Safe Travels: Perceiving and Reducing Risk
Let's start with a story.......
So there we were! Luxor, Egypt, 1993. Looking back, the whole thing was probably not a great idea. (From Wikipedia: “1993 was a particularly severe year for terrorist attacks in Egypt. 1106 persons were killed or wounded”.) But I digress. There I was with my wife at a café in Luxor. After handing us our check, the waiter told us that he was studying English and that he would love for us to visit his house that night. That seemed like a great idea. We could go into a very sketchy neighborhood in a then-troubled country with a person we did not know. So of course, we accepted.
We met our new friend after his shift ended and walked with him to his house in the outskirts of the city. The ground floor of his humble mud-brick home was immaculately clean with a carpet over a dirt floor. After introducing his family, we were served tea followed, as you can imagine, by remarkable offerings of food. Then of course, came the hookah pipe with music, and socializing that went on well past midnight. As we were to discover that night (and re-learn later in life) Arab-Islamic culture features a level of hospitality that we are unaccustomed to in the West. We eventually explained to our hosts that we had to leave and said our goodbyes. Upon opening the door to the street however, there was quite a surprise. At least a dozen well-armed Egyptian soldiers had surrounded the house, and a heated conversation ensued between their leader and our host. Apparently, they had been tipped off that two tourists had entered a less-visited part of the city and they feared for the worst. We were gently reprimanded and escorted back to out hotel. What a remarkable evening that was. Beyond anything else we did or saw in Egypt, I remember that evening and the connection we made.
I share this story in a somewhat flippant way, not because it is funny, but because it is ironic. First of all, it reminds us that for some reason, the commonsense decision making we learned as children (don’t go off with strangers, etc.) can sometimes be lost upon us as we grow older. The second irony, and one that I want to stress here, is that if it had not been for our very poor decision, we would have missed out on a remarkable experience, and the privilege of really connecting personally with people from another culture. After all, its this kind of connection that inspired me to enter the travel industry. Luxury cruises and beachfront resorts have their place, but going out and truly connecting with the world is really what travel is about. In a Facebook post last week, I shared an applicable quote by Mark Twain:
I think that for better or worse, most people conflate safety with avoidance of crime. I am headed to “x destination”. Will there be pickpocketing? Will I be assaulted? What will I do to protect myself against these things? And while knowing the facts and preparing yourself is important, please consider the most important lesson that I have experienced in four decades of travel: People are essentially decent and honest. This is not simply a gut feeling that I have. This has been proven empirically over and over. “Civic Honesty Around the Globe” is a fascinating study published in 2019 in Science Magazine. You can read the study yourself here. While there was some disparity in outcomes on a country-by-country basis, the results of the study showed that across the globe, a majority of people that find a wallet with cash in it, will go out of their way to return it to the owner. As our world seems to become more and more divided and our trust of “the other” diminishes, it's often important to stop and consider facts.
Speaking of facts, let's delve further into some interesting numbers. While travelers are frequently concerned about crime (which is pretty rare), we should consider what really threatens us overseas. How do Americans die overseas? And by the way, it's unlikely that you are going to die traveling. Prior to Covid, there were about 3,000,000 Americans traveling abroad on any given day. In all of 2018, the US State Department records a total of 724 US deaths. I haven’t done the math, but I’m guessing you have a better chance of winning a major lottery payout than dying overseas on your next vacation. But let's say that you are not satisfied with that, and really want to play it safe. How do you do that? Simple. DO NOT DRIVE. Let the locals do the driving for you. The vast majority of recorded deaths for Americans overseas are traffic-related. Start thinking about the things that you can control. How about drownings? Yup. That’s a high number too. This is not to say that there are not crime-related deaths and injuries, and we will talk about those below. I am simply encouraging you to think rationally about what the real threats are to your safety.
Staying Ahead of Risk
Before writing this post, I interviewed a close friend. Rob Fagan is a retired US Army Colonel and former Defense Attaché. He continues to work and travel all over the world and is a frequent contributor to the Crisis Response Journal. His current employment keeps him closely tied to the mission of keeping Americans safe overseas. Rob and I talked about some commonsense things that we can do while traveling to reduce risk. While I don’t quote him directly here, I credit him with the key points.
If you are planning an overseas trip, you should absolutely enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). Learn more here. It costs you nothing and carries a variety of benefits including notifications to you of any change in risk profiles for your destination, as well allowing the US Embassy at your destination to contact you during your trip in the event of an emergency. Of course, in addition to enrolling in STEP, you should certainly review the State Department’s constantly updated Country Information Page for your destination(s). It is your responsibility as a traveler to ensure that you are comfortable with the risk profile for your destination. Don’t count on someone else to make that decision on your behalf. In summary, the first step to being safe, is being informed.
Let’s talk about your passport. Its not directly related to safety but keeping your passport safe is important for several reasons. Obviously, you will need it to leave the country. Furthermore, many countries require you to present your passport for routine transactions such as checking into a hotel. Its smart to carry a photocopy of your passport’s first page with you, especially when you are leaving your actual passport in your hotel safe. This photocopy will be extremely helpful if you need to be issued a replacement passport by your nearest US Embassy or Consulate, or if you have any interaction with local authorities. (BTW, Rob tells me that he often keeps an additional photocopy in a suitcase pocket.)
If you are concerned about crime, then your biggest worry (as a matter of highest probability) is probably going to be petty theft, such as pickpocketing. Here are four common sense suggestions:
Carry as little as possible, perhaps a form of identification and a single credit card. Assuming your hotel offers some form of secure storage, there is no reason to carry the entire contents of your wallet/purse. But you know that.
Both men and women should consider wearing a “waist pack” rather than a purse or bulky backpack. (I know, its not exactly haute couture.) A waist pack can be reversed so that it is in front of you rather than behind you. Having your belongings in your field of view can significantly reduce a thief’s options.
Don’t be a victim of common street scams. I won’t go into detail here, but there are plenty of informative videos such as this one that you can watch prior to your trip.
Be knowledgeable about areas that carry a higher risk for petty crime. These tend to be areas with a high concentration of tourist activity like train stations or historic city centers.
Look out for strange haircuts.
The most important thing that stuck out during my conversation with Rob, was his simplest advice. “Be situationally aware”. This is so profound. Few of us really pay attention to our environments as we go about our daily business here in the United States. We have things on our mind. We are familiar with our environments. We don’t feel at risk. It’s hard to break that habit of relative complacency and pay attention. I am not suggesting that you spend your vacation in a “heightened state of alert”. That sounds stressful. What I am suggesting is that you accept that the patterns of life that you are accustomed to are different in your new environment and that you cannot consistently predict the behavior of people, traffic, animals, etc. the way you would be able to at home. It just means, pay attention. Remember that most threats are only marginally related to other people on the street. Statistically, it is much more likely to be related to a speeding car, or the closing door of a train, or the glass door that has been cleaned so well that you walk right into it and knock yourself out. (I did that.) Related to this, Rob said, “Don’t be in a hurry”. That’s part of situational awareness; a commitment to be present, recognizing that things are different here. Take your time. Don’t be a smartphone zombie. You’re on vacation after all!
There is much more to be said on this topic. Honestly though, I think a lot of it is common sense, or a lack thereof. If you take the time to review the rare cases in which Americans are actually injured or killed, there is often a predictable twist. “John Doe from Akron, Ohio was assaulted and punched in the face”. Really? Where did this happen? “In a dark alley at 2am.” I think you see where I am going with this.
If I could summarize the key points from this post that I hope you will take with you, they are the following:
Use common sense, but do not be afraid. Traveling is about connecting with people, and people are generally good.
Know what the real threats to your health and safety are. Don’t make them up in your head. Enroll in STEP and inform yourself regarding potential threats at your destination.
Pay attention. In the information age, it’s an increasingly lost art.
Thanks again for reading!
