Safety Tips for Backpackers

Traveling overseas can be a wonderful adventure but it can be fraught with dangers that the young inexperienced backpacker may not suspect. When traveling it best to use the philosophy of trusting no one. There are many unscrupulous people who will try to take advantage of inexperienced backpackers and rob them or use them to unknowingly smuggle drugs. This does not mean that there are not things that can be done. It means that you must always be on the alert.

• never leave something you are eating or drinking unattended. The spiking of both food and drinks is very common and a person can lose everything to a cunning thief who has seen a lone backpacker get up in the middle of a meal to use the bathroom.
• When the backpacker is traveling they should avoid sitting in an empty train car. Find travelling companions or sit in a car that has others, especially if they are a family with children. If you are in a sleeping car be sure to lock the door at night. The same goes for hotel doors. Protect yourself by locking all doors.
• Meeting fellow travelers is one of the pleasures of backpacking. Unfortunately even these fellow travelers might be different than they appear. Don't give out personal information about yourself to strangers. Do not tell them your hotel room number and if you get an uncomfortable feeling don't tell them the hotel you are staying at either.
• If you are invited out by strangers be sure to take precautions. If it's just you and one other person, and you have only just met, stay to public places where there are lots of people.
• Common sense will tell you that if you are sightseeing stay out of alleys and dark streets at night.
• The food and water in countries foreign to you can sometimes be a problem. Make sure the water is safe to drink. If it is not then you're better off to drink only bottled water. There are way too many potential infections or illnesses that can be caused by bad food or water.
• Drugs and smuggling are a big problem for the backpacker. In many countries possession of even small amounts of soft drugs will have jail time, a very large fine or both. Most backpackers are smart enough not to travel with any kind of drugs, but this is where you must watch around you. At airports, bus or train stations never leave your backpack. Smugglers have been known to slip something small into an unsuspecting backpackers pack only to slip it out when a border has been crossed. Many Asian countries have serious jail time for drug offences.
• Depending on where you travel some countries have very strict dress codes. If you want to explore their country and culture you must be sensitive to what may appear to you to be their idiosyncrasies.

Keep the above in mind and your journey should be safer.

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