Safety Tips for Solo Travelling Gals
Before I left the motherland, a wise man called Brian, a proud owner of a phone with buttons, said to me, "Sarah, 99% of the people in the world are good." He's right. However now and then, I've found myself in situations that spark memories of when I was 17, and my mum, worried for my intrepid soul, took me down to VideoEzy, and rented the movie Taken. After watching the movie, and recognising that my dad did not have "the very particular set of skills" of Liam Neeson, I realised that once i was out of little old New Zealand, it was me that had to look after me.
So, here are my top tips, trialed by the tried and true: trial and much error.
1) Do a woman's self defense class before you leave
Sounds a cliche, but it'll make your mum feel better about your looming departure, you'll learn a few life skills and even might make a friend! I headed along to one of the free weekend workshops run by S.A.F.E in Auckland and couldn't recommend them more. The team are genuinely concerned about woman's safety!
2) Learn a few phrases in the local language
By this I don't mean Duolingo's most fundamental and multi-purpose phrase, "The cat drinks milk" I mean, "HELP!" "STOP!" "DON'T TOUCH ME!" And in the event of emergency, please remember to yell these loud and proud!
3) Let someone know where you are and where you're going
Going hiking? Tell someone at your hostel. Boom. Easy. Arriving in a new location during the night? Pre book your accommodation. Boom. Easy. Sending your mum your location on the WhatsApp every couple of days. Boom. Easy.
Common, even Liam Neeson needed clues.
4) Travel during the day and arrive in a new city during day light hours
I'm all about night buses, trains, planes, and if I could sleepwalk, I'd probably do that too. But as soon as I hear 3 or more people having bad experiences, from hold-ups to handsy seat mates, I'm straight on a day bus using my current read to swat off any roaming hands.
Note: the swat manoeuvre has only had to be used once, on an EasyJet flight.
5) Make a friend or five
It doesn't matter if you're in a hostel, or on a 36 hour bus, you need to make sure you talk to safe looking people, or friendly folk. Safety in numbers people! Either the old man, the woman with 3 kids or basically anyone that you can out run. The amount of times kind random people have directed me out of bad situations is ridiculous.
Before Tinder, ghosting was defined as, "following behind someone without being detected. usually provides endless laughs." Continuing on from the previous point, when you've accidentally found yourself somewhere you shouldn't be in the dark, I highly recommend finding some friendly folk, and pretending you're with them AKA ghosting them the heck out of there.
7) Look like you know where you're going
Even if you don't.
8) Dress like you got no money
Hair in a top knot, shorts so cut off you can barely call them shorts anymore and only shower in the sea. If your mum wouldn't let you in the house, you're onto something. But srsly, leave your nice get up at home. You're already a target because you're different, there's no need to flash that bling bling.
9) Get a bangin' bag
Attributes of a bangin' bag include:
Holds heaps - passport, camera, phone, pen, snacks. Mostly snacks.
Looks ok ish - doesn't look expensive, but doesn't look awful in photos
Motor-robber proof - if someone can slice or rip it off you, maybe re-think that purchase
Pick-pocket proof - I try to get something with a lid, that will always cover the opening
Sleepable - must be able to sleep with it on if you're on overnight transport
10) Know how you're getting back to your bed
This is a big safety issues for girls, and after years of trial and error, I have finally come up with a easy to understand, hard to execute, two step process.
Step 1 - Know where you're staying. Write this on your hand in permanent marker, across your forehead, or just don't take that last tequila shot.
Step 2 - Have enough money to get home. If you've taken that last tequila shot, you've probably also missed the last metro. Put some taxi money in your shoe or in a place that you can't get pick-pocketed from and your 2am self will forget about, but 4am self will remember.
The obvious list aside, you can't take away all risk, but you can greatly reduce the risk of entering into a bad situation if you've prepped! If you feel uncomfortable at all, like your life is suddenly running parallel to the first eight minutes of Taken, get out of there!
