Safety Tips for Danger Zones
Money belt
While many intrepid backpackers talk up the joys of traveling to “dangerous” countries, it still pays to be exercise some good sense. New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff assembled an excellent list of safety tips. Some of the humor is very tongue-in-cheek, such as his advice on dealing with terrorists.
One tip I would add is to have a copy of your travel insurance policy on hand, with the policy number and international phone number highlighted.
Even just buying travel insurance is something many travelers forget to do. An Australian government website has a collection of sobering stories about the dangers of being an uninsured traveler.
The website also helpfully points out another risk of going to danger zones: “In choosing a policy, we would note some insurance policies will not always cover claims made in those countries to which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommends against travel.” Read the fine print, and choose wisely.
Got any safety tips to share?
July 10th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Checked out the think on safety tips, thanks for the link.
Some tips are: leave copies of important documents with family, take a few with you; be aware of your surroundings; act and look confident when you travel; make eye contact with people; and don’t wear “showy” jewelry.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
How much influence does the insurance industry have on the Australian government bureau behind that website, is what I’m wondering. In the U.S. the insurance industry is so powerful it’s the law that you have to buy their driver’s policies and health policies (at least in Massachusetts), and travel is an even bigger deal for Aussies than most other countries, so I’m pretty skeptical. I’ve heard plenty of stories about people getting sick or injured abroad and getting themselves out of it, or purchasing local treatment at reasonable prices.