Photo by Asad Photo Maldives
Ahh, summer. The sun is out, the days are longer, the chances of sunburn are higher… It’s a nice season. During this time of year, many people are traveling to different places as a vacation.
A lot of people let down their guard, because it’s vacation. “Why worry so much? It’s your time to finally relax!” I understand why people do this, but you shouldn’t, especially if you’re in a different country. You’re in a different place, and bad stuff could happen, and you wouldn’t know how to prevent it.
Now this is Part 1 of this post. At first, it was very long (2000+ words) and it was recommended that I break it up into 2 parts.
Anyways, in this post, I’m going to tell you what you can do during your vacation, and how to stay safe.
1. Don’t post that you’re on vacation until afterwards
Posting while you’re on your vacation seems obvious. Tell all your followers that you’re in Hawaii, laying on the beach shore, drinking a margarita. But this isn’t always the best option.
There are people who want to steal from others. If you’re posting images, videos, and other things on social media that you’re on vacation, you’re basically saying, “Hey! I’m away from my house!” Some people will see this as, “This person isn’t at their house, which means I can steal from them easily!”
You don’t want to come home to your house being robbed after a vacation, right? So what you should do is post all those images and other things about your vacation when you’re back home.
2. Don’t look like a stereotypical tourist
Photo by Haley Black
You may be wondering, what do I mean by the stereotypical tourist? Well, let me give an example:
Person walking around, with a giant map, having a shirt with big text of the city you’re in (think of the “I <3 NY shirt”), a big camera around your neck, and having a hat and some sunglasses on.
Someone looking like that is an obvious sign that someone isn’t from the country they’re in, and that they’re a tourist.
So when dressing up for your vacation, don’t look like the stereotypical tourist. If you want a visual example of what that looks like, click here. I would recommend wearing stuff that you would usually wear (check out local customs before you go). If you want to take pictures, you can use your cell phone.
3. Don’t look clueless
Remember when I was talking about not looking like the stereotypical tourist looks like, I said they would have “a giant map”? Yeah, don’t be that person.
Having a giant map open, looking around at the city like a lost dog attracts the wrong people. They know that you don’t know where you are, and are desperate enough to take advice from anyone. Someone could walk up to you, say that they can help you get where you’re wanting to go, take you down some back alleyway, knock you out, and that’s the last time you’re heard from.
Also, looking like that kind of person can attract pickpockets. Since you’re so focused on the map, or where you are, someone can easily walk up behind you; and snatch your phone or something else without you knowing.
If you are lost, then you could lean against a wall, open up your phone (not looking worried), and open up Google Maps to see where you’re supposed to go. Something like that. Just don’t look like you just got thrown into a foreign country a minute ago (even though you probably did).
The takeaway
Photo by Rafael Guimarães
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