Safety Tips for a Solo Traveler
You’re planning to see the world – but you don’t have anyone to go with you? If this is a challenge you have been facing, it’s crucial to ensure you’ve got several safety tips in mind to prevent yourself from ending up in a precarious position.
After all, traveling can be exciting – but it can also come with dangers when traveling solo.
However, staying safe while traveling doesn’t necessarily have to be a major challenge – and we’ve come up with some tips and tricks to help. These are some key safety tips we think you should know as a solo traveler to hopefully help you stay safe.
5 Key Safety Tips for a Solo Traveler
#1 Plan Out Your Journeys
One of the most crucial first things to consider is to ensure you’ve planned out your journeys and routes. Whether exploring the city or climbing a mountain, ensuring you know the safest route is crucial for your travels. Ideally, you should stay in highly populated areas, too, so that the chances of getting hurt are reduced; you’re not quite so alone when traveling solo if you stick to busy regions!
#2 Plan to Get In During the Daytime and Don’t Go Out At Night
Getting in during the day and arrange for a hotel pickup. This might seem like an obvious point, but we have to make it nonetheless since it’s one of the most vital tips we can give for staying safe as a solo traveler.
When traveling solo, never go out at night or as daylight begins to wane. While you could get hurt or injured while traveling at any time, the dangers of nighttime exploration are substantially greater. Reduced visibility leaves hazards far harder to identify – putting you at much higher risk. If you choose to make sure to share your location with someone you trust which is a good segue into our next point.
#3 Make Sure Someone Knows Where You Are
Even when you’re traveling solo, you don’t need to be completely alone. Making sure someone you trust who is local to the area, for example, could be a good option if you get stranded and need emergency support. Alternatively, be sure to text your reliable loved ones regularly – if they don’t hear from you, they can inform the authorities to begin looking for where you might be! At a minimum, utilize the location tracker feature of your phone. It’s exciting to share the fun places and things being experienced. However, there are safety and security issues at stake and minimizing sharing on social media platforms in real time especially when you are out and about is also a consideration to have in the back of your mind. One way is to share with a limited and trusted circle of friends..
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#4 Don’t Look Like a Tourist!
One of the biggest issues many solo travelers face is that they look like tourists, which can put you at greater risk of getting hoodwinked or robbed. So, try to act casually and dress similarly to the locals; this can help avoid unscrupulous individuals preying on you and your lack of local knowledge. Have a copy of the bio page of your passport, a list of emergency contacts and other important documents with you when you are out and about. It is nice to be friendly but also exercise wisdom including being somewhat vague about what what may appear to be “harmless” information on its face about about your stay because you never know who is around and listening.
#5 Add a Pop of Color to your Wardrobe
One of the best ways to stay safe as a solo traveler is to ensure that you’re easy to see. With this in mind, ensuring you’ve got a splash of color in your outfit can go a long way towards making you more visible or reduce the danger of traveling solo. Check out our vibrant collection of travel staples including our t-shirts and athleisure pieces that add a nice pop of color ot any wardrobe. When others can see you easily, it’s much easier for the crowd to keep an eye on you; by contrast, if you’re dressed in dark colors and easily blend in, it’s far easier for someone to approach you quietly without being noticed.
Think easy, simple - No big gestures necessary; something as simple as sporting one of our gorgeous, brightly-colored satin scarves into your look could go a long way towards helping you stand out from the crowd!
# Bonus Tips
#6 Learn a New Language
Where you are not familiar with the language of your destination, It may help to watch a few videos or read up on some of the cultural nuances and learn a few words in the language of the place you are visting. For easy ways to learn a language click here Also ensure you have wi-fi or internet access to a translator application or tool on your phone. It also helps to search for the latest news on the area and check out stories shared by others on social media using hashtags related to the area, security and travel.
#7 Fully Charged Devices and Security Tools
It is a good idea to have your phone fully charged and a back-up power bank with you before you head out. Other safety measures include a doorstopper alarm, mini flash light and a personal alarm. Make sure to lock your doors and outside facing sliding doors especially when you are out of your hotel or short-let.
Final Thoughts
Staying safe while traveling doesn’t have to be an impossible goal – but to stay safe and well, it’s vital to take certain steps and precautions. Luckily, we’ve come up with five key tips and bonus pointers to make your next experience high on fun and low on stress; we hope these will help you find the ideal solutions and opportunities for your travels overall.
