Travel & Safety Tips
To consider yourself a seasoned traveler, you have to be able to know what to do in a nasty spot, and adapt quickly in order to keep yourself safe. Luckily for the students on this Dialogue, Lyon is an extremely safe city and this issue has never arisen. But because I’m a generally adventurous person that likes to explore new cultures in unconventional ways, I’ve had a few run-in’s with some dangerous situations around different parts of the world. But each time, I’ve come away unscathed and kept my cool (knock on wood), thanks to little things I’ve picked up along the way.
1. Hide your valuables, even from yourself: One of the best things I’ve learned to do while walking at night or alone, is to split up my valuables. Thieves usually go for your purse or backpack, so if I ever feel unsafe, I take my phone out and hide it in my waistband, put my credit cards in my pocket, and hold my keys in my hand. This way, if I am indeed mugged, I don’t lose everything inside my bag.
2. Use your inside voice: Everyone becomes hyperaware of an obnoxious group of people speaking loudly, but everyone becomes doubly aware when they hear that group of people speaking loudly in English. Maybe you already don’t physically fit in to your surroundings depending what country you are in (eg. me, a Chinese-Korean in South Africa), but you can do yourself a favor by not drawing any further unnecessary attention to yourself.
3. Wear your bag wisely: I’ve gotten into a habit of wearing my purse fully zipped and in front of myself, so I can always keep an eye on it. And for bags worn on the back, be especially cautious of the inside contents. When getting on the subway in Rome, my dad felt a hand reach into his backpack as the doors were about to close. Luckily, the thief couldn’t reach my dad’s wallet because he had tucked it away into a secret inner pocket.
4. Smile: I’ve found in multiple situations, being friendly has lessened any tension in an uncomfortable situation. Now, I’m not saying smiling at a thief will stop him or her from taking your things. But you instantly become a target if you look lost and/or afraid, so confidence is key. When I was a freshman, I had an RA tell me that if I ever felt unsafe walking through the Fens in Boston, “put on a mean face and no one will mess with me”.
This week, our dialogue moved from Lyon to Paris. Before we left, our class figured we needed to mentally prepare for any potential situations that could arise in our new city, which is notorious for its pick-pocketing problem. Our class even decided to have a precautionary screening of the movie “Taken” before we arrived in Paris, followed by a much more optimistic viewing party for “Ratatouille”.
