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I’ve never been mugged on vacation. That doesn’t mean that everywhere I’ve travelled to has been a walk in the park. Caracas is no picnic but I managed to spend a month in the city without getting into serious difficulty (unless you count the scary night I’ve already told you about). Staying out of trouble is often a matter of common sense. Here are some travel safety tips that will make your vacation more enjoyable.

Safety At Home

First of all, give yourself less to think about taking care of safety and security at home. Get someone you trust to look after your house keys and emergency information and to swing by your home every so often to make sure that everything is okay. Put delivery of mail and publications on hold and use timers to program your lights, TV and radio to give the illusion that your home is occupied. Let your neighbors know that you will be gone so that if they see someone in your home who shouldn’t be there they will alert the police.

En Route

Security is also paramount when on your way to your destination. Make sure that you don’t have identifying information showing on your luggage and avoid telling strangers exactly where you’re coming from and where you’re going and for how long. If you happen to reveal these details to the wrong person, you give them a window of opportunity to burgle your home and be long gone before anyone notices.

At Your Destination

One of the key things when you arrive is to avoid looking like a stranger. That means avoiding asking for directions and making it obvious that you’re out of your depth. Unscrupulous people can take advantage of this. Do your own research to find out where you should go and where you should avoid. Keep maps and guidebooks out of sight and only consult them in public areas.

If you are travelling with other members of your family, divide up cash and credit cards among you, so if something happens to one person you don’t lose everything. When staying in a hotel, get a safe so that you can take with you only what you need.

General Travel Safety Tips

When on vacation people are generally more relaxed and let their guard down. It’s great to have a good time but this is a time to be more aware of who and what is around you. Avoid flashing costly electronic items, jewelry and cash as these attract attention from thieves. Keep wallets out of sight and purses close to the body.

One of my most useful items when travelling in many countries was a coat with several interior pockets. I was able to keep my passport and cash with me without drawing attention to them while keeping a small float in an outside pocket.

Following these tips doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time when on vacation. In fact, if you make these part of your travel routine you will have an even better time as it will reduce any worry.

(Photo: Jarosław Pocztarski)

Tags: travel, travel safety, Travel Tips, vacation safety, vacation travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 6:37 am and is filed under Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.