Traveling is an exciting phase in everyone’s life. The excitement starts from the minute you begin planning, fixing the travel dates, the destination, and so on. Every travel holds a different adventure, anxiety, and eye-opening experience. Whether you are traveling solo or in a group, you should stay prepared to prevent any mishappenings. You must plan your entire trip considering yours and your travel partners’ safety. Before you hit the road, make sure to install roof rack accessories on your vehicle to carry your luggage comfortably and have enough space inside the vehicle.
Here are the seven amazing tips for staying safe while traveling.
1. Phone security and tracking tools
Phones and laptops contain sensitive information that can cause major problems if stolen. Theft, security threat, and cybercrime are quite common, and especially when you are traveling, you are more prone to that zone.
The first and foremost thing that you must do before starting your trip is using a strong password, or fingerprint to protect your electronic devices. The password must be a combination of numbers, acronyms, and special characters. Another security tip for your phone is saving battery usage. Unwanted apps running in the background can drain your mobile battery. Before traveling, uninstall all these unused apps. It is useful, especially when you are off to a trek or hike. Lastly, enable location tracking in your electronic devices and install software to track and destroy your mobile data if stolen.
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2. Don’t share travel details on public platforms
Vacations, business trips, or weekend trips, whatever it be, people love to post everything on their social media channels. We understand that you feel the excitement and want to share it with your friends and family. Apart from your loved ones, you are also inviting thieves and scammers to your travel details. Criminals go through your social media posts, and they can plan to scam or plan a burglar attack in your house when you are away. As per time’s magazine, almost 78% of criminals use public platforms to plan their next theft. Your posts are good enough details for a criminal to hatch a plan. That is not just limited to home burglary, but your finances are also under theft and fraud. Therefore, avoid posting your passport details, boarding passes, and other travel-related documents.
3. Carry only the essentials
Travel light and carry only the essential items that you will need while traveling. Documents like birth certificates, debit/credit cards are not very important. Instead, take your passport, one id proof, and one travel wallet. Your travel wallets should have currencies, tickets, id proofs, and debit/credit cards. Once you have reached the destination, you can keep your hotel key cards also in it. This way, you stay organized and know where to look for a document. Do take a colored photocopy of your passport, just to be prepared in case of any theft.
Apart from the documents, you should only carry essential electronic items. It reduces the chances of any theft.
4. Share your travel itinerary with your family/friends
Your family and friends always want good for you. So, it is essential to keep them informed about your travel itinerary. Once you have decided on your travel destination, booked your flights and hotels, then you can share the details with your loved ones. The best way to let everyone on the same page is by mailing the details in your closed circle. Once you have sent the details, let them know and ask them to check it. You can check with them in a day or two, whether they have received the mail and gone through them or not.
The benefit of keeping someone in the loop of your travel plans is that in case they don’t hear from you on a particular date, then they can notify the local authorities to check if you are in some kind of situation.
5. Be Aware Of Your Clothing
Locals can easily distinguish between a tourist and a local based on your dressing style. Fancy clothing gets you unwanted attention from intruders, thieves, and scammers. Therefore the more casually dressed you are, the less attention you get from perverse people. Before starting your journey, gather some knowledge of the location, about their culture, their dressing style, or any women-specific rules/laws. Some regions have different clothing styles for women, and you must follow those as a sign of respect. Not adhering to the local customs and the dress code guidelines signifies arrogance and insensitivity.
It is best to dress up conservatively when traveling to a traditionalistic country. For the best opinion, you can ask any local friend/person through a Facebook group to understand the local culture.
6. Food & Water Safety
You can’t restrict yourself from trying out new food and drinks while traveling, but you can control which places you dine in. Precaution from eating and drinking from shady outlets is very dangerous. Someone can take advantage of you, steal your things, and you might not even be in a position to react or later remember the things that happened.
To avoid it, you must always eat in popular dining outlets, especially where you see a sizeable crowd. Let the restaurant person know if you are allergic to anything. Eat only well-cooked food items. Eating peelable fruits will reduce your chances of getting bacteria and infections.
Another critical point is to carry your water bottle all the time. It will reduce environmental waste as well as your money. In case you forget your water bottle, you should buy filtered water only.
7. Monitor credit cards and reports
When traveling, it is a good idea to keep a budget for everything. While dining out or shopping, its a habit of making an online payment or through credit cards, and we don’t keep track of the amount we are spending. You should check your credit/debit card reports at the end of every day while traveling to see any unusual activities. In case of any fraud, you can immediately notify the concerned authorities, which will save you from too much loss.
Conclusion:
Now that you know the safety measures plan your next trip with a relaxed mind. Though not everything can be in our control, the things that are in our control are planning and preparation in prior. Make lots of memories, make new friends, and have fun.