hr over loose gravel in terrible winds in Namibia! Oh, and the time when we slid and crashed on a wet clay road in Namibia – that too!
Having been a Social Worker in the gang-ridden Cape Flats area in Cape Town for a few years (where you get used to the sound of gunshots), and worked in Child Protection in London following that, where I learned to become comfortable with aggression directed at me, and had to conduct risk assessments as part of my role, I think to some degree I’ve developed the ability to feel okay in potentially unsafe situations, and hopefully to make an appropriate risk assessment in the moment.
I’ve had plenty of intimidating and threatening experiences as a Social Worker, but never whilst traveling, but then again I’m usually with my husband, who is 6’5 and pretty mean-looking! I think I would definitely feel less comfortable in a place where I didn’t speak the language – particularly in very poor countries where I know that people have so little that they have nothing to lose from doing crime and violence. Part of my security with handling aggression is in knowing I can talk someone down from their aggression or panic, and I’d lose that if they didn’t speak English.
-Evelyn- In Vietnam I was in a taxi with two other women and the driver who spoke no English demanded an outlandish sum of money. Clearly his meter was rigged. When we protested he pulled out a lead pipe. We paid him, no questions asked. It wasn’t worth the possibility of physical danger. Lesson learned — from that time on I’ve always used only recommended taxi cabs. Thank goodness I’ve never been in another situation where I’ve felt ‘heart-thumping’ unsafe. I’ve had times when men have followed me on the street in daylight hours. Either I’ve ducked into a shop and engaged the merchant’s help or in more trafficked areas I’ve turned around, pointed my finger and shouted very loud in English, ‘You, go away now’ over and over. Inevitably people have stopped and the anti-social fellow has slunk away. I didn’t need to know the language he spoke. He understood from my gestures and tone of voice exactly what I meant.
-Carmen- in my past I think I was walking around with a sign that read “Target” on my back. I have been robbed several times both in my dwelling and in-person muggings and once someone tried to pull me into a car in Bogota, Colombia. I have also been threatened with jail in Guatemala by a customs officer who really wanted bribe money. On top of that I can’t count the number of times someone has leered, touched, or made rude comments to me that made me uncomfortable. Each time I tried to maintain my calm, ask for help in public if needed, be sure I was not in isolated places, etc. You might wonder why I have continued to travel with all those experiences, but seriously, the positive experiences have far outweighed the negative. That said, I do not venture into places like Colombia anymore now that I have the girls to worry about.
Are there any parts of the world you have avoided because of safety concerns?
-Janice- I consider my travel to have been pretty tame so far – mostly Europe and North America. This is largely because the less familiar the culture, the more challenging it is to travel solo. But the more I do, the more confident I am. I am making plans for South America for next March. The following year I’ll go to Asia. The more I travel the more I branch out.
-Lea- When we visited Panama and were considering some side trips around the country, we avoided the area bordering Colombia since it’s known for kidnappings at gunpoint. We’ve also avoided certain parts of South Africa due to reports of violent crime and have also avoided certain parts of the Middle East, although my brother who lives in Dubai regularly travels to & does business in Beirut and other places where bombings seem quite a frequent occurrence!
-Cath- Not yet, but we’d love to tour through Africa by motorcycle, and we’d take great care to check out which countries to avoid, when we do that.
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-Evelyn- I won’t go anywhere where religion and custom asks that women be covered completely from head to toe. I’d always be afraid that unconsciously I was breaking one of the rules because I didn’t know enough about how women should behave in that culture.
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-Carmen – Yes, after having many incidents occur and now having the girls with me I am much more careful now about researching places. I do not go to areas with serious travel warnings. I would also avoid areas where females are significantly oppressed. So for us, that cuts out some places in the middle east, parts of Africa, and certain areas of South America where kidnappings etc are still common.
Are there any parts of the world where you’ve felt particularly safe?
-Janice- North America, Europe and Australia all feel very safe. They are familiar culturally. Cuba also feels safe as it is a very safe country generally.
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-Lea- Belize City wasn’t somewhere I’d rush to go back to but by and large, I’ve always taken sensible precautions when traveling so have always felt relatively safe.
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-Cath- I feel totally safe in the UK and USA, where I’ll think nothing of taking a run in an isolated area by myself. When we first went to the USA, I was pretty scared by the indemnity forms we had to sign for going river rafting, for example. Their legal documents made it sound like we were doing something very risky, but it turned out to be a gentle paddle! I’ve learned now that the American warning signs in forests and National Parks are mostly overkill and an attempt to cover themselves if anything does go wrong, rather than a real indication of risk!
-Evelyn- I felt very safe in Denmark. Somehow there was a very tolerant ‘live and let live’ attitude in the air. Even in the Eighties, a woman alone just didn’t attract extra attention or personal harassment.
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-Carmen- Yes, I lived in Japan for almost a year and felt perfectly safe even walking the streets alone at night. I never experienced even a hint of worry there about my safety. Holland and France also felt quite safe although we did keep our eyes open for pickpocketing in Paris. I also feel reasonably safe here in Florianopolis, Brazil, although my older girls do experience some rude behaviors from men in the street – it has never been anything threatening so far.
What personal strategies do you use on the road to stay safe?
-Janice- I have five basic rules:
1.Stay in Public.
2.Be proactive. E.g. Choose who I speak with rather than let them choose me.
3.Engage others in my safety. Create a protective buffer with those I choose. Ask for help.
4.Never be rushed into a decision. This is a tactic of those who want to lead you astray.
5.Be rude if necessary. This isn’t natural to me but I have done it to be safe.
-Lea- Mostly the same that I’ll use when visiting any big city or strange, unknown place to me – whether I’m traveling alone or not.
These include:
* Carrying a basic first aid kit
* Always knowing the emergency services number(s) & having it plugged into my phone
* Having an ICE (In Case of Emergency) number plugged into my phone
* Avoiding dark alleys, deserted streets or known areas of danger after dark
* Being careful about flashing gadgets & expensive equipment when out & about
* Always having adequate travel & medical insurance
-Cath- The weird thing is that I think much more about the issue of safety when I’m “home,” in South Africa! We’ve been fortunate to have never been victims of crime (other than stolen goods), but we know a lot of people who’ve had terrible experiences, so we’re very cautious. We have an alarm system at home, indoors and outdoors, and I set the outdoor alarm if I’m alone at home, so I’d know if someone hopped over our wall. And we’re very careful and alert when we’re leaving or returning to our home, because that’s when most car hijackings happen, so I’ll switch off my car radio, look 360′ around me, keep checking all mirrors, drive in (after I’ve checked that the backyard is unoccupied and there’s no sign of anyone having entered the property) and close the electronic gate immediately. I never leave any goods in the car, I never put my bag on the passenger seat (people smash the window and grab it at the street lights). I would never run alone, except on the very busy main roads. When I’m driving alone at night, I stay off certain roads. I don’t use public transport. I have the emergency services number on speed-dial on my phone, I tell my husband where I’m going and will call him to tell him I’m on my way home if I’m driving alone at night. I don’t wear flashy jewelery or revealing clothing. It’s sad because we have such beautiful natural resources in South Africa, but I don’t go up the mountain or to other remote parts of nature by myself. It might seem like a lot to be doing all of this, but we’re so used to doing it that it’s an unconscious and automatic habit now, that we do without thinking or getting into feeling unsafe.
Last month, while in the USA, I realized how deeply ingrained and automatic these safety habits are. We stayed with friends in Colorado and they told us to just close the door and leave the keys on the table (with the door unlocked), when we left their accommodation. This felt VERY weird! And I was amazed when a friend left her iPhone lying on the front seat of my car and saw no problem doing that.
We tend to be more conscious of our physical safety when we’re traveling by motorcycle. We wear full gear all the time, even when it was 45′C traveling through the Namibian Desert. And we check out the quality of the roads and watch the weather.
-Evelyn- I’ve been traveling solo for 37 years and my personal credo is to always ‘ be aware’ regarding the people who approach me, the food and drink they offer, their invitations to me, etc. Most are authentic gestures and helpful; it’s the others I must be concerned about. I try to choose small personal lodgings rather than large impersonal hotels. I always dress ‘down’ not ‘up’; I travel to observe the other culture not to draw attention to myself. I learn from the behavior of females living in that destination. If they don’t sit solo in cafes in the evening, neither do I, etc. Most important — trust your female intuition. If a hotel or a place doesn’t feel safe, just walk away.
-Carmen- There are several things I do and am trying to teach my kids to do as well.
- First, always be alert to your surroundings, walk with confidence and if you’re being harrassed with rude comments ignore them and walk on.
- Know where you are going before you leave. Looking lost or confused in the street is an invitation to anyone who may want to take advantage of you.
- Do not go out alone at night or venture into dark alleyways or other isolated areas.
- Do not display your valuables. Flashing IPhones, IPods, fancy jewelry, a wallet full of credit cards, etc. is like wearing a neon sign that says “Rob Me and You’ll Get Rich!”
-Wear your backpack on your stomach in areas where you feel you can be pick-pocketed.
- Spread the wealth – wear layers and clothing with many pockets. Spread your important belongings throughout your body. In other words, a bit of cash in your inner jacket pocket, a bit in your sock, a credit card in your zipped shorts pocket and another one in your bra maybe. That way if a pick pocket finds one of your stashes you will still be able to function. Same thing in your dwelling. If you are worried about robbery, spread your valuable around hidden in uncommon places. I once had a burglar ransack my aunt’s apartment when I was living with her and I was really proud that he found nothing of my most valuable possessions even though he demolished the place. Where was my stuff? My cash was inside my hairspray can top, my camera was in the bottom of the dirty clothes pile and my two rings were in the bottom of my vitamin c jar.
Do you have any other advice for women who are thinking about traveling alone?
-Janice- Safety first. Fun second (I never drink too much.) But, oh, do it! It’s a wonderful, empowering, growing experience.
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-Lea- Learn to listen to and trust your instincts – they are usually right. If a situation feels “off”, then get out of it as fast as possible.
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-Cath- Stay aware and alert – avoid alcohol and drugs. And then trust your gut – your body will always let you know if you’re in danger.
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-Evelyn- Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step to one of the most fulfilling experiences you will ever have. Like every other skill it requires practice to get the full enjoyment so don’t give up. Start simply; travel someplace close to home for a few days. Gradually go on to bigger adventures until you’ve experienced a culture where they don’t speak your language at all. Then the real fun begins!
-Carmen- be smart, stay alert, don’t compromise yourself with drugs or alcohol when you’re not in the safety of friends, and have a great time. Remember, for every person out to get you there are probably a hundred ready to help you.
