International travels allow you to explore the life of the people living abroad, their cultural and legal values and how things happen in a specific country. Whether you decide to travel by yourself or accompany yourself with an international travel group, you need to keep in mind that you have a lot of fun and make the best of your time and also the money that you have invested in the trip.
International travel or as we say travelling abroad is the dream of every single individual who knows that there are countries out there except the place they live in. With fun, entertainment, knowledge and tours come the risk – the risk of getting scammed, injured or even lost in a whole new world.
Even though unlimited access to google and facilities across the world for tourists exist in almost each and every country, it is still important to keep yourself updated on the basic safety tips that you definitely should be considering on your next trip.
International travel tips that will keep you safe on your next trip to a foreign country
- Communication with the local embassy
When you are travelling to a completely different and new location, the local consulate or embassy of your country can be the most important communication and contact pointy for you. They are responsible for protecting the tourists from their country in case of a natural disaster, assault and attack or a mere personal injury. To stay in contact with your local embassy, it is important to have a copy of the address as well as contact numbers of the nearest embassy. Make sure to have it written in the general language known to many men – English as well as in the local language of the country you are visiting. Just don’t forget to register with them so that they are aware of your arrival in the first place.
- Learn about Local Scams
Every country with a tad bit of a tourist ratio has its own way of scamming the locals. For example beggar boys in London or the local ring scam in Paris and going even further to the most famous “baby milk scam” in Cuba.
Every country and tourist location has scammers and this is no surprise. To stay away from them and refrain from getting scammed right in front of your eyes, try to get some information about the local scams over the internet or ask your tour guide if you decide to have one regarding the tricks on how people are scammed in the country. It is better to be safe than sorry so keeping your things safe and away from the eyes of local pickpockets is also important.
- In Case of Emergency numbers and addresses
It is obvious that in a new place you are not familiar with the routes and it is highly unlikely that you will know where to go or who to contact in case of a sudden emergency. Before leaving for the country, research a bit on the desired information and save a couple of most wanted numbers like hospitals, police or addresses of local pickup points and public transport.
Keeping the emergency contact numbers and the addresses in hard and soft copy format both can come in handy just in case your mobile phones refuse to stay with you (happens a lot in my case) and can also be a safety net just in case you end up losing your cellphone during the journey.
- Awareness of Local customs
How do scammers identify you? You can only be scammed if you look naïve and don’t understand the customs and regulations of a place. People who tend to disclose it to everyone regarding their “first trip” to this country or city are on the hit list of several high profile and low profile scammers. Unsurprisingly, restaurants and even vendors tend to charge these people more than what they would charge a local.
To avoid the inconvenience of getting scammed or robbed by people, it is important that you and your international travel group blends in with the crowd to maintain a low profile and an image of being aware. Even if you have not visited the place, simply understanding the local tourist’s frauds and scams with a claim of having visited the place before can save you from being robbed right in front of your face.
- Take what is needed
Cameras, mobile phones, accessories and gadgets are one of the most important things that everyone carries around. Were you even at a trip if your Snapchat friends did not see where you were off you did not Instagram those perfect clicks out of your DSLR camera?
It has become somewhat a necessity to carry these gadgets with you because even if you don’t want to show off to the world about where you are at, you might want to save them for memorabilia and showing your family. To avoid any inconvenience occurring to your devices, take what is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!
Clutch on to your things and make sure that the device is free from any form of personal and sensitive data. Also, don’t forget to change all your passwords and log out of all the devices. This is just to be on the safer side so that even if you have left something logged in on a public computer device or forgot something back there, you have the opportunity to recover from the inconsolable loss!
Conclusion – Are international travels important?
With so much risk and unwanted trouble would you rather leave the comfort of your house and travel miles away from your home?
YES Of course! Why not?
If a little risk ends up evolving you and your soul in a way that you can take on a new approach in life with a fresh start and learn more about what the world is about and what the people across the globe have to offer and how they live like, I think it is worth the risk. Besides little safety measures and precautions will allow you to stay safe and make your time worthwhile.