The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away from Home, Second Edition: Making a New Life Abroad (31 page)

Americans are pouring into Panama because it is so affordable and safe. The people are kind and friendly, the government democratic, the water drinkable, and no hurricanes, earthquakes, or wars
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—Starr, Panama

In Guadalajara, one can hear a concert of some sort almost every evening. As you stroll the plazas, perfectly safely in the evenings, you’re serenaded with soft strains from marimbas. No matter the economic status of the Mexican citizen, they are a smiling people
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—Bess, Mexico

Personal safety was a great consideration to our living here. All Swiss males must serve in the military, so they all have a fully automatic assault rifle with ammunition at home, yet there are no mass murders or random shootings
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—Edward, Geneva, Switzerland

• Avoid known trouble spots.

• Be aware at automatic teller machines.

• Become familiar with the local area and use common sense. There’s a big difference in walking back from dinner at 11 p.m. along the popular Left Bank in Paris and wandering a dark alley in Amsterdam’s red light district at 4 a.m.

• Don’t flaunt cash or valuables.

• Take advantage of hidden pockets in travel clothes for carrying passports and cash.

• For market shopping, carry small amounts of cash that you can reach easily to avoid having to access the main stash.

• Note suspicious abandoned packages or briefcases in public areas, such as airports or train stations. Report them to security officials and leave the area.

• Be aware of current problems with terrorism. To find out areas under threat, see the consular travel information and travel warnings mentioned previously.

• Avoid places or situations that could be obvious terrorist targets.

• Try to minimize time spent in public transportation areas.

• Do not advertise yourself as an American; for example, do not flaunt American T-shirts or flags. Wear conservative attire that’s appropriate to the area you are in.

• Use covered luggage tags to make your identity or nationality less obvious. Put your name, address, and phone number on a paper inside the bag as well. If you lock your luggage, use the new type of lock that’s designed to be opened by airport security inspectors or they may break into, and damage, your luggage.

• Never leave luggage unattended in airports. If not stolen, it could worry someone and become fodder for the bomb squad.

• If traveling overnight on a train, lock your compartment or, if you have a traveling companion, take turns sleeping.

• Be aware of unusual activity near the door of the compartment. Robbers have been known to use sleeping gas in train compartments.

• Don’t accept food or drink from strangers; it could be drugged.

• Dress conservatively. Don’t flaunt jewelry or expensive belongings.

• Put your main money stash, credit cards, and passport where no one could possibly grab them. Use a hidden travel pocket under your clothes.

• If you use a waist pack, make sure it has a strong clasp. I have one with a zipper pocket that is at the back of the fanny pack, against my body. No one can pick it, though they could cut the waist strap. Some specialty stores and travel catalogs carry waist packs with a metal cord through the belt portion, so it can’t be cut. I’ve never gone this far, but it’s an idea if you’re an absent-minded professor and might not be aware of someone that close to you.

• Keep pocket change where you can reach it easily. Not so much that you’d miss it if it was stolen, but enough so you can pay for a postcard or cup of coffee on the street without advertising where your real stash is. Replenish this inconspicuously as you spend down the pocket change.

• If you use a shoulder bag, wear it with the strap crossed over your body, never just hanging from your shoulder. Most women in Europe do this, often keeping their hand on the bag, almost automatically as they walk down busy pedestrian streets.

• Walk with your bag away from the curb to avoid purse snatchers on motorcycles.

• Be aware at automatic teller machines.

• Don’t use the ATM in a lonely spot at night.

• Don’t count your cash in public.

• If the worst happens and you’re confronted, don’t fight. Your money and passport can be replaced. You can’t.

• Before you leave the States, make copies of important papers to expedite their replacement if necessary. Make photocopies of the first pages of your passport and your driver’s license. Bring an extra set of passport photos too.

• Make photocopies of your air tickets, credit cards, and driver’s license. Carry one copy separately; leave one with family or friends at home.

• If you have traveler’s checks, make a note of the serial numbers and carry the note separately. Cross the numbers off as you use the checks.

• If you’ve got a bad memory, jot down the number you need for your cash machine card or other vital numbers, but use a code to alter the number. For example, if your withdrawal card code is 4567, add two to each number and jot down 6789. Or add your birthday date to the real number; for example, adding each number of a birthday on 4/2/40 (4240) to each number of the real code would make the number jotted down 8707 (with “10” becoming the “0”).

• Bring a copy of your birth certificate and marriage certificate overseas to arrange legal details, such as a house purchase. Leave the originals at home with family members or in a safe deposit box. Remember, though, that anything in the safe deposit box will be unreachable unless you fly home to get it. You may choose to give power of attorney to a trusted family member or friend for access to the box.

• Choose a common car for the local area, and if it’s a rental, request that markings that identify it as a rental be removed.

• Keep doors locked at all times.

• Wear seat belts, of course. It’s usually the law overseas, as well as in the States.

• When driving in a strange area, know where you’re heading before you set off, especially at night. If in doubt, don’t drive at night.

• If you must park and leave belongings in the car, keep everything in the trunk, so your car interior is as bare as Yul Brynner’s head.

• Do not open the car trunk at a tourist site unless you’re removing everything in it. One couple arrived in Rome and decided to see the Colosseum prior to checking into their hotel. They drove into the parking lot, where they carefully and obviously tucked all their luggage into the trunk, locked it, and went sightseeing. Well, of course, it was gone when they returned.

• If you must put things in the trunk, stop and do so before you reach your destination. When you arrive, simply lock the car and leave as though it contained nothing more important than the litter bag.

• Be aware at the registration desk if a large group arrives with you.

• Don’t just set your luggage on the floor and walk away; you could lose it.

• Keep hotel doors locked.

• Meet visitors you don’t know in the lobby.

• Don’t give out the number to your hotel room; this includes not flashing the key about when you leave the hotel or asking loudly for your room key.

• Don’t leave valuables in the room when you’re out; use the hotel safe.

What U.S. Consulates Do and Don’t Do

Crime is not a big problem, though the police are pretty corrupt and basically worthless. I think that the people who are happiest here are either pretty open-minded about poverty and cultural differences or don’t notice their surroundings and don’t care
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—Ray, Chiang Mai, Thailand