Solo Travel: 15 Essential Tips on How to Stay Safe
Travelling solo is an incredibly freeing experience. There is nothing quite like stepping off the plane for the first time in a new and unexplored destination, ready to take on the world by yourself!
In the past, we did our fair share of solo adventuring, even though we now always travel as a couple. The advantage of having someone with you is, of course, that you can always count on the other person to help you with important decisions, plans and to get you out of trouble if something goes wrong. When it comes to solo travelling, however, you need to be able to plan ahead of time, be organised and have your wits about you, as you’ll have no one but yourself to rely on.
To help you stay safe on your adventures, we’ve put together 15 tips that have helped us countless times over the years. As we’ve written this article with the input of both a male and female traveller, we believe these points will be helpful for both genders.
Do not overshare on social media
While most people will be dying to share everything about their trip on social media, oversharing can lead to some serious risks. You never know who will access that information and, most of all, what they’ll do with it.
The number one thing you’ll want to avoid sharing is your current location. Don’t get us wrong, feel free to share your destination and post all the pictures you like; Just don’t go sharing your amazing stay while you’re, you know, staying in it. It will be all too easy for a potential thief or person with ill-intentions to scout your location and track you down.
Instead, wait a few days until you have moved on to a different spot, and then you can share all the amazing activities and favourite places with everyone you love!
Never reveal that you are solo travelling
Solo travellers are often a prime target for kidnappers and robbers. They make for much easier work, as they usually won’t have any contacts within the country that they can rely on. This point applies in particular to female travellers, as they are unfortunately the ones more likely to be approached by strangers.
Whenever you’re asked by a stranger if you’re travelling by yourself, always lie and say that you’re waiting for or meeting someone, or that you are part of a group. This will lead anyone with bad intentions to believe that your absence will be noticed immediately, which is exactly the opposite of why they would target you in the first place.
Share your location with people you trust
During our travels in Thailand, we took a day to explore the jungle surrounding the city of Chiang Mai. It was an incredible experience, but, conscious of the risks involved with hiking in the wild, we made sure to inform the concierge at our hotel about where we would be going for the day, and sent text messages to our family members back home to let them know what we had planned.
Sadly, every year we hear stories of travellers that were involved in accidents or even lost their lives because they did not share their location with someone they trusted, and it took too long for them to be found.
Always, and we mean always, let someone know where you’re going. Whether you’re heading out for the night, or you are planning an excursion, a simple text message to a friend or family member can be enough to save your life.
Take photos of important documents
Having a backup of your documents will save you a lot of trouble down the road.
For one, having a copy of essentials such as passport and ID will allow you to stash the originals in a safe location when you’re out for the day. And second, copies will be invaluable if the originals are lost or stolen.
Ideally, you should take it a step further and email yourself copies of your documents. This way, you’ll be able to print them out if both your originals and the copies are lost. While this might sound improbable, it’s a very real possibility for light travellers such as ourselves who prefer to only carry one or two bags at the most.
Always have a power-bank with you
We subscribe to the idea of what we like to call “pessimistic travelling”, which essentially means that if something can go wrong during the trip, it probably will. Now, that’s not always the case and our travels generally go pretty smoothly, but it also means that we’re usually prepared for any inconvenience we could have thought of.
That’s why we always carry a loaded power-bank, just in case both our phone batteries decide to call it quits at the most inconvenient moment. It’s unlikely to happen, but getting stuck in a difficult or dangerous situation because we couldn’t call for help is something we’d rather avoid.
Get a local sim card at your destination
A local sim card has plenty of advantages compared to the one from your own country. You’ll definitely spend less on calls and messages, and a good data plan is a must for gathering information on the go.
Most of all, however, local sim cards will offer much better reception compared to a foreign one, allowing you to stay in contact or call for help no matter where you are. Be careful though, as the signal strength can vary between different operators; be sure to pick the one with the best range, even if it costs a little more.
Separate your cards from cash
Keeping cards and cash separated has several advantages:
First of all, you’ll avoid loosing both in case of theft. Second, you’ll avoid showing anyone near you how much cash is in your wallet every time you take out a card. Vice-versa, whenever you use cash you won’t be showing anyone where your cards are stored.
Dress modestly
The best way to stay safe when travelling is to blend in as much as possible with the locals. Tourists are most often the targets for robbery, theft and scams, so try to do your best to avoid attracting too much attention.
This means ditching all expensive brands and big-name tags. Dress conservatively, and avoid wearing any expensive jewellery and watches. You’ll definitely reduce your chances of theft if it looks like you don’t have anything of value to steal.
Walk with confidence and purpose
Even if you’re hopelessly lost, never show it.
Most scammers and thieves are experts at spotting tourists in difficulty, and will often sweep in to “help” or take advantage of you. Confidently walking around like you know exactly what you’re doing, and where you’re going, will surely help you pass more for a local, and throw any thief off the scent.
Get a good cross-body bag
Cross-body bags, or slings, are one of our must-have items, and we never realised how much we needed them until the first time we travelled with one.
The main advantage of this kind of bag is that it allows you to store valuable items within hand’s reach, but in a position that makes it extremely hard for pickpockets to get to. It’s also almost impossible to remove a cross-bag from someone unless it is cut off, greatly reducing the chances of theft.
Storing your valuables out of your main luggage also means that, for one, important items are always reachable without you having to go through your backpack or trolley. Second, your valuables will remain close to you if your main luggage is stolen.
Our favourite cross-body bag at the moment in the Uniqlo Round Mini Shoulder Bag. We wrote a pretty detailed review of it, and we find it surprisingly affordable and sturdy!
Download offline maps on Google Maps
In case you didn’t know, it is possible to download offline maps from Google Maps. These are a great way to move around safely in case you’re low on data, or have bad reception.
Below you can see how to download a map directly from Google Maps using your phone (click and hover on each image for more details).
Take care when walking late at night
Some locations are perfectly safe at night, others not so much, so be sure to know on which side your destination falls. If the area has a reputation for being dangerous at night, the best thing to do is to try and move in groups, or order a cab to be driven back to your accommodation. Female travellers in particular should pay extra attention that they are not being followed when leaving bars and night-clubs!
And it goes without saying, but avoid getting drunk. You’ll be an easy target for anyone who wants to take advantage of you, and an impaired judgement will lead you into situations you would normally avoid. If your idea of a good vacation is to get wasted every night, we’re not here to judge, all we can say is that it doesn’t mix well with solo travel.
Invest in a good travel money-belt
A money belt is another one of our must-have travel items. It’s the perfect way to stow away your cash, and is practically invisible if you don’t know it’s there!
When solo travelling in the past, we always wore one, be it for important documents or a little bit of cash. Just like a cross-body bag, it’s almost impossible for a pickpocket to reach a money belt, ensuring that your valuables remain safe.
Save important emergency numbers on your phone
Emergency numbers are different for every country, so it is essential that you note down the ones for your destination. It’s a good idea to save them on your phone and, while you’re at it, back them up on a piece of paper in case your phone is lost or out of battery.
Trust your gut
This is perhaps the most important point on this list.
If something feels off, or too good to be true, always trust your gut. That little tingle on the back of the neck has saved us from a lot of hassle over the years, and has kept us safe from harm more times than we can count.
We’ve also learned over time to always take any approach from strangers with a little pinch of suspicion, and to always assume that there is a secondary motive to an overly-friendly person. Unfortunately, most of the time this suspicion turns out to be correct.
Your gut is your best defence when travelling solo. Always trust your feelings and you’ll be just fine.
Hopefully we didn’t scare you with all these safety tips.
We didn’t write this article with the intention of discouraging you from solo travelling, but rather to encourage you to do it safely. It’s a big, scary world out there, but it’s safer than it seems and, most important of all, it’s worth exploring!
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