Travel often takes us into the unknown. Travel safety is about being sensible as we travel, along with good planning and preparation. This can help us to avoid risks along the way, and avert becoming an ‘unwanted’ statistic.

A Quick Outline

In this Post, we shall explore:

Safe Travels – something we all want

For many of us, our travel begins with a long-haul flight. Long-haul flights inevitably lead to dehydration, travel fatigue, and jet lag. And, when we land at our first destination, we are possibly in an airport that we don’t know.

Unless we are mentally alert, we are likely to make mistakes, bad decisions, and forget things. In short, we can easily become vulnerable to all manner of events.

This could be as simple as getting lost, in a strange place, at night, where we are not fluent in the local language. Or, at a busy transport hub, we could become the intended victim of some form of scam, such as 'bump and lift ' (pick-pocketing).

Now, as we begin our travel adventure, if we are also carrying the effects of long-haul travel, particularly jet lag, our risk potential is high, possibly very high.

We may even be a 'walking accident, just waiting to happen '!

Is Travel worth the risk?

So, before we decide that the risk outweighs the reward, let’s ponder two key questions:

Q. Why do we travel?

Answer. We travel for all manner of different reasons, such as: for better weather; to relax and refresh; to visit family and friends; to explore and learn about places and cultures; for ticks on the bucket list; to escape the humdrum of daily life; etc.

Do any of these ring true for you?

Q. Will I be safe when I travel?

Answer. For most travelers, any risks from traveling are no greater than what we face at home. Even for those of us who like to push the boundaries, travel can be reasonably safe.

However, as none of us are invincible, we need to exercise common sense in what we do, and how we do it.

Let’s skip the debate about 'common sense ' (apparently some 'experts' consider it is not common!), and note that it means having 'good sense ' and making 'sound judgements '.

Whether traveling, or not, when we are sensible, we are less likely to expose ourselves to risks that threaten our safety.

Things to be aware of as we travel

Travel often takes us to places where things are different, and unfamiliar.

Sometimes, the extent of the differences from what is our 'normal' can be huge, such as the city girl or guy, backpacking through the villages and small towns of a less-developed region, somewhere in a foreign country.

A multi-destination tour across (say) Europe, or around Asia, will likely mean we are settling into a new place every few days, possibly every day.

Change becomes the main constant in our routine, and constant change is challenging, sometimes stressful.

Even if we are taking a cruise, short or long, there are many new things to come to grips with, including finding our cabin, and navigating the maze of decks and corridors.

And, we also have to get used to the constant motion of being at sea, often referred to as getting our 'sea legs'.

So, as we start out on our new travel adventure, however we are traveling, the chances are that we are confronted with having to take in, or try to take in, volumes of new information. At times, this can continue every day throughout our travels.

For some, this may cause 'brain (or 'cognitive') overload', as memories somehow become intermingled, leaving us confused about places and events.

The 'bottom line' here seems to be that traveling can be mentally taxing, or even exhausting. And that is before we consider any possible threats to our safety, that we may encounter along the way.

Sound planning and preparation is our best strategy for ensuring we do not become an 'unwanted' statistic during our travels.

‘Be Prepared’ – advice from long ago

According to Google, "Be Prepared " comes from Elton John’s 1994 song for The Lion King.

However, anyone involved in the Scouting and Guiding Movements knows this has long been the motto of Girl Guides and Boy Scouts, dating back to 1907. As a former Guide Leader, it has been etched into my memory banks for a long time.

Whenever we decide to travel, amongst the first actions we should take is to find, or create, a travel checklist that we can use. This will help ensure that we do not overlook anything, whether important or small.

There are numerous web sources offering travel safety advice for travelers, especially when traveling abroad.

When it comes to safety, at any time, the old saying surely applies: "prevention is better than cure ". In other words, it is better to stop something bad from happening, than it is to deal with it after it has happened.

My personal approach, which I have developed over the years, is to organise my thinking about my travel safety into several clusters, as shown below.

My Personal safety

Safety at an Airport/Transit Hub

Destination safety

Protecting my data and ID

Safety at my accommodation

Safety when I am out and about

Your Take-outs

"Safe travels " is often part of the farewell ritual, as we leave family and friends, to journey out into the big wide world.

'Safe travels' usually happen, until they don’t! This Post is about recognising what we can do to 'stay safe', while we travel. Here are the key take-outs: