Hi all! I spent last month in London and Edinburgh with my lovely and talented wife. We were there mostly for her career, and some couples time, which left me with the time and focus to think about travel safety from the point of view of a safety professional and lifelong martial artist. During that time, I used a few things in real time and saw the results. I figured I’d write today about what I think are the five most important.
1. Leave Early
We’ve all done techniques when we were slow. It didn’t work out well. We’ve all done techniques at exactly the right time, and it feels great. It works great, too. Now, think about how it feels when you do them in a hurry.
The same goes for almost everything else, including moving safely through spaces we’re unfamiliar with. Whether it’s on the road to the airport, making connections in a subway, or walking through the park, our attention is divided and we make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes can put us in danger. We miss cues, or our footing, and things go downhill.
In my experience, the best solution to this is to leave early for every destination from the time you close your door on your way out, to reaching the gate for your last connecting flight. When you leave early, you can move through spaces alertly and with more focus. If something goes wrong, you still have time. If nothing goes wrong, you have a few minutes on the other end to explore the areas around your destination.
2. Know How to Do an Advance
An advance is the trade term for what bodyguards do before their client visits a potentially harmful location. They research the space, contact local law enforcement, and send a subteam out there to scout out the ground. Very few of us have the time or money to do this, but there are things we can do:
- Use Google Maps to look at the neighborhoods we’ll visit
- Familiarize ourselves with public transportation details through the local website
- Look up the US or Australian country safety reports on our destination
- Do a search for crime statistics and crime news for the places we will visit
- Contact anybody we know who has experience in the area
- Familiarize ourselves with the ways the laws there differ from the laws where we live
- Use the SafeEsteem website to get a detailed report of safety factors from that place
- Map the route from our hotel to the nearest police station, embassy, and hospital
- Contact our hotel’s concierge to get tips and advice
Showing up with all of that information already in hand makes safety easier from two angles. First, you know things you should know. Second, you’re not spending energy learning that stuff while you’re on the move, which leaves you more mental energy for awareness and analysis.
Speaking of hotels…
3. Don’t Skimp on the Hotel
I get it: hotel sticker shock is a thing. When we plan our travel, most of the time we worry about the price of airfare, but even a week in a decent hotel will run well over $1000 dollars. That makes it tempting to stay in a not-so-decent hotel. For most travel experiences, that’s a mistake.
Good hotels tend to be in good, safer neighborhoods. They have the budget to keep safety features like sprinklers and locks well-maintained. They worry about their reputation and work to keep guests safe. They follow fire codes, and vet their staff. When you add that to having a more comfortable room and more amenities, it’s worth the extra investment.
While you’re thinking about your hotel, also remember to book your room between the 2nd and 7th stories. Stay off the 1st, so random passersby won’t try to jimmy your window. Stay below the 8th because most fire truck ladders can’t reach that high. (Note: the 7th floor thing is for developed countries. For developing nations, make this fact part of your advance research to know how far up you can stay and still get rescued).
4. Know About Traffic, and Breathe
I cannot tell you how many times I looked to the left, started stepping into traffic, and almost got creamed by the natural traffic coming from my right. This mistake among US travelers to the UK is so common, they made a joke about it in Arrested Development, and it’s only the beginning.
Rules about pedestrian right of way, changing lanes, seatbelts, speeding, and any number of things all change from country to country and region to region. So do laws and codes about how safe a vehicle needs to be, and the regulation about public transportation. So do the customs and mores around bribery for parking and traffic violations. It pays to research this, if possible from an experienced local or expat, before trying to cross the road.
One technique I also started using was to take a deep, meditative breath before trying to cross the street. I found this helped me not act on my (totally incorrect and dangerous) instinct, and instead remember to look for the differences.
5. Move With Purpose
You’ve heard this before: if you walk like you know where you’re going, bad guys won’t target you as often because you look like a harder target. If you walk like you’re confused, you get on their radars. That’s great for when you actually know where you’re going, but what about the times you’re relying on GPS to make your way? I have three solutions for this.
First, when you can do your research ahead of time. Use your GPS app and Google maps, plus any paper maps you happen to have and plot then memorize your route ahead of time. This works well for shorter and simpler trips, for example when you know how to get to the subway, and your destination is visible from your stop.
Second, when you have to use a map or GPS while in transit, do it in batches. Stop somewhere safe, preferably with some privacy (or use down time while on public transportation) to figure out your route for a few blocks. Walk that route with confidence, watching to see if you’re followed, then find a spot to plan your next leg. Repeat as often as necessary, and remember that restrooms or a table at a cafe are great spots for this.
Third, when in doubt, follow the crowd. Just walk with purpose along with the flow of traffic or the largest group of people. When you have a chance, nip off into a cafe or public restroom and get your bearings in private.
What Do You Think?
A complete list of important travel safety tips contains far more than five items. What are the big ones you’ve used over the years? Comment about them and let’s talk.
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