Safe Travel Tips for Smart Women

When you plan carefully, a vacation abroad can be a happy, exciting and memorable experience. Unfortunately, things don’t always go quite as you hoped they would. If you make careless decisions while on vacation overseas, you could find yourself in a dangerous and unpleasant situation. Unfortunately, this is especially true if you happen to be female. When travelling overseas, all women should take certain precautionary measures in order to ensure that their vacation is pleasant.

Dress Down

When you are on vacation abroad, you may feel the urge to dress up in good clothes and nice jewelry in order to feel glamorous in an unusual setting. When you’re in a foreign country, you should always dress down. Leave your expensive jewelry at home. Instead wear silver or junk jewelry. Avoid packing clothes with expensive designer labels. Instead pack clothes from regular department stores.  Try not to wear clothing that might provoke undue attention. Wearing clothing that is sexually provocative in the wrong setting, for example, could easily lead to rather an unpleasant situation.

Don’t Get Too Drunk

If ever you get so drunk that you are incapable of making rational decisions, then you put yourself at risk. This is true regardless of what country you happen to be in. Of course there is nothing wrong with having a few drinks and letting your hair down while on vacation. However, you should stop when you know you’ve had enough. Watch your drinks very carefully. Avoid accepting drinks from strangers.

Travelers Checks and Credit Cards

When you travel overseas, it is important to ensure that you have access to extra cash if you should need it. That’s why you should always try to bring travelers checks and at least one credit card when you vacation abroad.  Doing this ensures that you will have access to money should there be any kind of unexpected expense to pay. You will also be covered in the event that you lose your cash.

Passport and Money

It is not a good idea to carry your passport with you when you go out and about overseas. Similarly, it’s unwise to carry lots of credit cards or large amounts of cash on your person. When you are on vacation abroad, store most of your cash, your credit cards, and your passport in the hotel safe. Only carry as much money as you will need on your person. Carry photo copies of your passport.  By taking these precautions, you can ensure that you won’t be left stranded and without money in the event that you are mugged.

Purses

Thieves are often drawn to purses, fanny packs and bags that are worn externally. For this reason, you might want to avoid keeping your cash in your purse or bag while on vacation overseas. If you are mugged, it is always better to give the mugger your purse or bag than risk being attacked.  Giving up your bag to a mugger isn’t such a big deal when you know there is nothing of great value in it.

Your Cell Phone

Being able to call for help in an emergency situation can mean the difference between life and death. Hence it’s always prudent to contact your cell phone service provider prior to going on vacation overseas to ask them about their international voice and data plan. Most cell phone providers will let their customers use their cell phones abroad for an additional fee when notified in advance. If you have your cell phone with you on vacation abroad, you’ll be able to call for help or contact your loved ones should you need them for any reason.

Other Precautions

Before embarking on a vacation overseas, you should check to see if you will need any vaccinations. Doing this will help you to avoid contracting any type of serious disease. It’s also wise to check the government website for any travel warning before proceeding with your trip. By doing this, you can find out whether your destination is considered too dangerous to travel to at the present time.