People had made me a lot of questions since I started my journey (it’s been three months, can you believe it?!). But one of the most recurring ones in how do I keep safe while travelling solo.
Whilst there are dangers involved for both, male and female travellers (we are the favourite target of many pickpocketers and other sort of delinquents, after all), I do believe we girls are exposed to certain risks that our male traveller fellows do not necessarily experience.
I am not saying that guys are exempt of any hazards on the road, of course. But there are crimes, especially those of sexual nature, that women are statistically more inclined to suffer.
Some people have pointed out that, since I’m from Mexico, a country that is not particularly famous for its security, I should be more than fine in a first world area like Europe. However, although I do feel safer in certain situations, I still have to keep in mind that, if anything happens, there is not going to be anyone waiting for me back in my 10 dorm room in the hostel. Also, my family is far away and they are not going to be able to come and help quickly if I find myself in a tricky situation.
Therefore, I always take some additional precautions to make my journey extra safe and I wanted to share them with you, guys! If you have any other tip for the girls travelling by themselves out there, don’t forget to leave it in the comments!
1. Have an emergency contact nearby.
As I told you, I don’t really have any direct family in this side of the world. However, my best friend/almost sister moved to Spain this year and you have absolutely no idea how comforting is to know that there’s someone you can rely on in the same time zone! It makes me feel so much better to know that, in case of an emergency, I could reach her in just a couple of hours, compared to the 12 hour-flight it’d take me to get back to my parents.
By now, we have this little routine worked out. If one of us is going out with people we don’t know much about, we always make sure to send the other the contact number of the person we are going out with. Doesn’t matter if it’s a date or just a casual night with a group of friends we just met, we always make sure to have a whatsapp number in case of an emergency. If neither of us reach back to the other at certain point, we know it’s time to call Liam Neeson.
So just make sure that there’s someone aware of your itinerary and if that person can be in the same geographic area than you, even better!
2. Rape alarm
To be completely honest, I got the idea of getting a rape alarm after reading Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowling). One of the protagonists had this little gadget and it came pretty handy at certain point of the plot.
Yeah, I’m being a geek again, but once I did some research I found rape alarms quite practical. They can be disguised as a car alarm and kept in a key ring.
They’re small and fit in your purse perfectly. If you activate the alarm, it emits this really loud noise and there are some models that also flash a powerful light and even shot a red liquid to mark the attacker with ink.
I bought this model a few months ago and luckily, I haven’t had the necessity to use it, but it make me feel a little bit safer to feel it in my pocket whenever I’m walking home alone.
3. Follow the crowd
While I try to avoid multitudes during the day (there are only so many tourists I can tolerate), that is not the case at nights. Long, quiet walks are perfectly okay in daylight, but if you are solo at night, it’s better if you just stick with the crowds. It is less likely that someone will attack you in a very public place so, even though it takes you 10 extra minutes to get to your lodging, keep yourself under the public eye.
4. Keep a safety app in your phone
If you want to upgrade your safety a notch, you can always download mobile apps like Companion of bSafe. There are plenty of choices out there, but most of these allow your contacts to track your route via GPS, to make sure you arrive safely to your destiny. They can also call the police in case you don’t answer your phone and some of them have an alarm included that activates when you shake your mobile.
5. Check the reflections
This one may be a little bit paranoid, but I used to do it in Mexico after I was mugged on the street and found out it really works.
That time, I crossed this guy while I was having a walk in the afternoon. He looked suspicious to me, but since he walked past me, I assumed it will be OK. However, what I didn’t see was that he turned around behind my back and followed me to a quieter place to steal my purse. So now, every time I’m walking alone on a desert street or late at night, I always try to pick lanes with big windows or reflecting surfaces. That way I can discretely look behind me and find out if someone is walking behind me.
6. Careful with the alcohol
I’m not saying that you must have a 100% alcohol free trip! I’m definitely not leaving Ireland without a Guinness or two, but what I’m saying is that you can’t be as lenient as you’d be in your home country.
Again, you are alone and it is most likely that your newly made buddies won’t drag your drunken self back to your accommodation and hold your hair while you puke your heart out as your childhood friend would do. They won’t prevent you from doing something you could regret the next day either.
Also, you don’t know the area that well so getting back to your place with a high alcohol concentration in your blood will be a lot harder than back home.
A few weeks ago, while I was in Belgium, I was obviously enjoying some of the local attractions with a bunch of Dutch girls I met at the hostel*. By the time I realized that Belgian beer was a LOT stronger than the Mexican, it was too late. I had broken one of my own rules and found myself alone (lost the Dutch group at some point) in a foreign city. I had enough conscience left to comprehend my situation and managed to guide myself to the nearest food establishment. After an order of Belgian fries that my jeans are still suffering, I could find my way back to the hostel. I mean, I had plenty of fun that night, for sure. But I could have still enjoyed myself with a beer less in the mix.
*By local attractions I mean beer.
7. Go with your gut
This may seem vague, but when it comes to your own safety, specially in a place far away from home, you have to trust your instincts. It doesn’t matter if the guy is the hottest foreigner in town or if the brochure said that that area was perfectly safe. If you have an odd feeling about any situation, listen to it!
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