Traveling Safe, as a Woman

I arrived in Dublin yesterday, and it’s back to big city life for me.  As I was exploring the city, I came to a beautiful little park with a little archway and a clock tower.  I wanted to take some pictures, so I headed towards the entrance.  There I found 6 Dubliners, each around 40 years old, clearly high or drunk (mid morning) and huddled around something they were doing with their hands.  Oh crap, will they notice my camera and steal it?  I had two choices, turn and run or smile and walk in.  I chose to walk in, pulling my camera close to me, and noting if there were any other exits.  There weren’t.  I dawdled in the park for a bit, then made my way back out again.  The drunken leader asked me if I would take his picture.  I did.  Harmless.

When you’re traveling as a woman, everyone wants you to be super duper safe.  There are entire sites dedicated to female travelers, and the best way to travel solo.  It bothers me, a little, that the assumption is that any male is better off than women in the world.  There are 6 scrawny 18 year old boys here in the hostel, and let me tell you, I could take them.  Seriously.  I could beat them up, take their lunch money and make them call me uncle.  My point is, that most people are vulnerable to someone bigger, stronger, tougher–regardless of gender.

But you don’t have travel afraid.  Here are some little tricks I use.

1.  Be Confident. Walk with purpose past those crack smoking weirdos, and don’t let it show that you’re nervous.

2.  If you get a bad feeling about a place, leave as quickly as possible. In Lisbon, I swore I was being tailed by two men.  Maybe I was paranoid, but I sat down in the first cafe that I could and ordered a drink.

3.  Keep aware of your surroundings. If you hear someone walking behind you and don’t see anyone walking ahead of you, then this is a bad time to walk down an alleyway.  Try to never put yourself in a situation where you’re alone and it would be difficult to call for help (or no one could see you).  Stick to main streets unless you see a crowd.

4.  Make sure that someone knows where you are (what country, hotel name, flight number etc) and keep in regular contact.  (This is easy for me, my husband and I check in about 10 times a day!)

5.  Keep it in perspective. In Boston, I felt perfectly safe, but the truth is, that city has a higher crime rate than most of places I’ve visited in Europe.  So while the urge to assume that this unfamiliar city is more dangerous, statistically, you have a better chance of getting robbed at home (for my hometown anyway).  You can’t control random crimes at home or abroad, so don’t make yourself crazy with worry.

In some ways, I think as a woman traveling solo, you are given a wider berth by men, who for cultural reasons, treat women with a certain respect.  I try to balance being protective and still allowing myself to meet people and have strange experiences.  I talked to a man in a bar about astrological signs (he was sure I was a virgo– I’m a pisces).  I gave a homeless man 5 euros, because I didn’t have any change and he looked like he needed it.  He hugged me and wouldn’t let me go.  I’ve met pick up artists, an architect from Salamanca, a German translator, a Welsh bar owner, and a guy who spoke five languages better than I speak two.  These were all chances I’m glad I took.

When you travel, what do you do to stay safe?