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General Overseas Travel Safety

Module by: Patrick Frantz, Debbie Gulick

Summary: Some general tips on keeping yourself safe while traveling overseas.

Safety and Security Issues Abroad

It is important to think about your personal safety and security issues while you are traveling abroad.

Street Safety

While you are abroad, you will have to be particularly street savvy. Gender roles, traffic laws, and drinking laws may not be the same as in your home country. As a traveler, it is your responsibility to be observant and cautious.

In many places, pedestrians do not necessarily have the right of way. Traffic laws might not be obeyed. Use caution on busy city streets, and do not assume that any car, truck, bus, or scooter will stop for you.

Know where you are going when you leave. Just like in any big city, a foreigner holding a huge map could invite trouble. Take time to study a map before you go out, and get to know your city’s layout and culture.

Observe local behaviors. Cues will be different than what you are used to. In particular, body language is not universal. Your actions may be interpreted very differently than you intended. For example, Americans often present conflicting body language to what they say, such as smiling while saying no. Be aware of your own mixed signals.

Remember that safety in numbers is a smart idea wherever you are.

Keeping Your Valuables Safe

Here are some tips to secure your valuables during travel:

  • While you are traveling, you should always wear a money belt or pouch to keep your money, passport, traveler’s checks, and other valuables safe from theft.
  • Buy a padlock for your backpack.
  • Don’t carry everything in one place! You should organize your funds and essential documents into two separate packs. When in country, one of these packs should always be left at your residence as a back up.
  • If you must carry a purse, use a shoulder strap and keep the purse in front of your body. Carry your wallet in an inside coat or front pant pocket.
  • Don’t leave your luggage or handbag unattended anywhere. Should you put a backpack down, place it on the floor between your legs and wrap a strap around a fixed object.

The Law

Foreign travelers abroad are subject solely to the laws of the country they are visiting. They are NOT protected by their home country laws. You are responsible for obeying all of the laws of the country you are in; INNOVATE cannot intervene if you are arrested or prosecuted for violation of local laws, including laws on drug use, currency exchange, and disturbances of the peace. What may seem to you like a harmless prank may have serious consequences. Do not assume that, as a foreigner or a student, you will be treated leniently; the opposite is often the case. Do not count on your home country Consulate or Embassy to assist you except in a superficial advisory capacity. Think before you act!

Drugs & Alcohol

Be aware of the drug and alcohol laws of your host country. Several countries have extremely strict drug laws; penalties can range from years in prison to death. Be aware that customs officials are extremely thorough in their inspections for smuggled drugs and are continuously increasing their inspection procedures. If any of your prescription drugs have even small amounts of illegal substances as part of their composition, have your doctor write a note indicating why that drug is in your prescription. Even that small amount could get you arrested in another country.

Violence & Terrorism

While most countries in the world have less street crime and personal violence than is potentially present in urban and suburban America, public political demonstrations are not uncommon in some cities and countries abroad. Do NOT participate or go to observe these demonstrations as your hosts may not appreciate that you, a foreign visitor, are publicly opposing their political or social system.

Violence and terrorism are now clear realities of the twenty-first century, and are not likely to diminish significantly. Nevertheless, there are certain rather obvious precautions that students abroad can take:

  • Do your homework, listen and heed the counsel you are given.
  • Keep a low profile and try not to make yourself conspicuous by dress, speech, or behavior, in ways that might identify you as a target or uniquely foreign. This includes: wearing college or university insignia clothing or heavily patriotic American clothing, wearing baseball caps or U.S. sports teams’ shirts or jackets.
  • Do not draw attention to yourself either through expensive dress, personal accessories (cameras, radios, sunglasses, etc.) or careless behavior.
  • Avoid crowds, protest groups, or other potentially volatile situations. Keep abreast of local news. Read local newspapers, magazines, etc. and speak with local officials to learn about any potential civil unrest. If there should be any political unrest, do not get involved.
  • When in large cities and other popular tourist destinations, avoid or spend as little time as possible in potential target areas for terrorist activities, especially places frequented by Americans: bars, discos, and U.S. fast food restaurants; branches of American banks; American churches; and American consulates or embassies.
  • Try not to engage in conversations about contentious political issues with host nationals.
  • Be wary of unexpected packages and stay clear of unattended luggage or parcels in airports, train stations, or other areas of uncontrolled public access.
  • Report to the responsible authority any suspicious persons loitering around residence or instructional facilities, or following you; keep your residence area locked; use common sense in divulging information to strangers about your study program and your fellow students.
  • If you haven’t already done so, please register with the nearest Embassy or Consulate of your home country. Additionally, if you travel to countries beyond your internship site and expect to be there for more than a week, register upon arrival at a consulate or embassy of your home country having jurisdiction over the location.
  • Make sure that IAESTE or your host employer always knows where and how to contact you in an emergency (make sure that someone always knows where you are!).
  • Develop a plan with your family for regular telephone or e-mail contact, so that in times of heightened political tension, you will be able to communicate with your parents directly about your safety.

Cultural Sensitivity

We all want to be culturally sensitive, to get along, to be respectful, to fit in, to not offend. In training, cultural sensitivity is emphasized and highly valued. It can be the doorway through which a college student studying or working abroad gains entry to and acceptance with the community abroad.

It is very important that the cultural sensitivity training provided never requires that you submit to behaviors that invade your personal boundaries and that feel unsafe or even uncomfortable to you. If it feels inappropriate or makes you uneasy, get yourself out of the situation. Never sacrifice yourself or your sense of safety for the sake of cultural sensitivity.

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