Hey Love,
Welcome back! Today I've invited my buddy Jeremy to share his thoughts on traveling safety for guys.
You have a different set of concerns than I as a solo girl do, so I thought it best to ask someone who has been traveling solo since 2010. Here's Jeremy's thoughts on solo travel safety for men:
"Men's travel safety isn't something you're likely to read about. As luck would have it, us guys tend get the better deal when it comes to traveling solo—we're not usually seen as targets in the same way female travelers are.
But we are still targets—I've been sucker-punched. I've been pick-pocketed. I've been taken advantage of, overcharged and scammed. Male or female, you're bound to get taken in some way or another.
When all is said and done, your wallet is (usually) the final target. Whether they're at a local tourist attraction or local girls at the pub, more often than not, it's your pockets you need to be cautious of.
Here's a short story for you: In Siem Reap, Cambodia, walking home alone from the bars at about 2am (that was my first mistake), a young girl approached me, started whispering in my ear, and grabbed my crotch. I was drunk and shied away, but she kept at it. Once I had gotten away from her, I checked my pockets—it turns out that she wasn't actually reaching for my crotch, but slowly nudging my iPhone out of my left pocket. I realized what had happened, ran across the street to catch her, and snatched my phone back right out of her hands.
With female travelers, people are usually more aggressive when it comes to taking advantage of them. For male travelers, people are a little bit sneakier, because whether it's accurate or not, there's a notion that men might fight back.
And because "men might fight back," locals will sometimes be more aggressive with you. I've had local Aussies whip bottles at my head and I've had Serbian guys sucker punch me, simply because I was a foreign guy in their country (seriously).
Sometimes, no matter how friendly you are, certain locals just won't like the fact that you're there. And when you come across these people, there's only one thing you can do—keep your head down. Remember, you're on their turf, and home-field advantage always wins.
Tips for Traveling Safely as a Guy:
• Don't keep valuables in your pockets. Put money in your shoe, secure your phone in a hidden or zippered pocket, and always carry a decoy wallet in your back pocket just in case. Inside your decoy wallet, keep an expired license, expired credit card, and $20 in cash.
• Never run a tab at local bars or restaurants, especially in developing countries. Your new "friends" at the bar might sneak a bunch of drinks on it, or if the bartender is in on it, he'll overcharge you, and you might not even notice.
• If local girls approach you, be very clear about your intentions. "Maybe" is interpreted to mean "yes," so whether you're into it or not, a direct "yes" or "no" will make the difference.
• Keep your ego in check. No matter how much you might want to get aggressive with someone who's giving you a hard time, don't. Your night WILL get a lot worse. Keep your head down, accept that you're being treated unfairly, and walk away.
• Don't think that, just because you're a guy, you won't become a target.Be smart, use your head, and don't make stupid decisions. As long as you keep your wits about you, everything should turn out just fine."
You can find more tips from Jeremy on his blog, TravelFreak.
In tomorrow's email, we'll continue the planning process and in the emails that follow, we'll focus on how to have authentic travel experiences and why your brain is wired to crave new experiences.
See you then!
-Kristin