Travel Tips and
Travel Advice: Safety and Security During Travel at
Home and Abroad
Key Articles
Buy a money belt and be prepared to use it
The best protection for your passport, credit cards, ATM cards,
tickets, cash, and travelers checks is to keep them in your money belt.
Read our article for recommendations on selecting and using a money
belt.
Car safety and security while traveling
If you will be renting an automobile
while on vacation, read our recommendations help secure your
vehicle.
Lodging and security recommendations
Follow our guidelines for personal safety inside hotels to help ensure
that your hotel stay is non-eventful.
Make a list of those important numbers
No, not your telephone numbers! A list of your
credit card, ATM, traveler check, passport, and other important numbers
that identify you should be kept stored in your money belt, in
case of emergency. Find out what to record and why.
Pickpockets "Dips" are
out there everywhere, waiting to lift your wallet, purse, or whatever
they can remove. Read our review and avoid the most common
techniques used by pickpockets.
Recognizing and avoiding con artists and scams
Tourists often stand out in crowds and are often easy targets for
criminals. Con artists have a great spiel and seem so friendly.
Read our recommendations on how to avoid these rascals and keep yourself
safe on vacation.
Safety and security when using ATMs
ATMs, generally, do not provide any reasonable security for their
customers. Read our article to find what you need to know to keep
yourself secure during ATM use at home and abroad.
Safety guidelines for travelers
In this article we provide the key recommendations gathered from our
safety and security articles. It is likely that these are prohibitions
that you know, but reviewing them before a trip is good preparation.
Safety recommendations for using taxis, trains, and buses
We provide recommendations aimed at keeping you safe when using
public transportation.
Some thoughts on terrorism and travel
Many would-be travelers decide that travel is too dangerous and
prefer to stay close to home. We examine the terrorist threats and
conclude that travel should be based on a "calculation" that compares
travel to the other risks that surround us. Ultimately, YOU should
make the travel decision.
Street smarts
We provide some common sense guidelines for avoiding "trouble" when
you travel.
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Good to know
Conduct a "house check" before you depart
Make sure you have secured your house before you leave on vacation.
We provide a checklist containing both safety and security related
items.
Copy your Passport Identification Pages No one plans
on losing their passport, but it happens. Make sure to make copies
of the Identification Pages from your passport. Doing so will help
limit the inconvenience if you should lose your passport.
Identification security
When traveling, create identification that links you to your local hotel,
so that lost items can be returned or your party can be contacted if
something unexpected should happen to you. Follow our
recommendation on the use of short-term tags to identify you and your
belongings.
Protect your luggage by keeping an eye on it
Luggage thieves target travelers at international airports.
Find out what you can do to protect your luggage.
Money security
Most people carry more currency and cash when traveling than they do
at home. Avoid losing your money by observing a few, simple
security precautions
Public transportation and terrorism concerns
We find public transportation the best way to move around cities in
Europe. Recent terrorism may cause travelers to reconsider the use
of public transportation. Read our article for some perspectives
on this important issue.
Secure your transportation tickets
Airplane, bus, and train tickets can have a significant cash value.
Don't leave them hanging around your hotel room or stuffed in your
pocket. Secure them as you would any "negotiable" document.
Take good care of your passport
Your passport is in constant use when traveling internationally. You
will need it at airports, hotels, exchanges, and other locations.
We provide some recommendations for the prudent use of your passport
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May be of interest
Carry both an ATM and credit card
You need multiple forms of money while on vacation. Read our
recommendations on where and when to use ATM's and credit cards.
Create an itinerary to help others help you
If something goes during your travels, you might need a lifeline.
Read our article to find out how an itinerary can be a good safety net
for travel.
Safety information from the
U.S. Government
The U.S. State Department, through its Bureau of Consular Affairs,
provides a number of publications related to travel security. Read
our review of the most important documents.
Traveling alone? Single travelers need to
exercise more caution than those traveling with groups. We provide
several recommendations that might be of interest to the single
traveler.
Wallet and purse security
We hope that you take our recommendation and buy
a money belt, but we suspect that you will still keep valuable
stuff in your wallet or purse. Well, "OK", but at least read our
recommendations on how to secure your wallet or purse.
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