April 30, 2025 • 37 mins
In episode 52 of the Global Travel Planning Podcast, Tracy is joined by co-hosts Melissa and Shelly to share their expertise on the crucial topic of travel safety. Together, they explore various aspects of staying safe while travelling, addressing specific concerns for solo travellers, family travellers, and those adventuring across the globe.
From essential pre-travel research and understanding local customs to practical tips for safeguarding your belongings, the episode is packed with valuable advice. They discuss the benefits of pickpocket-proof bags, the importance of using VPNs, and how to manage money wisely while abroad.
Tracy, Shelly, and Melissa share insights from their own travel experiences, highlighting the importance of preparation, awareness, and common sense when navigating unfamiliar destinations.
⭐️ Guests - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au) and Shelly Marie (SoloHerWay.com)
📝 Show Notes - Episode 52
🎧 Listen to next
- Episode 43 – Finding Your Ideal Accommodation: Tips, Tricks, and Travel Tales
- Episode 39 - Planning Your Dream Trip in 2025: Expert Tips and Strategies
- Episode 47 - Pack Like a Pro: Essential Tips, Tricks + Travel Hacks
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Staying safe while traveling is something we all
think about, but do you know thebest ways to protect yourself
from pickpockets, scams anddigital threats?
In this episode, I'll besharing key travel safety tips.
Plus, melissa joins me to talkabout staying safe with kids,
and Shelley shares her insightson solo travel.
Hi and welcome to the GlobalTravel Planning Podcast.
(00:21):
I'm your host, tracey Collins,who, with my expert guests, will
take you on a weekly journey todestinations around the globe,
providing travel inspiration,itinerary ideas, practical tips
and more to help you plan yournext travel adventure.
Hello and welcome to episode 52of the Global Travel Planner
(00:53):
podcast.
Again, I am with my co-hostsand friends at the end of the
month.
This is our end of monthepisode where we share our
travel hacks, tips andexperiences with you to help you
travel the world better andenjoy yourself when you're
coming to planning your trip andactually experiencing your trip
.
So we've got melissa and shelly, so hi again you guys, hello,
(01:15):
hello.
So today we are talking abouttips for staying safe, so I
thought we'd kind of look atlots of different areas with
this because, um, melissaobviously has got experience of
family travel and shelly hassolo uh, women's travel
experience, so they'll be greatto chat to about their um
(01:37):
different tips for staying safein those arenas and I thought
I'd share a little bit about.
I guess one of my favoritetopics is is my pickpocket proof
uh theft proof bags, because Ihave so many of them and I
travel with them all the timeand just because you have to be
careful these days, and then I'msure somebody will listen going
, oh, don't exaggerate, butactually you do have to be
careful, because there are justtoo many stories these days of
(01:58):
people having stuff pinched whenthey're traveling.
So it's just important to beaware.
So let's start off withchatting about how we research
before we're going to a newdestination, about safety.
So I guess, melissa, I don'tknow if you're going to mention
this, we probably will, butwe've got the smart traveler
from the Australian governmentand I usually check on that.
(02:19):
Is that something that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, I do.
I mean, I was thinking aboutthis question and I don't
actually know if I definitelysort of tend to go out of my way
to research the safety in acountry.
I think generally when youstart researching a country, it
generally sort of comes up andyou start kind of seeing what to
avoid or not to avoid.
But yeah, smart Traveller isthe Queensland one sorry,
(02:43):
australia one which I definitelylook at in terms of,
particularly when I knowsomething's going on in a
country, I'll have a look at itand it'll give you like whether
or not you should be concernedor not travel there, or areas
that you might need to travel,but also looking at like what
sort of vaccinations and stuffthat you should take, because
(03:07):
obviously in terms of safetythere's a lot of different.
There's like crime, but thenthere's also health safety, so
looking at what vaccinations youshould have and things like
that.
So I generally look at thatsort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's actually a really good point, because I
remember going and having I'vehad my rabies shots.
I had those before travellingto India, just because I'd been
bitten by a monkey before and Iwas just like, no, I'm not
taking the chance.
What about you, shelley?
When you plan to travelsomewhere as a solo traveler, do
you?
Do you look at kind of safetyinformation?
Do you do any research?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
oh yes, I do a lot of research.
Um, I usually look at multiplegovernment sites.
I will look at the country'sgovernment site that I'm
traveling to and then I'll lookat my home government site and
then I will also look atdifferent sites.
(04:01):
There's one again like, againlike hood maps.
I'll look at um different othersafety sites.
I'll I'll just research a ton,but I guess what I I try to keep
in perspective is I use commonsense, because some of these
(04:25):
sites and and I don't want toget political but some of these
sites and some of these otherplaces, they can be skewed one
way or another.
So when I'm researching I tryto look at a lot of different
venues.
So I'll even go on YouTube use.
(04:48):
So I'll even go on YouTube andI will try to pull up the local
news in that one area and justsee is there elections going on?
Are they having a shortage ofelectricity or food?
Is there something going on?
Is there nothing going on?
And I kind of fact check a lotof things beforehand.
And it's not so much todiscourage myself from going to
that country, it's just so I'mprepared to go to that country
(05:11):
that's no.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
That's really good points.
Are there any places that youhave decided not to travel to
because of anything that'sthat's cracking off or that
you've read, and I'm just gonna?
We don't have to give specificcountries, I guess, but just
have.
Has it ever impacted travel?
And I will say that I and I'mjust going to.
We don't have to give specificcountries, I guess, but just has
it ever impacted travel?
And I will say that I, twoyears ago, was going to travel
to a country and decided not tobecause of actually what I read
(05:33):
on the Australian the travelersite.
It was just travel with caution.
I was just like solar traveler.
I don't feel confident doing it, so I actually canceled that
trip at the last minute.
But have you ever had to dothat in the past?
Melissa Shelley.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I have only because of the same reason, but again,
it was because I fact checkedand I looked at multiple sites
and there was political unrestand elections and they were
having a lot of problems withthe government turning off the
(06:12):
electricity and taking in.
And it was like I used my VPNso I could see, like, what's
happening happening.
So, yes, so there have beentrips, when I have verified that
maybe it's not the best timefor me to go and maybe take some
resources away from otherpeople.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's a good point, and and it's another good reason
to have travel insurance andfree cancellation on things as
well.
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I actually haven't, but not because I went anyway.
I guess I've just been luckythat I've never booked a trip
that I had to cancel for thosesorts of reasons.
The only time I've ever had tocancel trips is due to bloody
COVID.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, well, yes, absolutely Everybody got stuck
with that, didn't they?
What about money safety?
This is something I want totalk about, things like
pickpockets and scams.
So that's something that I'vebeen chatting a lot to in my to
people in my UK and LondonFacebook groups, because I do
stress that I don't want toscare people.
This is a thing.
I don't want to be a scaremongerbecause absolutely I travel to
(07:18):
these places.
I just I think the main point Iwant to try and make is that
you just need to be prepared soyou don't need to necessarily
buy a special bag.
But I have a crossbody bag, Ihave a travel-on bag, so it's a
little bit more secure and youknow it's slash-proof and all
the rest of the things that makeit a little bit harder for a
pickpocket to get into orsomebody to steal.
I also have a lanyard, whichwe've talked about in a previous
(07:40):
episode, which I have my phoneon again just to keep that safer
, where I know where it is.
It's not on a table wheresomebody could come along, put
something on top of it and thenpinch my phone which happens all
the time these days or phonesget snatched out of hands in
London If don't travel on theMetro in Paris with a phone in
your back pocket, because you'llget off the Metro and you won't
(08:03):
have your phone.
It's those sort of kind ofobvious things that I think
sometimes go out the window whenyou're traveling because you're
just distracted by trying tofind your way around.
Or, oh, my goodness, look,there's Eiffel Tower, there's
Buckingham Palace and that iswhat.
Or you're at a train stationand you're a little bit confused
about where you're going.
You're looking up at the board,your eyes off your handbag, oh,
and your handbags whipped.
So it's just kind of makingpeople be aware of those sorts
(08:26):
of things that you have to justbe on your guard about.
So, um, you know, and I don'tknow about you guys, do you have
anything special that you do to, kind of any tips that you
could share to help with kind ofthings like pickpockets or
people trying to steal kind ofyou know from um atm machines
and things like that?
Like, what do you do?
(08:47):
Do you make sure that you checkthe machine?
Because, I mean, I've usedmachines in Bali and I check the
machine beforehand, becauseI've heard of kind of you know,
card cloning and that sort ofthing going on.
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I think you kind of covered a lot.
Like you said, I always travelwith a cross body bag, you know.
I know back in the day peopletalked about those under money
belts.
I don't reckon they're good,you know, because otherwise you
stand there, pull your shirt upand fluff around.
I just think that's a bitridiculous.
I use a cross body bag as well,um, to make sure it's across
your body and the actual bag isin front of you, and I always
(09:22):
tend to walk around with my handon it, like holding it.
But, like you said, I also havelike a slash proof one, so if
anyone was to try to, you know,slash it or whatever, they
wouldn't be able to.
And the other thing I wouldrecommend is, like, I don't
travel with all my money or allmy cards, like so every day I'll
kind of go.
Well, how much money do I thinkI need for today?
Put that in my purse and putthe rest, you know, somewhere
(09:44):
safe in my hotel, um, but yeah,it's, it's, it's like you said,
just being a bit more mindfuland like, so, you know, if
you're on a train, don't waittill you get off the train to go
.
Oh, where am I going to go now,like work it out in advance,
sit on the train, take that timeto.
You know, look at google maps,because I think it's more those
times where you're a little bitoff guard looking at your phone
(10:06):
or whatever.
That's when those sorts ofbecause, yeah, as a traveler, we
stand out like sore thumbs yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I remember being on the Paris Metro a few years ago
and have I actually had mybackpack on, but it was a travel
on one, which is the you knowyou can lock and everything.
But I just had my dirty clothesin it and I got surrounded by
basically a gang of pickpockets,um, so I couldn't move, but my
crossbody bag was in front of me, it was locked, I had my hands
on it.
So they went through thebackpack cause I could not move,
(10:33):
but by the time they there wasnothing.
There was literally dirtyclothes in my toothbrush, so
there was nothing.
But but I, you know, and thatand that situation, I literally
couldn't move because theysurrounded me.
But I knew, because mycross-body bag was in front of
me, it was locked.
That's the other thing.
Make sure you lock it, don'thave it open, locked and my
hands on it, that it was okay.
What about you, shelley, whenit comes to traveling with money
(10:56):
and credit cards and cash?
How do you deal with that?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Well, much like both of you, I have a crossbody bag.
I do have the slash proof totravel on.
I love that because they lock,and same with Melissa's tip.
I don't carry all my cash.
The one thing that I make sureI do is I never, ever, ever
(11:29):
carry my passport with me.
I always make sure that's inthe hotel room.
I will keep a colored copy withme and I have a digital copy on
my phone, but I will nevercarry my passport with me.
(11:49):
Passport with me and I will onlycarry a credit card that is a
travel credit card that is notlinked to my primary accounts.
So I have two designated cardsthat I primarily use for travel
and then that way, if God forbid, something happens to they,
could only get so much money outand, you know, I could
hopefully recover it later.
The other thing I do that's alittle extreme, that it's only
(12:15):
because I travel for such a longperiod of time is I travel with
two complete phones that arebacked up by the cloud.
So one of my phones is alwayswith my passport in a safe
location in the safe, and Ialways make sure I'm constantly
backing up my phone and then ifmy phone God forbid, ever gets
(12:37):
compromised or taken.
I can always access other phone, turn off the other phone and
also recover my files.
You know, not everyone travelswith two phones, but that's what
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, but that's not a bad idea, to be honest,
because if I lost my phone, I'dbe stuck, because I have
everything on my phone, so thatyou know, that's something I'm
really conscious of and beingvery careful about it, and
probably more so than anything,it's always my's, something I'm
really conscious of and beingvery careful about it.
Um, and probably more so thananything, it's always my phone
that I'm protective of.
Um, but I think that's a that'san interesting point actually
to to consider doing that.
(13:13):
Are they, I'm going to ask, arethey iPhones that you've got or
yes?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
yes, so I have my phone, so they're, yeah, they're
backed up and then that way,you know, like I said, you can.
You can go ahead and access thecloud.
The only thing I make sure whenI'm traveling is it's
automatically updated, but Ialways make sure I physically
back it up like every other day.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's a good idea.
I think that's a good pointabout the passport we usually
try to book accommodation thathas got a safe, but often in
apartments you don't have thatoption.
But, yeah, we always have acolour copy of the passport and
leave the passport in ouraccommodation and not carry it
around, because we've heardrecently quite a few instances
where the bag's been stolen andpassport's gone as well, which
(14:02):
it can be really difficult.
If that happens on a weekendand the embassy shut and you
can't get a passport until thenext few days, I think it can
cause it can be really difficultand also it just can ruin your
holiday as well.
So another reason to havetravel insurance as well.
Another thing we always sayabout travel insurance is not
just about being sick, it's alsoabout protecting your
belongings as well and make surethat you you know you consider
(14:25):
that also let your bank know ifyou're traveling as well.
Um, let them know where you'regoing and if you're planning to
make large purchases, becauseyou know if you you're traveling
with your bank and your cardhas been schemed.
If we never use our bank cards,we, as you say that we have
cards that are separate from ourbank account, but if you do,
then you know if somebody doescompromise your, your bank
account, they can't take a largeamount out.
You can get that shut down asquickly as possible because the
(14:48):
bank will be a hang on a second.
They're not.
They didn't say they were goingto be spending ten thousand
dollars when they were in turkey.
You know something like that.
So I think that's that's usefulum to do as well.
Um, again, using atms, be reallycareful.
I was just going to say, likeATMs, be careful, make sure that
you check the machinebeforehand if you're going to
(15:09):
use it.
I know that was something I wasworried about when I was
traveling in India and it wasabsolutely fine.
But again, we just use Duganawhen we travel.
We just use our Wise card thathas a certain amount on it, and
so we use one Wise card, get thewithdrawal out and there's not
much on that card.
So then we can transfer moneyto over to that card afterwards.
But it means that you know ifthat card was compromised, that
(15:29):
we could, we could basicallyshut it down.
So that's one thing that we do.
Um, any other thoughts on onkind of traveling with money,
cash cards, guys?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Um, I usually, I usually try with the ATMs.
I I will try to get money outat an indoor ATM.
I know it's not always feasiblebut if it is possible I try to
do.
The indoor ATMs versus the7-Elevens or, you know, the the
(16:01):
more casual ones, casual ones oroutside of a bank, they tend to
have more security, morelighting, and I can't guarantee
they're not more compromised,but there's less of a chance.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, no, I agree with that.
I think it's always about justhaving your wits about you and
double-checking everything andthinking about everything that
you do when you're not takingtoo much cash out in one go, um,
that's another thing, um, I wasgoing to mention about, because
online safety, or even usingyour phone, um, and so I use a
vpn all the time I would not.
I mean, at the moment, we're ina hotel that has free wi-fi,
(16:38):
but it's not protected in anyway, shape or form, so if I was
using this to do any banking,anybody could check out what I'm
doing online.
So we have a VPN.
We always have the VPN on ourphones and on our laptops, and I
guess that's something that youguys have as well.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yes, definitely, definitely.
And the VPN comes in so handyfor so many different things.
But, yeah, you have to have aVPN to protect yourself in
public places.
If you want to go to a cafe,you're working, and it's not
just for money, it's.
If you want to access somehealth records, you want to
(17:15):
access your travel insurance.
You don't want people to knowwhere you're traveling to or you
know private information.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
So, yeah, definitely yeah, melissa, I guess, again,
vpn is a is a must, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
yes, I know it is.
Yes, it definitely is um.
I highly recommend it excellent.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
I mean, I just uh, it's just too.
It's too risky these days notto.
So let's talk about travelingon public transport.
So when it comes to traintravel, train stations are a big
, big problem.
It's somewhere that things cango wrong.
In train stations, things canget stolen, things can get
picked up, and then you couldjust get lost.
There's just lots of thingsgoing on in train stations.
You're going to miss your train, your luggage is going to go
(17:57):
missing, all sorts of things.
So how do you keep yourselfsafe in train stations?
Is the thing I'll say prepare,prepare, prepare, prepare.
Before you go, make sure youknow you know the time of your
train, get there well in advance.
Make sure you keep your eye onyour luggage.
If there's two of you there,one of you look at the board
while the other person keepsaround the luggage, so there's
always keeping an eye oneverything.
So, again about preparation.
But I want to ask you guysespecially actually when I ask
(18:19):
you, shelly is about a solotraveler when it comes to public
transport, or even getting intoa taxi or something like that
what, what are the tips that youwould share?
Um?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I have two kind of main tips.
One, exactly what you said justjust be super aware of your
surroundings.
Don't have your head buried inyour phone, don't have your
earbuds in, just be aware, Imean.
And also, when you're in thecar or you're in the vehicle,
(18:49):
have your GPS on, if possible,to make sure that they're taking
you or you're going in theright direction.
That goes for train, bus, ferry, wherever, so you know, because
if you got on the wrong train,going the wrong way, you don't
want to go 15 stops before youknow you got to go back.
And same with if you're in ataxi and they're taking you to
(19:12):
the wrong place.
The other main thing for a solofemale traveler, or any traveler
really, is sometimes, like yousaid, tracy, we get caught up in
like, oh my gosh, we're in thisbeautiful place, this culture,
this and that, and people arelovely all around the world.
I love I am a people person, Ilove speaking to people, but do
(19:35):
not tell them your life history,your itinerary, do not tell
them a bunch of personal stuffabout you, and please don't tell
them that you're traveling byyourself, because that will be
the first thing especially Ihate to say it men will say to
(19:55):
you oh, are you by yourself?
And my reply always is no, no,I have friends at the hotel, or
I have, and sometimes I do.
You know I have friends at thehotel, or they're sleeping, or
this or that.
You never tell anyone, never.
And and or you're meeting upwith friends.
(20:18):
So just be mindful, be friendly, keep the conversation
generalized, but don't give themtoo much personal information.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Do you share information with your family at
home so they know where you areall the time?
Shelley, Is somebody alwaysaware?
Do what you do and where you'regoing yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So when I, when I get ready to leave, I will give.
I have two people that I givemy itineraries to, I give, uh, I
have people that I'm constantlyin contact with almost on a
daily basis, and I give them allmy information.
The other thing, back to money,is before I leave, I make sure
(21:05):
I copy my passport, all mycredit cards that I'm taking
with me, front and back.
I also make sure I leave anypertinent keys that they might
have to get in someplace in caseof an emergency, and a copy of
my insurance.
And since I travel, I have torenew my travel insurance while
(21:28):
I'm on the road, so I have tomake sure that they get those
constantly while I'm on the trip.
So, yes, they know exactlywhere I'm at, exactly where I'm
staying, they know everything,and I think that's very
important, um, not only foryourself but for them too,
because you know your, yourfamily and friends worry about
(21:51):
you when you're on the road no,I could imagine.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So let's continue talking a little bit about solo
travel and I'm going to talk toMelissa in a second about about
family travel.
But what do you think are thebiggest safety concerns for solo
travelers?
Shelly, how do you prepare forthat as a solo traveler?
Um, in what regards?
Well, what do you think youknow?
If you're traveling solo, whatwould be the biggest challenge?
I mean, I know, like I've gotdug with me at the moment.
(22:15):
So if, if I got lost or arrivedsomewhere on my phone, say I
don't know, drop my phone and myphone broke, I've got dug with
me, so things would be kind ofyou know, I've got that back up.
But if you're traveling on yourown, what do you think would be
like?
What would be your main kind ofconcern?
I guess you don't want toarrive somewhere at two o'clock
in the morning or something likethat.
So, you know, would that besomething you'd consider?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
right, right.
So there's.
There's a few, a few thingsthat are key for myself, like if
I'm arriving someplace late atnight.
I think we covered that inaccommodations.
If I'm arriving someplace lateat night, I will make sure I
arrange transportation from theairport in advance to my
(23:00):
accommodations because I'm notgoing to fumble around at night.
You know, maybe the next day orsomething, when I'm more
acclimated.
That's something different.
The second thing is I would domy research on some of the
cultural norms in that area, andthe reason why I say that is
(23:25):
sometimes when you arrive atsome place, you may think that
somebody is being too forward ortoo offensive or it may strike
you as a safety hazard, but inactuality it may be a custom or
it may be a cultural norm intheir culture.
(23:49):
So if you not study theirculture but at least look into
some of the cultural aspects, itmay put you more at ease.
If somebody like, for example,in Asia there's not a lot of
personal space, so you may findthat threatening as a solo
(24:11):
female traveler, if somebody'sreally really close to you,
where in certain countries wegive some personal space, so
it's just little things likethat that may ease you, also for
a solo female traveler or anytraveler really is.
(24:33):
Before you go, take aself-defense class I mean before
I started this whole entirejourney, like almost four years
ago, that's what I did andthere's different classes.
Even if you're at a differentfitness level, even if you're at
(24:57):
a different age level, itdoesn't matter, they're catered
to every level and like, forexample, jujitsu, that's more of
a leverage.
It's not so much you have to bephysically strong.
So they give you tools and theygive you scenarios that women
(25:17):
especially would be in, like ifyou're in the back of a taxi or
if somebody's grabbing you, andsome of the things I would have
never known before unless I tookthat course for several months.
So that's something that youcan do in advance and that will
help you in any country, yourhome country.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, that, that's just a useful tool yeah, no,
definitely, that definitelysounds like something uh worth
doing.
I'm not considered that, but uhdefinitely uh something to
think about there.
Shelly, did it take very longto do?
It was a short course that youdid, or yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
It's.
It's short.
There are different, you knowaspects if you want to go
further, but no, usually they'reanywhere from.
You could take one from liketwo to maybe four weeks, maybe
six.
I mean it depends on howadvanced or how niche you want
to get, but you could do one asin short as two weeks.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I think that's really useful.
Right, let's switch from solartravel.
I can talk to you all day aboutsolar travel and all the
amazing aspects of it, becauseit is fascinating, because I
occasionally do solar travelwhen I can leave Doug at home,
he's buying me.
Now let's talk about travelingwith children.
Now it's a while since I'vetraveled with children, because
my daughter's 29 now, so I'mkind of a little bit away from
(26:38):
that.
But I know, melissa, for youtraveling with family, what are
the biggest concerns?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
um, I mean, obviously they're all the same sort of
concerns that we've talked aboutalready, but probably the
biggest one is kids getting lostor separated from you, um,
which is why, and most of thetime when I traveled, it was
mostly just my daughter and I,um, or you know, or I only have
one child, so there might havebeen, um, you know, the two of
(27:05):
us and our child, but most ofthe time it was just me and her.
So always, um, one thing weused to always do is I'd
actually kind of again like, notscare her, but I would talk to
her.
What would happen if we gotseparated, like, so you know, if
you're at a train station, youknow, go here.
Or if you're at a theme park,we'll meet by the merry-go-round
(27:26):
, or you know, to try and have abit of a plan so that you know
you're not just going to worryabout it when you actually, or
if you do, get separated.
The other thing I used to dowhen she was quite small would
be I'd write my phone number onher arm so that she'd have that.
You know, now she has a phoneof her own, so I always make
sure that you know she would beable to contact me and then,
(27:49):
obviously, if they've got phonesof their own, you can make sure
they've got location on um.
You know you can do things.
When my daughter was prettysmall she had a little like wore
, a little watch that had a gpsthing in it so I could find out
where she wasn't.
Luckily for me, she never gotseparated from me and I only
have one.
If you've got a couple and youknow, particularly if you're
someone with a like a runner, Iwouldn't be opposed to putting
(28:13):
them on one of those harnessthings.
I know a lot of parents arelike think that they're awful,
but if you've got a runner andyou're travelling, put one on
them.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I'd say, oh, yeah, can you imagine coming out of
some of the airports wherethere's just cars and traffic
and stuff?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
crazy everywhere.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
You have to really think about what would work for
you.
I mean, I'm a big air tagadvocate.
Now, I'm not going to say this,not in a stalkerish way or
nothing illegal, but if, if youknow, it's kind of useful to
have an air tag.
Um, sometimes I know doug hashis phone but sometimes doesn't
look on his phone and he'llwander off.
But if, if he's, if we're inlondon, sometimes in the museums
(28:49):
particularly, he's got an airtag and I don't know where he is
.
So I know I've said that before, but it's just really kind of
useful.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Well, I remember travelling with you, tracy, and
you put an air tag on me.
I did Well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I did because I just wanted you to be safe.
Again, it was safety.
I was in the hotel room inDelhi and you went off and I was
like I knew where you were andI felt so much better.
I was like, if anything happens, I know exactly where she is.
So I think we've got lots oftechnology these days which will
help with that sort of thing tomake it better, but again, if
(29:22):
you're listening, and if you'rea solo female traveller, if
you're a family traveller, getin touch, share with us your
tips.
What do you do?
How do you, what do you do toto prepare?
What sort of tips do you haveto keep safe?
Because we're we're alwaysinterested to find out.
I will mention one thing,because we talked about kind of,
like you know, the familyaspect, solo travel to, about
(29:42):
things like money, um,pickpockets and uh, like using a
vpn and stuff like.
But I also want to mention aboutdriving, because I think if
you're driving in a new countryas well, it's really useful to
prepare, because I think, if yougo to a country that you're
driving on the opposite side ofthe road, whether it's the left
or the right to what you used to, make sure that you prepare
before you go and also don't doa 23-hour flight and then get in
(30:06):
a hire car in a country whereyou're driving on the opposite
side of the road that you usedto, because that is just it's
too dangerous.
Prepare before you go.
So that's, and we have got somepodcasts that actually with
tripiama, about how you canprepare different countries
around the world so that you're,you know, to make it safer and
and to be able to get around, um, like a local and uh yeah, so
there's some really good ideasin that.
(30:27):
So I just want to throw thatone in there as well, because I
think it.
You know again, you can flyacross the world and get into a
hire car and drive off withoutanybody asking any questions,
but like, are you ready for it?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
yeah, and Tracy also.
Um, you are recommended bycertain countries to have an
international driver's license,and that driver's license has to
be interpreted in English andsometimes they'll require it in
their language also.
So, luckily, a lot of thedigital licenses are, you know,
(31:04):
in multiple languages that youcould request.
But as I'm preparing to go toNew Zealand, I was quite
impressed that when I got mytravel documents they listed a
bunch of things about driving,which I thought was really nice
in advance.
(31:25):
They were saying about how theroads were windy, how you know
the different customs that theydo.
They beep if, like, there's atractor, I don't know, but I
think that's really good thatcountries are doing that before
I even get on the flight.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I think it's so important.
I think there's been too manyaccidents where people have got
off a flight, got on, got intothe hire car and driven off and
had absolutely no idea whatthey're doing and driving on the
wrong side of the road or notbeing able to, not being aware
of the rules of the world.
So that that's again talkingabout.
When we're talking aboutstaying safe, it's it's that
aspect as well.
And, like at very beginningwhen melissa mentioned about
things like vaccines and youknow what injections you need
(32:05):
before you're going to play, dothat, do that research.
Can you drink the water in aplace?
Well, that again, you need toknow that sort of aspect of.
So it's about keeping safe andlots, lots of different ways
that we've kind of, we've kindof covered um.
But I mean, even we're inportugal and you can drink the
water, but we, you still do thatkind of research.
Is it okay?
Is the tap water fine?
You know what do they recommendum in morocco?
(32:28):
Technically, in morocco, youcan drink the tap water, but
it's got a lot of minerals in it, so it does.
It can.
If you're not used to it, it'llmake you sick.
So we were told not to, buttechnically it's kind of classed
as safe drinking water.
So, again, there's lots ofaspects to staying safe while
you travel that we've kind ofwe've covered quite a few of
them in today's episode.
Is there any kind of one tipthat you would share you think
(32:52):
that people should be aware ofwhen they're travelling?
So the thing I'm always goingto say and it's the thing I'm
known for is make sure thatyou're just aware of your
surroundings, but buy yourself,honestly, a crossbody
death-proof bag, because they'reworth their weight in gold, and
I've got about eight of themand they're great, and I always
travel with at least one of them.
What about you, melissa?
(33:13):
Is there only one tip that youwould share?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, I like to say if you wouldn't do it at home,
don't do it while you'retravelling.
I don't know.
Some people seem to think thatthey're immortal while they
travel and just do some reallystupid stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, no, that's true , that's absolutely true.
What about you, shelley?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
What would be your one piece of advice I will
piggyback off of Melissa's,because I think sometimes people
get caught up in which islovely.
That's why we go on holiday,that's why we travel to get
caught up in new experiences.
But I think sometimes thecommon sense goes out the window
.
And the other thing I wouldlike to say is the for women.
(33:54):
I think it's very, veryimportant that you listen to
your gut, that you listen toyour intuition and you don't
discount it, because there areso many times where we want to
be nice, we want to.
Just, we don't want to cause aproblem, we don't.
(34:15):
And there's so many differentways of handling things where
you can be nice, you cannotcause a problem, but you have to
abdicate for yourself and youcannot leave yourself vulnerable
or in a dangerous situationjust because you, you are
discounting, like no, no, it'sokay If you wouldn't put up with
(34:37):
it in your country, excludingthe cultural norms and taking a
lot of factors into account.
You really need to listen to it.
And if those cultural norms arereally bothering, you really
need to listen to it.
And if those cultural norms arereally bothering, you still
listen to yourself and switchlocations, because it's better
to be safe than sorry, and it'salways safety over money.
(35:06):
So if it costs you a little bitmore to go to a different
location, go to the differentlocation.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Excellent, excellent tips and advice.
This episode from you guys.
So obviously episode 52, theshow notes.
We'll put links to both Melissaand to Shelley's websites.
But big shout out, you guys.
Where can people find you,share where you live?
Speaker 3 (35:26):
I'm on soloherwaycom and all of my socials are also
solo her way.
I'm on instagram, facebook,take talk and I think that's it.
That's quite a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
uh, yeah, I have thrifty family travels is my
family travel blog, and I havequeensland travel guide and
brisbane travel guide and, yeah,you'll find me on most of
pretty much all those socialmedias that uh, um, shelley just
mentioned, as well and again,links can be found in the show
notes, episode 52 for thisepisode.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
But, once again, great to chat with you guys and,
um, I hope to actually will beseeing you soon as well, because
I'll be back in Australia soon,so I'll be seeing you.
Melissa.
Probably be missing you,unfortunately, shelley, unless
we can kind of cross cross overin Asia at some point, but
always great to chat with you.
See you.
Bye, thank you, bye.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of the global
(36:26):
travel planning podcast.
For more details and links toeverything we discussed today,
check out the show notes atglobaltravelplanningcom.
Remember, if you, if youenjoyed the show, please
consider leaving us a review onyour favorite podcast app,
because your feedback helps usreach more travel enthusiasts,
just like you.
Staying safe while traveling is something we all
think about, but do you know thebest ways to protect yourself
from pickpockets, scams anddigital threats?
In this episode, I'll besharing key travel safety tips.
Plus, melissa joins me to talkabout staying safe with kids,
and Shelley shares her insightson solo travel.
Hi and welcome to the GlobalTravel Planning Podcast.
(00:21):
I'm your host, tracey Collins,who, with my expert guests, will
take you on a weekly journey todestinations around the globe,
providing travel inspiration,itinerary ideas, practical tips
and more to help you plan yournext travel adventure.
Hello and welcome to episode 52of the Global Travel Planner
(00:53):
podcast.
Again, I am with my co-hostsand friends at the end of the
month.
This is our end of monthepisode where we share our
travel hacks, tips andexperiences with you to help you
travel the world better andenjoy yourself when you're
coming to planning your trip andactually experiencing your trip
.
So we've got melissa and shelly, so hi again you guys, hello,
(01:15):
hello.
So today we are talking abouttips for staying safe, so I
thought we'd kind of look atlots of different areas with
this because, um, melissaobviously has got experience of
family travel and shelly hassolo uh, women's travel
experience, so they'll be greatto chat to about their um
(01:37):
different tips for staying safein those arenas and I thought
I'd share a little bit about.
I guess one of my favoritetopics is is my pickpocket proof
uh theft proof bags, because Ihave so many of them and I
travel with them all the timeand just because you have to be
careful these days, and then I'msure somebody will listen going
, oh, don't exaggerate, butactually you do have to be
careful, because there are justtoo many stories these days of
(01:58):
people having stuff pinched whenthey're traveling.
So it's just important to beaware.
So let's start off withchatting about how we research
before we're going to a newdestination, about safety.
So I guess, melissa, I don'tknow if you're going to mention
this, we probably will, butwe've got the smart traveler
from the Australian governmentand I usually check on that.
(02:19):
Is that something that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, I do.
I mean, I was thinking aboutthis question and I don't
actually know if I definitelysort of tend to go out of my way
to research the safety in acountry.
I think generally when youstart researching a country, it
generally sort of comes up andyou start kind of seeing what to
avoid or not to avoid.
But yeah, smart Traveller isthe Queensland one sorry,
(02:43):
australia one which I definitelylook at in terms of,
particularly when I knowsomething's going on in a
country, I'll have a look at itand it'll give you like whether
or not you should be concernedor not travel there, or areas
that you might need to travel,but also looking at like what
sort of vaccinations and stuffthat you should take, because
(03:07):
obviously in terms of safetythere's a lot of different.
There's like crime, but thenthere's also health safety, so
looking at what vaccinations youshould have and things like
that.
So I generally look at thatsort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's actually a really good point, because I
remember going and having I'vehad my rabies shots.
I had those before travellingto India, just because I'd been
bitten by a monkey before and Iwas just like, no, I'm not
taking the chance.
What about you, shelley?
When you plan to travelsomewhere as a solo traveler, do
you?
Do you look at kind of safetyinformation?
Do you do any research?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
oh yes, I do a lot of research.
Um, I usually look at multiplegovernment sites.
I will look at the country'sgovernment site that I'm
traveling to and then I'll lookat my home government site and
then I will also look atdifferent sites.
(04:01):
There's one again like, againlike hood maps.
I'll look at um different othersafety sites.
I'll I'll just research a ton,but I guess what I I try to keep
in perspective is I use commonsense, because some of these
(04:25):
sites and and I don't want toget political but some of these
sites and some of these otherplaces, they can be skewed one
way or another.
So when I'm researching I tryto look at a lot of different
venues.
So I'll even go on YouTube use.
(04:48):
So I'll even go on YouTube andI will try to pull up the local
news in that one area and justsee is there elections going on?
Are they having a shortage ofelectricity or food?
Is there something going on?
Is there nothing going on?
And I kind of fact check a lotof things beforehand.
And it's not so much todiscourage myself from going to
that country, it's just so I'mprepared to go to that country
(05:11):
that's no.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
That's really good points.
Are there any places that youhave decided not to travel to
because of anything that'sthat's cracking off or that
you've read, and I'm just gonna?
We don't have to give specificcountries, I guess, but just
have.
Has it ever impacted travel?
And I will say that I and I'mjust going to.
We don't have to give specificcountries, I guess, but just has
it ever impacted travel?
And I will say that I, twoyears ago, was going to travel
to a country and decided not tobecause of actually what I read
(05:33):
on the Australian the travelersite.
It was just travel with caution.
I was just like solar traveler.
I don't feel confident doing it, so I actually canceled that
trip at the last minute.
But have you ever had to dothat in the past?
Melissa Shelley.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I have only because of the same reason, but again,
it was because I fact checkedand I looked at multiple sites
and there was political unrestand elections and they were
having a lot of problems withthe government turning off the
(06:12):
electricity and taking in.
And it was like I used my VPNso I could see, like, what's
happening happening.
So, yes, so there have beentrips, when I have verified that
maybe it's not the best timefor me to go and maybe take some
resources away from otherpeople.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's a good point, and and it's another good reason
to have travel insurance andfree cancellation on things as
well.
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I actually haven't, but not because I went anyway.
I guess I've just been luckythat I've never booked a trip
that I had to cancel for thosesorts of reasons.
The only time I've ever had tocancel trips is due to bloody
COVID.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, well, yes, absolutely Everybody got stuck
with that, didn't they?
What about money safety?
This is something I want totalk about, things like
pickpockets and scams.
So that's something that I'vebeen chatting a lot to in my to
people in my UK and LondonFacebook groups, because I do
stress that I don't want toscare people.
This is a thing.
I don't want to be a scaremongerbecause absolutely I travel to
(07:18):
these places.
I just I think the main point Iwant to try and make is that
you just need to be prepared soyou don't need to necessarily
buy a special bag.
But I have a crossbody bag, Ihave a travel-on bag, so it's a
little bit more secure and youknow it's slash-proof and all
the rest of the things that makeit a little bit harder for a
pickpocket to get into orsomebody to steal.
I also have a lanyard, whichwe've talked about in a previous
(07:40):
episode, which I have my phoneon again just to keep that safer
, where I know where it is.
It's not on a table wheresomebody could come along, put
something on top of it and thenpinch my phone which happens all
the time these days or phonesget snatched out of hands in
London If don't travel on theMetro in Paris with a phone in
your back pocket, because you'llget off the Metro and you won't
(08:03):
have your phone.
It's those sort of kind ofobvious things that I think
sometimes go out the window whenyou're traveling because you're
just distracted by trying tofind your way around.
Or, oh, my goodness, look,there's Eiffel Tower, there's
Buckingham Palace and that iswhat.
Or you're at a train stationand you're a little bit confused
about where you're going.
You're looking up at the board,your eyes off your handbag, oh,
and your handbags whipped.
So it's just kind of makingpeople be aware of those sorts
(08:26):
of things that you have to justbe on your guard about.
So, um, you know, and I don'tknow about you guys, do you have
anything special that you do to, kind of any tips that you
could share to help with kind ofthings like pickpockets or
people trying to steal kind ofyou know from um atm machines
and things like that?
Like, what do you do?
(08:47):
Do you make sure that you checkthe machine?
Because, I mean, I've usedmachines in Bali and I check the
machine beforehand, becauseI've heard of kind of you know,
card cloning and that sort ofthing going on.
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
I think you kind of covered a lot.
Like you said, I always travelwith a cross body bag, you know.
I know back in the day peopletalked about those under money
belts.
I don't reckon they're good,you know, because otherwise you
stand there, pull your shirt upand fluff around.
I just think that's a bitridiculous.
I use a cross body bag as well,um, to make sure it's across
your body and the actual bag isin front of you, and I always
(09:22):
tend to walk around with my handon it, like holding it.
But, like you said, I also havelike a slash proof one, so if
anyone was to try to, you know,slash it or whatever, they
wouldn't be able to.
And the other thing I wouldrecommend is, like, I don't
travel with all my money or allmy cards, like so every day I'll
kind of go.
Well, how much money do I thinkI need for today?
Put that in my purse and putthe rest, you know, somewhere
(09:44):
safe in my hotel, um, but yeah,it's, it's, it's like you said,
just being a bit more mindfuland like, so, you know, if
you're on a train, don't waittill you get off the train to go
.
Oh, where am I going to go now,like work it out in advance,
sit on the train, take that timeto.
You know, look at google maps,because I think it's more those
times where you're a little bitoff guard looking at your phone
(10:06):
or whatever.
That's when those sorts ofbecause, yeah, as a traveler, we
stand out like sore thumbs yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I remember being on the Paris Metro a few years ago
and have I actually had mybackpack on, but it was a travel
on one, which is the you knowyou can lock and everything.
But I just had my dirty clothesin it and I got surrounded by
basically a gang of pickpockets,um, so I couldn't move, but my
crossbody bag was in front of me, it was locked, I had my hands
on it.
So they went through thebackpack cause I could not move,
(10:33):
but by the time they there wasnothing.
There was literally dirtyclothes in my toothbrush, so
there was nothing.
But but I, you know, and thatand that situation, I literally
couldn't move because theysurrounded me.
But I knew, because mycross-body bag was in front of
me, it was locked.
That's the other thing.
Make sure you lock it, don'thave it open, locked and my
hands on it, that it was okay.
What about you, shelley, whenit comes to traveling with money
(10:56):
and credit cards and cash?
How do you deal with that?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Well, much like both of you, I have a crossbody bag.
I do have the slash proof totravel on.
I love that because they lock,and same with Melissa's tip.
I don't carry all my cash.
The one thing that I make sureI do is I never, ever, ever
(11:29):
carry my passport with me.
I always make sure that's inthe hotel room.
I will keep a colored copy withme and I have a digital copy on
my phone, but I will nevercarry my passport with me.
(11:49):
Passport with me and I will onlycarry a credit card that is a
travel credit card that is notlinked to my primary accounts.
So I have two designated cardsthat I primarily use for travel
and then that way, if God forbid, something happens to they,
could only get so much money outand, you know, I could
hopefully recover it later.
The other thing I do that's alittle extreme, that it's only
(12:15):
because I travel for such a longperiod of time is I travel with
two complete phones that arebacked up by the cloud.
So one of my phones is alwayswith my passport in a safe
location in the safe, and Ialways make sure I'm constantly
backing up my phone and then ifmy phone God forbid, ever gets
(12:37):
compromised or taken.
I can always access other phone, turn off the other phone and
also recover my files.
You know, not everyone travelswith two phones, but that's what
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, but that's not a bad idea, to be honest,
because if I lost my phone, I'dbe stuck, because I have
everything on my phone, so thatyou know, that's something I'm
really conscious of and beingvery careful about it, and
probably more so than anything,it's always my's, something I'm
really conscious of and beingvery careful about it.
Um, and probably more so thananything, it's always my phone
that I'm protective of.
Um, but I think that's a that'san interesting point actually
to to consider doing that.
(13:13):
Are they, I'm going to ask, arethey iPhones that you've got or
yes?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
yes, so I have my phone, so they're, yeah, they're
backed up and then that way,you know, like I said, you can.
You can go ahead and access thecloud.
The only thing I make sure whenI'm traveling is it's
automatically updated, but Ialways make sure I physically
back it up like every other day.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's a good idea.
I think that's a good pointabout the passport we usually
try to book accommodation thathas got a safe, but often in
apartments you don't have thatoption.
But, yeah, we always have acolour copy of the passport and
leave the passport in ouraccommodation and not carry it
around, because we've heardrecently quite a few instances
where the bag's been stolen andpassport's gone as well, which
(14:02):
it can be really difficult.
If that happens on a weekendand the embassy shut and you
can't get a passport until thenext few days, I think it can
cause it can be really difficultand also it just can ruin your
holiday as well.
So another reason to havetravel insurance as well.
Another thing we always sayabout travel insurance is not
just about being sick, it's alsoabout protecting your
belongings as well and make surethat you you know you consider
(14:25):
that also let your bank know ifyou're traveling as well.
Um, let them know where you'regoing and if you're planning to
make large purchases, becauseyou know if you you're traveling
with your bank and your cardhas been schemed.
If we never use our bank cards,we, as you say that we have
cards that are separate from ourbank account, but if you do,
then you know if somebody doescompromise your, your bank
account, they can't take a largeamount out.
You can get that shut down asquickly as possible because the
(14:48):
bank will be a hang on a second.
They're not.
They didn't say they were goingto be spending ten thousand
dollars when they were in turkey.
You know something like that.
So I think that's that's usefulum to do as well.
Um, again, using atms, be reallycareful.
I was just going to say, likeATMs, be careful, make sure that
you check the machinebeforehand if you're going to
(15:09):
use it.
I know that was something I wasworried about when I was
traveling in India and it wasabsolutely fine.
But again, we just use Duganawhen we travel.
We just use our Wise card thathas a certain amount on it, and
so we use one Wise card, get thewithdrawal out and there's not
much on that card.
So then we can transfer moneyto over to that card afterwards.
But it means that you know ifthat card was compromised, that
(15:29):
we could, we could basicallyshut it down.
So that's one thing that we do.
Um, any other thoughts on onkind of traveling with money,
cash cards, guys?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Um, I usually, I usually try with the ATMs.
I I will try to get money outat an indoor ATM.
I know it's not always feasiblebut if it is possible I try to
do.
The indoor ATMs versus the7-Elevens or, you know, the the
(16:01):
more casual ones, casual ones oroutside of a bank, they tend to
have more security, morelighting, and I can't guarantee
they're not more compromised,but there's less of a chance.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, no, I agree with that.
I think it's always about justhaving your wits about you and
double-checking everything andthinking about everything that
you do when you're not takingtoo much cash out in one go, um,
that's another thing, um, I wasgoing to mention about, because
online safety, or even usingyour phone, um, and so I use a
vpn all the time I would not.
I mean, at the moment, we're ina hotel that has free wi-fi,
(16:38):
but it's not protected in anyway, shape or form, so if I was
using this to do any banking,anybody could check out what I'm
doing online.
So we have a VPN.
We always have the VPN on ourphones and on our laptops, and I
guess that's something that youguys have as well.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yes, definitely, definitely.
And the VPN comes in so handyfor so many different things.
But, yeah, you have to have aVPN to protect yourself in
public places.
If you want to go to a cafe,you're working, and it's not
just for money, it's.
If you want to access somehealth records, you want to
(17:15):
access your travel insurance.
You don't want people to knowwhere you're traveling to or you
know private information.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
So, yeah, definitely yeah, melissa, I guess, again,
vpn is a is a must, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
yes, I know it is.
Yes, it definitely is um.
I highly recommend it excellent.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
I mean, I just uh, it's just too.
It's too risky these days notto.
So let's talk about travelingon public transport.
So when it comes to traintravel, train stations are a big
, big problem.
It's somewhere that things cango wrong.
In train stations, things canget stolen, things can get
picked up, and then you couldjust get lost.
There's just lots of thingsgoing on in train stations.
You're going to miss your train, your luggage is going to go
(17:57):
missing, all sorts of things.
So how do you keep yourselfsafe in train stations?
Is the thing I'll say prepare,prepare, prepare, prepare.
Before you go, make sure youknow you know the time of your
train, get there well in advance.
Make sure you keep your eye onyour luggage.
If there's two of you there,one of you look at the board
while the other person keepsaround the luggage, so there's
always keeping an eye oneverything.
So, again about preparation.
But I want to ask you guysespecially actually when I ask
(18:19):
you, shelly is about a solotraveler when it comes to public
transport, or even getting intoa taxi or something like that
what, what are the tips that youwould share?
Um?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I have two kind of main tips.
One, exactly what you said justjust be super aware of your
surroundings.
Don't have your head buried inyour phone, don't have your
earbuds in, just be aware, Imean.
And also, when you're in thecar or you're in the vehicle,
(18:49):
have your GPS on, if possible,to make sure that they're taking
you or you're going in theright direction.
That goes for train, bus, ferry, wherever, so you know, because
if you got on the wrong train,going the wrong way, you don't
want to go 15 stops before youknow you got to go back.
And same with if you're in ataxi and they're taking you to
(19:12):
the wrong place.
The other main thing for a solofemale traveler, or any traveler
really, is sometimes, like yousaid, tracy, we get caught up in
like, oh my gosh, we're in thisbeautiful place, this culture,
this and that, and people arelovely all around the world.
I love I am a people person, Ilove speaking to people, but do
(19:35):
not tell them your life history,your itinerary, do not tell
them a bunch of personal stuffabout you, and please don't tell
them that you're traveling byyourself, because that will be
the first thing especially Ihate to say it men will say to
(19:55):
you oh, are you by yourself?
And my reply always is no, no,I have friends at the hotel, or
I have, and sometimes I do.
You know I have friends at thehotel, or they're sleeping, or
this or that.
You never tell anyone, never.
And and or you're meeting upwith friends.
(20:18):
So just be mindful, be friendly, keep the conversation
generalized, but don't give themtoo much personal information.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Do you share information with your family at
home so they know where you areall the time?
Shelley, Is somebody alwaysaware?
Do what you do and where you'regoing yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So when I, when I get ready to leave, I will give.
I have two people that I givemy itineraries to, I give, uh, I
have people that I'm constantlyin contact with almost on a
daily basis, and I give them allmy information.
The other thing, back to money,is before I leave, I make sure
(21:05):
I copy my passport, all mycredit cards that I'm taking
with me, front and back.
I also make sure I leave anypertinent keys that they might
have to get in someplace in caseof an emergency, and a copy of
my insurance.
And since I travel, I have torenew my travel insurance while
(21:28):
I'm on the road, so I have tomake sure that they get those
constantly while I'm on the trip.
So, yes, they know exactlywhere I'm at, exactly where I'm
staying, they know everything,and I think that's very
important, um, not only foryourself but for them too,
because you know your, yourfamily and friends worry about
(21:51):
you when you're on the road no,I could imagine.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So let's continue talking a little bit about solo
travel and I'm going to talk toMelissa in a second about about
family travel.
But what do you think are thebiggest safety concerns for solo
travelers?
Shelly, how do you prepare forthat as a solo traveler?
Um, in what regards?
Well, what do you think youknow?
If you're traveling solo, whatwould be the biggest challenge?
I mean, I know, like I've gotdug with me at the moment.
(22:15):
So if, if I got lost or arrivedsomewhere on my phone, say I
don't know, drop my phone and myphone broke, I've got dug with
me, so things would be kind ofyou know, I've got that back up.
But if you're traveling on yourown, what do you think would be
like?
What would be your main kind ofconcern?
I guess you don't want toarrive somewhere at two o'clock
in the morning or something likethat.
So, you know, would that besomething you'd consider?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
right, right.
So there's.
There's a few, a few thingsthat are key for myself, like if
I'm arriving someplace late atnight.
I think we covered that inaccommodations.
If I'm arriving someplace lateat night, I will make sure I
arrange transportation from theairport in advance to my
(23:00):
accommodations because I'm notgoing to fumble around at night.
You know, maybe the next day orsomething, when I'm more
acclimated.
That's something different.
The second thing is I would domy research on some of the
cultural norms in that area, andthe reason why I say that is
(23:25):
sometimes when you arrive atsome place, you may think that
somebody is being too forward ortoo offensive or it may strike
you as a safety hazard, but inactuality it may be a custom or
it may be a cultural norm intheir culture.
(23:49):
So if you not study theirculture but at least look into
some of the cultural aspects, itmay put you more at ease.
If somebody like, for example,in Asia there's not a lot of
personal space, so you may findthat threatening as a solo
(24:11):
female traveler, if somebody'sreally really close to you,
where in certain countries wegive some personal space, so
it's just little things likethat that may ease you, also for
a solo female traveler or anytraveler really is.
(24:33):
Before you go, take aself-defense class I mean before
I started this whole entirejourney, like almost four years
ago, that's what I did andthere's different classes.
Even if you're at a differentfitness level, even if you're at
(24:57):
a different age level, itdoesn't matter, they're catered
to every level and like, forexample, jujitsu, that's more of
a leverage.
It's not so much you have to bephysically strong.
So they give you tools and theygive you scenarios that women
(25:17):
especially would be in, like ifyou're in the back of a taxi or
if somebody's grabbing you, andsome of the things I would have
never known before unless I tookthat course for several months.
So that's something that youcan do in advance and that will
help you in any country, yourhome country.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, that, that's just a useful tool yeah, no,
definitely, that definitelysounds like something uh worth
doing.
I'm not considered that, but uhdefinitely uh something to
think about there.
Shelly, did it take very longto do?
It was a short course that youdid, or yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
It's.
It's short.
There are different, you knowaspects if you want to go
further, but no, usually they'reanywhere from.
You could take one from liketwo to maybe four weeks, maybe
six.
I mean it depends on howadvanced or how niche you want
to get, but you could do one asin short as two weeks.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I think that's really useful.
Right, let's switch from solartravel.
I can talk to you all day aboutsolar travel and all the
amazing aspects of it, becauseit is fascinating, because I
occasionally do solar travelwhen I can leave Doug at home,
he's buying me.
Now let's talk about travelingwith children.
Now it's a while since I'vetraveled with children, because
my daughter's 29 now, so I'mkind of a little bit away from
(26:38):
that.
But I know, melissa, for youtraveling with family, what are
the biggest concerns?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
um, I mean, obviously they're all the same sort of
concerns that we've talked aboutalready, but probably the
biggest one is kids getting lostor separated from you, um,
which is why, and most of thetime when I traveled, it was
mostly just my daughter and I,um, or you know, or I only have
one child, so there might havebeen, um, you know, the two of
(27:05):
us and our child, but most ofthe time it was just me and her.
So always, um, one thing weused to always do is I'd
actually kind of again like, notscare her, but I would talk to
her.
What would happen if we gotseparated, like, so you know, if
you're at a train station, youknow, go here.
Or if you're at a theme park,we'll meet by the merry-go-round
(27:26):
, or you know, to try and have abit of a plan so that you know
you're not just going to worryabout it when you actually, or
if you do, get separated.
The other thing I used to dowhen she was quite small would
be I'd write my phone number onher arm so that she'd have that.
You know, now she has a phoneof her own, so I always make
sure that you know she would beable to contact me and then,
(27:49):
obviously, if they've got phonesof their own, you can make sure
they've got location on um.
You know you can do things.
When my daughter was prettysmall she had a little like wore
, a little watch that had a gpsthing in it so I could find out
where she wasn't.
Luckily for me, she never gotseparated from me and I only
have one.
If you've got a couple and youknow, particularly if you're
someone with a like a runner, Iwouldn't be opposed to putting
(28:13):
them on one of those harnessthings.
I know a lot of parents arelike think that they're awful,
but if you've got a runner andyou're travelling, put one on
them.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I'd say, oh, yeah, can you imagine coming out of
some of the airports wherethere's just cars and traffic
and stuff?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
crazy everywhere.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
You have to really think about what would work for
you.
I mean, I'm a big air tagadvocate.
Now, I'm not going to say this,not in a stalkerish way or
nothing illegal, but if, if youknow, it's kind of useful to
have an air tag.
Um, sometimes I know doug hashis phone but sometimes doesn't
look on his phone and he'llwander off.
But if, if he's, if we're inlondon, sometimes in the museums
(28:49):
particularly, he's got an airtag and I don't know where he is
.
So I know I've said that before, but it's just really kind of
useful.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Well, I remember travelling with you, tracy, and
you put an air tag on me.
I did Well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I did because I just wanted you to be safe.
Again, it was safety.
I was in the hotel room inDelhi and you went off and I was
like I knew where you were andI felt so much better.
I was like, if anything happens, I know exactly where she is.
So I think we've got lots oftechnology these days which will
help with that sort of thing tomake it better, but again, if
(29:22):
you're listening, and if you'rea solo female traveller, if
you're a family traveller, getin touch, share with us your
tips.
What do you do?
How do you, what do you do toto prepare?
What sort of tips do you haveto keep safe?
Because we're we're alwaysinterested to find out.
I will mention one thing,because we talked about kind of,
like you know, the familyaspect, solo travel to, about
(29:42):
things like money, um,pickpockets and uh, like using a
vpn and stuff like.
But I also want to mention aboutdriving, because I think if
you're driving in a new countryas well, it's really useful to
prepare, because I think, if yougo to a country that you're
driving on the opposite side ofthe road, whether it's the left
or the right to what you used to, make sure that you prepare
before you go and also don't doa 23-hour flight and then get in
(30:06):
a hire car in a country whereyou're driving on the opposite
side of the road that you usedto, because that is just it's
too dangerous.
Prepare before you go.
So that's, and we have got somepodcasts that actually with
tripiama, about how you canprepare different countries
around the world so that you're,you know, to make it safer and
and to be able to get around, um, like a local and uh yeah, so
there's some really good ideasin that.
(30:27):
So I just want to throw thatone in there as well, because I
think it.
You know again, you can flyacross the world and get into a
hire car and drive off withoutanybody asking any questions,
but like, are you ready for it?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
yeah, and Tracy also.
Um, you are recommended bycertain countries to have an
international driver's license,and that driver's license has to
be interpreted in English andsometimes they'll require it in
their language also.
So, luckily, a lot of thedigital licenses are, you know,
(31:04):
in multiple languages that youcould request.
But as I'm preparing to go toNew Zealand, I was quite
impressed that when I got mytravel documents they listed a
bunch of things about driving,which I thought was really nice
in advance.
(31:25):
They were saying about how theroads were windy, how you know
the different customs that theydo.
They beep if, like, there's atractor, I don't know, but I
think that's really good thatcountries are doing that before
I even get on the flight.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I think it's so important.
I think there's been too manyaccidents where people have got
off a flight, got on, got intothe hire car and driven off and
had absolutely no idea whatthey're doing and driving on the
wrong side of the road or notbeing able to, not being aware
of the rules of the world.
So that that's again talkingabout.
When we're talking aboutstaying safe, it's it's that
aspect as well.
And, like at very beginningwhen melissa mentioned about
things like vaccines and youknow what injections you need
(32:05):
before you're going to play, dothat, do that research.
Can you drink the water in aplace?
Well, that again, you need toknow that sort of aspect of.
So it's about keeping safe andlots, lots of different ways
that we've kind of, we've kindof covered um.
But I mean, even we're inportugal and you can drink the
water, but we, you still do thatkind of research.
Is it okay?
Is the tap water fine?
You know what do they recommendum in morocco?
(32:28):
Technically, in morocco, youcan drink the tap water, but
it's got a lot of minerals in it, so it does.
It can.
If you're not used to it, it'llmake you sick.
So we were told not to, buttechnically it's kind of classed
as safe drinking water.
So, again, there's lots ofaspects to staying safe while
you travel that we've kind ofwe've covered quite a few of
them in today's episode.
Is there any kind of one tipthat you would share you think
(32:52):
that people should be aware ofwhen they're travelling?
So the thing I'm always goingto say and it's the thing I'm
known for is make sure thatyou're just aware of your
surroundings, but buy yourself,honestly, a crossbody
death-proof bag, because they'reworth their weight in gold, and
I've got about eight of themand they're great, and I always
travel with at least one of them.
What about you, melissa?
(33:13):
Is there only one tip that youwould share?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, I like to say if you wouldn't do it at home,
don't do it while you'retravelling.
I don't know.
Some people seem to think thatthey're immortal while they
travel and just do some reallystupid stuff.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, no, that's true , that's absolutely true.
What about you, shelley?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
What would be your one piece of advice I will
piggyback off of Melissa's,because I think sometimes people
get caught up in which islovely.
That's why we go on holiday,that's why we travel to get
caught up in new experiences.
But I think sometimes thecommon sense goes out the window
.
And the other thing I wouldlike to say is the for women.
(33:54):
I think it's very, veryimportant that you listen to
your gut, that you listen toyour intuition and you don't
discount it, because there areso many times where we want to
be nice, we want to.
Just, we don't want to cause aproblem, we don't.
(34:15):
And there's so many differentways of handling things where
you can be nice, you cannotcause a problem, but you have to
abdicate for yourself and youcannot leave yourself vulnerable
or in a dangerous situationjust because you, you are
discounting, like no, no, it'sokay If you wouldn't put up with
(34:37):
it in your country, excludingthe cultural norms and taking a
lot of factors into account.
You really need to listen to it.
And if those cultural norms arereally bothering, you really
need to listen to it.
And if those cultural norms arereally bothering, you still
listen to yourself and switchlocations, because it's better
to be safe than sorry, and it'salways safety over money.
(35:06):
So if it costs you a little bitmore to go to a different
location, go to the differentlocation.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Excellent, excellent tips and advice.
This episode from you guys.
So obviously episode 52, theshow notes.
We'll put links to both Melissaand to Shelley's websites.
But big shout out, you guys.
Where can people find you,share where you live?
Speaker 3 (35:26):
I'm on soloherwaycom and all of my socials are also
solo her way.
I'm on instagram, facebook,take talk and I think that's it.
That's quite a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
What about you, melissa?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
uh, yeah, I have thrifty family travels is my
family travel blog, and I havequeensland travel guide and
brisbane travel guide and, yeah,you'll find me on most of
pretty much all those socialmedias that uh, um, shelley just
mentioned, as well and again,links can be found in the show
notes, episode 52 for thisepisode.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
But, once again, great to chat with you guys and,
um, I hope to actually will beseeing you soon as well, because
I'll be back in Australia soon,so I'll be seeing you.
Melissa.
Probably be missing you,unfortunately, shelley, unless
we can kind of cross cross overin Asia at some point, but
always great to chat with you.
See you.
Bye, thank you, bye.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of the global
(36:26):
travel planning podcast.
For more details and links toeverything we discussed today,
check out the show notes atglobaltravelplanningcom.
Remember, if you, if youenjoyed the show, please
consider leaving us a review onyour favorite podcast app,
because your feedback helps usreach more travel enthusiasts,
just like you.
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