November 4, 2025 • 28 mins
When an ordinary flight turns into an airport lockdown, Jimmy learns a travel safety lesson the hard way... and it’s one he’ll never forget.
This episode takes you from airplane aisle seats to foreign street corners, with real stories and practical travel tips. Ever wonder which seat gives you the best shot in an emergency? Or why you should always check the child-lock in your rideshare? From choosing what do about cash to outsmarting pickpockets, we cover both the smart and surprising habits that can make traveling a whole lot safer, and keep your travel anxiety to a minimum.
Because the truth is, travel safety isn’t about being paranoid... it’s about being prepared. A few smart choices can keep an amazing trip from turning into your best worst story to tell. So let us help you make sure that the only thing you bring back from vacay is a good memory.
Life Safety Associates specializes in emergency response training for corporate ERT Teams. We help businesses create competent and confident first responders who are ready to handle unexpected emergencies. For more information you find us @lifesafetyassoc or email@lifesafety.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jimmy (00:23):
What's happening?
It's another Life and SafetyPodcast with me, jimmy, and your
girl, meg, hello, and todaywe're going to talk about a
little personal safety stuffwhile you're traveling.
One of my favorite things to doin the world is to travel.
If you ask my family, they'dprobably disagree, because I
(00:45):
always look so sour when Itravel.
It's just because I'm on eyealert.
I'm the sheepdog, I'm alwayslooking around, yeah, so let's
talk about some safety things.
So let's talk about, first andforemost, airplane safety.
(01:05):
So lots of conversations aboutwhere to sit, you know, as far
as comfort goes, and as far ascomfort goes, it's really it's
up to you.
Like, I actually like to sit inthe aisle.
Megan (01:20):
I'm a window seat girl all the way.
Jimmy (01:22):
Yeah, I'll sit in the window.
If I'm by myself, obviously, ifI'm leaning against it, things
like that.
But if it by myself, obviouslyI can lean against it, things
like that.
But if it's a floor flight, I'drather sit in the aisle.
I'm one of those people thathates to bother other people.
So if I'm on a long flight andI'm sitting in the aisle seat, I
can just go to the aisle,whereas if I'm sitting in the
(01:44):
middle and I have to bug peopleto get up especially if I'm
flying to Europe or somethinglike that, can you move?
I gotta go, peep.
I don't know, it's weird for me.
Megan (01:54):
Yeah.
Jimmy (01:55):
I'll just stop drinking water like two hours before I go
on the plane and not drinkanything water which is not
healthy.
Megan (02:00):
No, that's very unhealthy .
Jimmy (02:02):
Yeah, so there's definitely things like that, but
I like to sit Personally.
There's a stat that I thinkit's 80% of the people survive
the plane crash, but nobodysurvives after the plane crash.
You know either the smokeinhalation, the cold, the water,
(02:24):
whatever you land in or on.
So I always like to sitpersonally just right behind the
wings or on the wings.
I also think it's a little bitmore comfortable there,
especially in turbulence.
And then, if heaven forbid, ifsomething were to happen, I'm
(02:47):
close to those overhead andoverwing exits, and then I'm
usually close to the exits tothe back too.
And remember, always countforward and backward.
Yeah, you know the rows, thelights are supposed to come on,
but who knows?
Who knows what happens.
I'm going to count the rows.
Megan (03:04):
Do you like being in the exit row, if you can, or do you
not like being in the exit row,if you can, or do you?
Jimmy (03:09):
not like being in the exit, it depends.
So if I can get, like someplanes have like the really long
extra stretch out area, it wasa short flight and I'm not like
watching my phone or somethinglike that but yeah, I definitely
want to do that, um, but ifit's like a longer flight, I
don't want to be there becauseit's harder to like pull out my
(03:31):
tray and get my phone and or getmy laptop or my iPad or
whatever and watching TV on orthe screen or whatever I'm doing
.
So I don't.
So there's different things tothat.
Also, like I don't.
So a couple years about ago Iwould say I'd always wanted to
(03:52):
be there because I didn't wantto trust anybody else to open
the door.
Megan (03:58):
That's sort of what I figured I'm going to be honest.
Jimmy (04:00):
Yeah, that's how it used to be, and now I'm kind of like
they're going to open the doorand they're going to get ran
over.
So one way or another, thedoor's going to be opened.
Yeah, so that's definitely wasthe control thing for me, and it
just didn't allow for me totravel with a clear head,
(04:25):
because I'm so excited and I'mlike on guard, so I had to like
walk away from that a little bitmore for me interesting,
interesting yeah, um, anotherthing like airport security and
just only going through security.
It's different for everybody.
But you know, be prepared asyou can and then just be aware
(04:46):
of everybody else.
I think I've told this story onthose podcasts before and I'm
sorry if you haven't heard it.
We had a client in San Diego.
We were flying back and forthfor every month and really cool.
And I was just landing from SanDiego, walking through the
(05:09):
southwest terminal here in SanJose and at the time before the
new part of the terminal wasbuilt.
So it was very congested and wegot I think it was the farthest
gate I could get to before wecould exit.
So I was walking and a personwho was late for their flight
(05:31):
ran through security and randown the um tramway, down the
airway airwalk I don't know whythey thought that that would
work yeah.
So the alarm went off and it wasreally interesting because I
thought it was an evacuationfire alarm.
Apparently there's a differentsound.
I went for the exits and thepeople that like do the like,
(05:52):
the porters with like thewheelchairs and things like that
, the assistant people came outof nowhere and the electric
carts actually blocked the exit.
Oh my gosh, yeah, and that kindof ran out of the way.
I was like what are you doing?
It kind of freaked me out andthen all of the the doors shut
so they couldn't leave theterminal and I was like, okay,
(06:14):
and it's here to say when youleave, you have to go through
these sliding glass doors andthose locked down because they
wanted to keep the personcontained, they wanted to find
that person.
And I was like uh-oh, yeah.
So I walked back away fromeverybody Because in my mind, if
(06:36):
something bad was going tohappen, it's going to happen
where people are congregating,big groups of people.
Megan (06:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
Jimmy (06:43):
And I ended up where I was standing.
I ended up standing next to theATF bomb agent that ran the
airport and his team was, like,in charge of the bomb squad and
everything else.
Megan (06:56):
Cool.
Jimmy (06:57):
And the bomb dog was there and I was like, oh, if
you're standing here, it must besafe.
That was what I'm thinking,fair enough.
And then this lady in this verynice business suit, who ended
up being the manager of theSouthwest Airlines, was standing
there and they were managingthe terminal and the airport
thing and all the security staffended up being there and I was
(07:18):
kind of like I'm going to earhustle this a little bit.
So I kind of got a littlecloser and I was listening to
them to make these decisions.
I was like cool, cool, cool,I'm safe.
And then I was like and then thebomb guy walked up.
He goes can I help you withanything?
I'm like no, sir, I justfigured if you guys were
standing here it was safe.
I was just honest with him.
(07:40):
And he's like what do you mean?
I said well, if something wasbad that happened, it was going
to happen over there.
That's pretty smart.
He's like that's cool.
And I was like have a goodnight.
I was like yes, so you know, hewould say he would have been
(08:02):
running.
I would have been running too.
Oh yeah.
Megan (08:06):
I mean you have the sticker.
If I'm running, you should berunning too.
Yeah.
Jimmy (08:13):
So I was watching them and doing that.
So that's kind of like, youknow, my head on a swivel
watching people, you know, justbeing aware of my surroundings.
And people get cranky when theytravel.
Yeah, you know, they don'tsleep well, they're not eating
well, they're not hydrated,they're missing their flights,
(08:34):
they're stressed.
There's lots of life happeningin travel, so I like to just to
kind of stay by myself, staysecluded a little bit and just
kind of watch people, kind ofkeep everybody, you know, away
from me.
You know, manage my goods, makesure I don't leave anything
around like that.
So it's some good airport stuff.
Obviously, you know where allthe exits are, the AEDs.
(09:00):
I used to tell a story thishappened early in my career in
life safety when the AEDs werereally starting to become
prevalent.
There was an AED that wasbeeping in the San Francisco
airport and I was like I wasflying to Dallas and I was
trying to tell the CSA peoplethat the thing was beeping and I
walked through like the securearea and I didn't know I was
supposed to, wasn't aware ofwhere I was supposed to be
(09:22):
walking and like they reallyyelled at me it was not good,
not the business, not thebusiness.
I almost got arrested for justtrying to tell them that their
AD was beeping and they needednew pads because it was expired.
Oh, that's so funny.
Yeah, I always look at wherethe AEDs are at too and what's
in there, me too.
(09:43):
Yeah, I was looking in the case,because in the case in San
Diego, for instance, theirairport has a bunch of
stop-the-bleed stuff oh cool, sothey have their tourniquet kits
and things like that.
We a bunch of stop the bleedstuff, oh cool, so they're like
their tourniquet kits and thingslike that.
So, um, we were in germany,they had them, and I've seen
(10:05):
them definitely in otherairports.
I can't think of any of them orsomething.
I definitely remember those twoairports for sure having them.
And then you know when you landanywhere, ride share services,
you know just some basic rideshare.
(10:29):
You know Uber, lyft, whateveryou're using stuff always make
sure you have you know.
You check the person's picture,the car and the license plate.
Megan (10:46):
Mm-hmm.
Jimmy (10:47):
And if one of them's off, it's all off.
Yeah, and don't let them foolyou.
Mm-hmm, yeah, so that's a bigone.
And then another big one ismake sure I mean you can, or you
can't, just type in whereyou're going on your phone.
(11:08):
You're almost always in theservice.
Nowadays in the world,depending on what your carrier
is and how you do that.
Lots of ways to do it.
There's VPNs, there's, you know, reach out to your contractor,
your carrier, and say, hey, I'mgoing to Europe or where I'm
going, you know, just let themknow for how long and they'll
give you a price.
You know, it's not that hard toget data anymore.
(11:30):
So run your maps with them.
So run your maps with them andif their app is telling you to
go a certain way versus adifferent way, question it Like,
hey, this doesn't feel this way, why not that way?
You know, can I see whereyou're taking me?
And then you can always, on allof the Uber left apps, you can
(11:51):
always watch that map, butalways cross-check it and run
simultaneous maps.
That's a good one yeah, and thenanother good one is to um,
obviously have some sparebatteries.
You know, um, lithium batteriesare really hard to travel with
(12:11):
right now, you know, not reallyhard to travel with I shouldn't
say it like that, that, but it'sfrowned upon to carry
especially check them, to havethem.
So I definitely recommend thatyou do have a battery, or maybe,
when you land someplace, buy abattery.
I usually have a bunch, so I'llbuy them in the airport and
(12:36):
they come charged, yeah, so thenI can charge my phone or
whatever it is.
I always have that extra thingjust in case.
Um, so also another thing whenyou get into the um shared drive
service, check their childsafety lock.
Oh yeah, make sure it's notengaged, you know, make sure
(12:59):
it's an unlocked version.
There's usually a sticker orthere's some kind of print
that's on the other side of thelock to make sure it's there,
and that way you can't, it'sharder for them to lock you in
the car, you know, um, so, andif they do lock it in car, it's
just kind of an active shooterevent, right, if you can't run,
tell them to pull over, demandthat they pull over, and then
(13:23):
obviously, if you have to, yougot to fight and can't get out
of the car.
Yeah.
Megan (13:27):
And then a good sort of tip alongside, that is, know the
um emergency services numbersin the area you're going to,
know the emergency servicesnumbers in the area you're going
to, so, like, if you'retraveling to a different country
, make sure you know, like theemergency numbers for that
country, or how to like get intouch with your local embassy.
(13:48):
And like, if the worst were tohappen, what would you do and be
prepared so that you're notlike stuck trying to look it up
on your phone, like oh wait, butwhat number should I call?
For this scenario on my phone,like you know, yeah, yeah.
Jimmy (14:00):
So let's, let's talk about some cash and then
document security on that goes.
So cash don't like.
So I like to travel with cashalready, so I don't have to try
to, you know, exchange cash,yeah, um, so go to your local
bank and tell them, hey, I'dlike to get, you know, a hundred
dollars in euros if you'regoing to europe or whatever
(14:23):
you're going in.
Um, you know, in a lot ofcompanies, a lot of countries,
will take the dollar.
The dollar usually doesn't notplay anywhere, but it's still
good to have their money.
And but don't flash it aroundyeah that's a good one.
So when you're, if you have togo to an atm, go to an atm
inside of a hotel lobby, go intoone that's locked like a bank
(14:47):
lock so you have like badgingkind of a thing.
Or go to a teller.
If you can Not to like visibly,go there.
A lot of there's.
I just read a news articleactually, where people are
standing around ATMs andwatching you or retorting how
(15:08):
you're typing in your PIN numberand then stealing your wallet
or whatever later.
So I was like that seems like alot of work.
Yeah, whatever later.
So I was like that seems like alot of work.
So if you are at the ATM, makesure you use the windows.
They're not always in greatshape, but there's a glass
that's around there and there'sa review mirrors Watch over your
(15:29):
shoulders and if you seesomebody walking up and you're
like you don't feel comfortableand just pull money out, just
hit the cancel thing and thenpull the card out and just get
really angry like why don't?
I have any money.
What the hell is this machine?
Kind of throw a fit and like,draw attention to yourself
because that's going to keepthat person like, oh, maybe I
don't want to mess with thatperson, they don't have any
(15:49):
money.
And now there's people lookingat us, you know um that's good
tip.
Megan (15:54):
I hadn't even thought of that.
Jimmy (15:56):
Yeah, so that's a big one .
That's a good one.
If you're not in the hotellobby, even if you are in a
hotel lobby or in something likethat, you know, just try to pay
by your credit card.
Yeah, that's a big one.
Now, document I always carry atleast two copies of my driver's
(16:22):
license and my passport when Itravel, just in case something
happens to those.
At least I have a copy that Ican show people like, hey, this
is me, this is what's happening.
Or if somebody like sometimessome of the older hotels will
(16:42):
still do this, they'llespecially in Europe they'll ask
for, like your ID, to makecopies of it so they can prove
to the tourist and stuff likethat.
So just give them the copy andsometimes they'll take that.
So that way then you're nothaving to like watch your id or
your passport go away yeah youknow, um, so that's a big one.
(17:05):
uh, we talked about not flashingyour money around.
Make sure you know you kind ofkeep it and if you know how much
you're going to spend, you knowif you're like, oh my, my cow
is going to cost 20 euros, makesure you put like all fold like
22 euros in my wallet and standit up.
So I just reach in, I just grabthat stood up part, I already
(17:25):
know how much it's going to cost.
Or if I know we're going to goeat and I know it's going to
cost, you know, 100 euro, ormaybe you know you know 100 euro
, or maybe you know, maybe I'llput like four things of 25 euro
stacks like folds and I'll keepthem to stand up on my wallet so
I can just squeeze my walletand pull it out so not to show
(17:45):
all of the water yeah, that's agood one um, so there's some
document, money, things.
I, I, you know a lot of peopletalk about using the safe in
hotels and I think they are safefor the most part.
It's just you got to use them.
Don't be afraid to use it.
(18:06):
If it's bigger, higher cost oryou can't fit in there, ask the
hotel.
The hotels will tell youwhatever you want to hear,
because they want to keep yourmoney.
So just be careful.
Like a lot of times, they willhave safe deposit boxes and use
those if you can.
Um, you know, I think I've toldthe story on the podcast again
(18:27):
and again.
I'm sorry if I'm repeatingmyself, but I, my, um, my bike
got stolen out of the hotellobby on the 4th of July because
they said that they were goingto keep me and they asked me
actually where they put it inthis hallway, and the hallway
opened up to an alley that allof the kitchen staff and
(18:48):
employees would leave and walkin and out, of, so anybody can
just walk into this alley, fromthe alley into kitchen and up to
where all the luggage and stuffwas.
Megan (18:58):
Oh my gosh.
Jimmy (18:59):
So my bike got stolen and there was no cameras there.
There was just cameras on theFrom the lobby, like near the
door, and I said that doesn'tmake any sense.
Oh my gosh, now that you saythat it doesn't, so that's crazy
, very eye-opening, yeah, andfun fact in California, I think
(19:21):
it's only.
I think they're only Like theirinsurance, they're only
obligated to pay like $450 or$250, because it varies by state
, and I think maybe Hawaii was$450, maybe California was $250
(19:43):
or something like that, justbecause I was talking to a lady
that did this stuff.
You have the internet, yousearch it for me.
But, yeah, so that you know,like, where you're going, what
you're getting, you have theinternet, you search it for me.
Megan (19:52):
But yeah, search it for yourself so that you know where
you're going, what you'regetting yourself into.
Jimmy (19:56):
Yeah, so on the back of your door in the hotel.
So hotel safety is going to beyour emergency evacuation map
and it's also going to be yourinsurance it's going to tell you
how much they're liable for.
Yeah, so if you leave somethingin your room and somebody takes
it, that's all they have to payyou.
They might pay you more if it'sbecause of good customer
(20:17):
service, but that's all theyhave to pay you is what's on the
back.
Yeah, so if you have a $1,000laptop and they stole it, or my
$1,000 mountain bike got stolenand they gave me $250, I believe
it was that's they gave me 250bucks, I believe it was that's
so rough, that sucks horribly sothere's lots of ways to lock
(20:39):
elevator or excuse me, notelevator but hotel room doors.
you know, if you're by yourselfand you know whatever makes you
feel comfortable, I think youshould do it.
I use all of the locks on thedoors regardless.
I'm seeing people put like achair in front of the door.
(21:02):
I've seen people there's hackslike use like a hanger, things
like that, anything to wake youup.
I've seen people put glasseslike the actual drinking glass
on the handle so when it opensup, the glass will fall and
break.
That's a good one.
The only thing I don't likeabout that one is if you have to
(21:26):
run out of the door, you're notrunning through the glass also,
just like the bad person.
Oh yeah, and you're probablybarefoot because you just got
out of bed, yeah, so I think itdefinitely works.
I'm not saying not to use it,I'm just saying Keep in mind,
keep in mind, keep in mind Again.
Count the doors when you thedoor frames on your exits, know
(21:47):
which way you're going.
Yeah on your exit to know whichway you're going, yeah, towards
and backwards, towards theelevator, because that's where
usually we're in the center ofthe hotels.
Are there's staircases thereand count the stairwell doors to
the stairwell?
Excuse me, so that way you knowif it's smoky or something like
that, you can get out and thenout and about.
(22:11):
Don't take your backpack andlean it next to you.
Put it always in front of you,like between your legs, so like
if you're leaning at a guardrail, so like, let's say, like one
of the last places I, me and myfamily went, we were in Paris
and I like to carry.
(22:32):
I carry a crossbody, you know,like everybody carried
crossbodies in Europe, so theydidn't fill out a place.
Or like a fanny pack and that'swhere, like, all of our things
were, like my wallet and my epipen and my passport were all in
those and everybody carriedtheir own, plus I.
I had a travel wallet, likeunderneath my shirt, you know.
(22:55):
So we can, if I needed moremoney or something like that, I
had that which is harder tospill, and but your backpack,
carry it in front of you, likeon your front, especially in big
crowds.
That way you're not blockingpeople and any people A lot of
people overseas will justappreciate that anyways.
But also that way you're notwalking people and any people, a
lot of people overseas willjust appreciate that anyways.
But also that way you can seetrying to be trying to grab you.
(23:18):
Yeah, let me can like just openup a zipper in the back.
You know, that's another reasonwhy I like those zippers at the
top or in the middle, becauseit's harder to get to if
somebody's trying to open it.
Megan (23:35):
By that he means, like if you have some sort of zipper
thing and there's two zippers,you don't just put them both to
the side, you have them meet inthe center or the middle or the
top of the zipper channel.
Jimmy (23:44):
Next time you see one of us ask because the zipper's
probably like that.
I'm actually looking at a caseright now that the zippers are
like that.
I think I've got everybody todo it now.
Megan (23:57):
Oh yeah, I'm broken.
I get really stressed out if myzippers aren't in the center
now after working here.
Jimmy (24:08):
So when you go to restaurants or cafes, when
you're traveling, don't takeyour backpack and stick it in a
chair High likelihood offorgetting it, High likelihood
of somebody walking by andtaking it.
Don't put your wallet or yourphone on the table, especially
if you're on the patio.
Somebody walk by and grab it.
Walk by and grab it.
(24:30):
You know, I, For instance, likewhat I do is like with my phone
, because I always have like thelarge phones because of my big
hands.
So I always keep them, Because Ican't keep them in my pocket
when I sit down, because I bendphones all the time when I sit
in them.
Oh my gosh, I think my phone'sbent right now.
Actually, that's crazy.
(24:50):
I'm a large human, I can't helpit.
So I take them and I take itout of my pocket and I sit on it
, so I actually raise my leg andthe chair so I'll feel it, I
embrace her and everything else.
When I stand up, it'll fall orit'll be there and I'll just
know it's there.
I'll do the same thing with mykeys, or it'll be there and I'll
just know it's there.
I'll do the same thing with mykeys so that way I don't forget
(25:14):
them.
I don't have them up on thetable so people can just grab
them and run or whatever.
It is Fascinating, so I do thatwith my backpack.
I always leave it next to myfoot.
It's annoying because you takeit all the time, but at least I
know where it's at.
Megan (25:25):
Yeah, fair enough.
Jimmy (25:26):
And if somebody walks by and tries to grab it, then it's
going to be pretty obviouswhat's going on there, mm-hmm.
So that's some basic stuff youcan think about.
Out and about Never play cardgames, you know, like the
Avengers, three-card money,things like that.
It's fun to watch the crowdsthey always give these.
(25:48):
There's almost always somenefarious actions going on
inside the crowd too.
Don't be stuck.
Don't argue with the streetvendors.
Yeah yeah, say no thank you andkeep walking.
Yeah yeah, I think those arepretty good ones.
Good place to start.
(26:09):
You got anything to add that Ihaven't touched on?
Megan (26:12):
No, that was good.
Jimmy (26:15):
Yeah, another thing is too.
I mean not just because of thepolitical climate we live in now
, but it's just a good idea.
You know, there's lots ofwebsites out there that will
tell you like what the safetyand security things are going on
right now around the world outthere.
That'll tell you like what thesafety and security things are
going on right now around theworld.
Like right now, a lot of majorcompanies or major cities in
(26:35):
europe are actually protestingagainst tourist.
You know, a nice thing to know,yeah, nice thing to know.
Like we're, you know, againblessed to be in paris.
Um, when october 7th happenedand and Gaza and Israel's
conflict reignited, they all sayoh yeah, and it was very
(26:57):
noticeably different in Paris.
What I mean by that was therewas security at all of the major
monuments.
But there was like three timesthe security at all the major
monuments the next day and wewere on vacation, so we were
kind of off social media and wewere kind of off the news and we
(27:19):
were like what's going on,what's happening?
And then on October 8th weactually flew home and we landed
in Germany.
We had a pretty long layoverand the airport we were looking
at it going.
Oh the news.
The first news thing we saw waslike holy crap, that's so
interesting.
All this stuff's happening.
Yeah, oh my gosh.
So you know, maybe have a goodidea before you get there what's
(27:44):
going on Other than that?
Savile Safe, Speech, dyslexia.
Savile Safe and peace.
What's happening?
It's another Life and SafetyPodcast with me, jimmy, and your
girl, meg, hello, and todaywe're going to talk about a
little personal safety stuffwhile you're traveling.
One of my favorite things to doin the world is to travel.
If you ask my family, they'dprobably disagree, because I
(00:45):
always look so sour when Itravel.
It's just because I'm on eyealert.
I'm the sheepdog, I'm alwayslooking around, yeah, so let's
talk about some safety things.
So let's talk about, first andforemost, airplane safety.
(01:05):
So lots of conversations aboutwhere to sit, you know, as far
as comfort goes, and as far ascomfort goes, it's really it's
up to you.
Like, I actually like to sit inthe aisle.
Megan (01:20):
I'm a window seat girl all the way.
Jimmy (01:22):
Yeah, I'll sit in the window.
If I'm by myself, obviously, ifI'm leaning against it, things
like that.
But if it by myself, obviouslyI can lean against it, things
like that.
But if it's a floor flight, I'drather sit in the aisle.
I'm one of those people thathates to bother other people.
So if I'm on a long flight andI'm sitting in the aisle seat, I
can just go to the aisle,whereas if I'm sitting in the
(01:44):
middle and I have to bug peopleto get up especially if I'm
flying to Europe or somethinglike that, can you move?
I gotta go, peep.
I don't know, it's weird for me.
Megan (01:54):
Yeah.
Jimmy (01:55):
I'll just stop drinking water like two hours before I go
on the plane and not drinkanything water which is not
healthy.
Megan (02:00):
No, that's very unhealthy .
Jimmy (02:02):
Yeah, so there's definitely things like that, but
I like to sit Personally.
There's a stat that I thinkit's 80% of the people survive
the plane crash, but nobodysurvives after the plane crash.
You know either the smokeinhalation, the cold, the water,
(02:24):
whatever you land in or on.
So I always like to sitpersonally just right behind the
wings or on the wings.
I also think it's a little bitmore comfortable there,
especially in turbulence.
And then, if heaven forbid, ifsomething were to happen, I'm
(02:47):
close to those overhead andoverwing exits, and then I'm
usually close to the exits tothe back too.
And remember, always countforward and backward.
Yeah, you know the rows, thelights are supposed to come on,
but who knows?
Who knows what happens.
I'm going to count the rows.
Megan (03:04):
Do you like being in the exit row, if you can, or do you
not like being in the exit row,if you can, or do you?
Jimmy (03:09):
not like being in the exit, it depends.
So if I can get, like someplanes have like the really long
extra stretch out area, it wasa short flight and I'm not like
watching my phone or somethinglike that but yeah, I definitely
want to do that, um, but ifit's like a longer flight, I
don't want to be there becauseit's harder to like pull out my
(03:31):
tray and get my phone and or getmy laptop or my iPad or
whatever and watching TV on orthe screen or whatever I'm doing
.
So I don't.
So there's different things tothat.
Also, like I don't.
So a couple years about ago Iwould say I'd always wanted to
(03:52):
be there because I didn't wantto trust anybody else to open
the door.
Megan (03:58):
That's sort of what I figured I'm going to be honest.
Jimmy (04:00):
Yeah, that's how it used to be, and now I'm kind of like
they're going to open the doorand they're going to get ran
over.
So one way or another, thedoor's going to be opened.
Yeah, so that's definitely wasthe control thing for me, and it
just didn't allow for me totravel with a clear head,
(04:25):
because I'm so excited and I'mlike on guard, so I had to like
walk away from that a little bitmore for me interesting,
interesting yeah, um, anotherthing like airport security and
just only going through security.
It's different for everybody.
But you know, be prepared asyou can and then just be aware
(04:46):
of everybody else.
I think I've told this story onthose podcasts before and I'm
sorry if you haven't heard it.
We had a client in San Diego.
We were flying back and forthfor every month and really cool.
And I was just landing from SanDiego, walking through the
(05:09):
southwest terminal here in SanJose and at the time before the
new part of the terminal wasbuilt.
So it was very congested and wegot I think it was the farthest
gate I could get to before wecould exit.
So I was walking and a personwho was late for their flight
(05:31):
ran through security and randown the um tramway, down the
airway airwalk I don't know whythey thought that that would
work yeah.
So the alarm went off and it wasreally interesting because I
thought it was an evacuationfire alarm.
Apparently there's a differentsound.
I went for the exits and thepeople that like do the like,
(05:52):
the porters with like thewheelchairs and things like that
, the assistant people came outof nowhere and the electric
carts actually blocked the exit.
Oh my gosh, yeah, and that kindof ran out of the way.
I was like what are you doing?
It kind of freaked me out andthen all of the the doors shut
so they couldn't leave theterminal and I was like, okay,
(06:14):
and it's here to say when youleave, you have to go through
these sliding glass doors andthose locked down because they
wanted to keep the personcontained, they wanted to find
that person.
And I was like uh-oh, yeah.
So I walked back away fromeverybody Because in my mind, if
(06:36):
something bad was going tohappen, it's going to happen
where people are congregating,big groups of people.
Megan (06:42):
Yeah, absolutely.
Jimmy (06:43):
And I ended up where I was standing.
I ended up standing next to theATF bomb agent that ran the
airport and his team was, like,in charge of the bomb squad and
everything else.
Megan (06:56):
Cool.
Jimmy (06:57):
And the bomb dog was there and I was like, oh, if
you're standing here, it must besafe.
That was what I'm thinking,fair enough.
And then this lady in this verynice business suit, who ended
up being the manager of theSouthwest Airlines, was standing
there and they were managingthe terminal and the airport
thing and all the security staffended up being there and I was
(07:18):
kind of like I'm going to earhustle this a little bit.
So I kind of got a littlecloser and I was listening to
them to make these decisions.
I was like cool, cool, cool,I'm safe.
And then I was like and then thebomb guy walked up.
He goes can I help you withanything?
I'm like no, sir, I justfigured if you guys were
standing here it was safe.
I was just honest with him.
(07:40):
And he's like what do you mean?
I said well, if something wasbad that happened, it was going
to happen over there.
That's pretty smart.
He's like that's cool.
And I was like have a goodnight.
I was like yes, so you know, hewould say he would have been
(08:02):
running.
I would have been running too.
Oh yeah.
Megan (08:06):
I mean you have the sticker.
If I'm running, you should berunning too.
Yeah.
Jimmy (08:13):
So I was watching them and doing that.
So that's kind of like, youknow, my head on a swivel
watching people, you know, justbeing aware of my surroundings.
And people get cranky when theytravel.
Yeah, you know, they don'tsleep well, they're not eating
well, they're not hydrated,they're missing their flights,
(08:34):
they're stressed.
There's lots of life happeningin travel, so I like to just to
kind of stay by myself, staysecluded a little bit and just
kind of watch people, kind ofkeep everybody, you know, away
from me.
You know, manage my goods, makesure I don't leave anything
around like that.
So it's some good airport stuff.
Obviously, you know where allthe exits are, the AEDs.
(09:00):
I used to tell a story thishappened early in my career in
life safety when the AEDs werereally starting to become
prevalent.
There was an AED that wasbeeping in the San Francisco
airport and I was like I wasflying to Dallas and I was
trying to tell the CSA peoplethat the thing was beeping and I
walked through like the securearea and I didn't know I was
supposed to, wasn't aware ofwhere I was supposed to be
(09:22):
walking and like they reallyyelled at me it was not good,
not the business, not thebusiness.
I almost got arrested for justtrying to tell them that their
AD was beeping and they needednew pads because it was expired.
Oh, that's so funny.
Yeah, I always look at wherethe AEDs are at too and what's
in there, me too.
(09:43):
Yeah, I was looking in the case,because in the case in San
Diego, for instance, theirairport has a bunch of
stop-the-bleed stuff oh cool, sothey have their tourniquet kits
and things like that.
We a bunch of stop the bleedstuff, oh cool, so they're like
their tourniquet kits and thingslike that.
So, um, we were in germany,they had them, and I've seen
(10:05):
them definitely in otherairports.
I can't think of any of them orsomething.
I definitely remember those twoairports for sure having them.
And then you know when you landanywhere, ride share services,
you know just some basic rideshare.
(10:29):
You know Uber, lyft, whateveryou're using stuff always make
sure you have you know.
You check the person's picture,the car and the license plate.
Megan (10:46):
Mm-hmm.
Jimmy (10:47):
And if one of them's off, it's all off.
Yeah, and don't let them foolyou.
Mm-hmm, yeah, so that's a bigone.
And then another big one ismake sure I mean you can, or you
can't, just type in whereyou're going on your phone.
(11:08):
You're almost always in theservice.
Nowadays in the world,depending on what your carrier
is and how you do that.
Lots of ways to do it.
There's VPNs, there's, you know, reach out to your contractor,
your carrier, and say, hey, I'mgoing to Europe or where I'm
going, you know, just let themknow for how long and they'll
give you a price.
You know, it's not that hard toget data anymore.
(11:30):
So run your maps with them.
So run your maps with them andif their app is telling you to
go a certain way versus adifferent way, question it Like,
hey, this doesn't feel this way, why not that way?
You know, can I see whereyou're taking me?
And then you can always, on allof the Uber left apps, you can
(11:51):
always watch that map, butalways cross-check it and run
simultaneous maps.
That's a good one yeah, and thenanother good one is to um,
obviously have some sparebatteries.
You know, um, lithium batteriesare really hard to travel with
(12:11):
right now, you know, not reallyhard to travel with I shouldn't
say it like that, that, but it'sfrowned upon to carry
especially check them, to havethem.
So I definitely recommend thatyou do have a battery, or maybe,
when you land someplace, buy abattery.
I usually have a bunch, so I'llbuy them in the airport and
(12:36):
they come charged, yeah, so thenI can charge my phone or
whatever it is.
I always have that extra thingjust in case.
Um, so also another thing whenyou get into the um shared drive
service, check their childsafety lock.
Oh yeah, make sure it's notengaged, you know, make sure
(12:59):
it's an unlocked version.
There's usually a sticker orthere's some kind of print
that's on the other side of thelock to make sure it's there,
and that way you can't, it'sharder for them to lock you in
the car, you know, um, so, andif they do lock it in car, it's
just kind of an active shooterevent, right, if you can't run,
tell them to pull over, demandthat they pull over, and then
(13:23):
obviously, if you have to, yougot to fight and can't get out
of the car.
Yeah.
Megan (13:27):
And then a good sort of tip alongside, that is, know the
um emergency services numbersin the area you're going to,
know the emergency servicesnumbers in the area you're going
to, so, like, if you'retraveling to a different country
, make sure you know, like theemergency numbers for that
country, or how to like get intouch with your local embassy.
(13:48):
And like, if the worst were tohappen, what would you do and be
prepared so that you're notlike stuck trying to look it up
on your phone, like oh wait, butwhat number should I call?
For this scenario on my phone,like you know, yeah, yeah.
Jimmy (14:00):
So let's, let's talk about some cash and then
document security on that goes.
So cash don't like.
So I like to travel with cashalready, so I don't have to try
to, you know, exchange cash,yeah, um, so go to your local
bank and tell them, hey, I'dlike to get, you know, a hundred
dollars in euros if you'regoing to europe or whatever
(14:23):
you're going in.
Um, you know, in a lot ofcompanies, a lot of countries,
will take the dollar.
The dollar usually doesn't notplay anywhere, but it's still
good to have their money.
And but don't flash it aroundyeah that's a good one.
So when you're, if you have togo to an atm, go to an atm
inside of a hotel lobby, go intoone that's locked like a bank
(14:47):
lock so you have like badgingkind of a thing.
Or go to a teller.
If you can Not to like visibly,go there.
A lot of there's.
I just read a news articleactually, where people are
standing around ATMs andwatching you or retorting how
(15:08):
you're typing in your PIN numberand then stealing your wallet
or whatever later.
So I was like that seems like alot of work.
Yeah, whatever later.
So I was like that seems like alot of work.
So if you are at the ATM, makesure you use the windows.
They're not always in greatshape, but there's a glass
that's around there and there'sa review mirrors Watch over your
(15:29):
shoulders and if you seesomebody walking up and you're
like you don't feel comfortableand just pull money out, just
hit the cancel thing and thenpull the card out and just get
really angry like why don't?
I have any money.
What the hell is this machine?
Kind of throw a fit and like,draw attention to yourself
because that's going to keepthat person like, oh, maybe I
don't want to mess with thatperson, they don't have any
(15:49):
money.
And now there's people lookingat us, you know um that's good
tip.
Megan (15:54):
I hadn't even thought of that.
Jimmy (15:56):
Yeah, so that's a big one .
That's a good one.
If you're not in the hotellobby, even if you are in a
hotel lobby or in something likethat, you know, just try to pay
by your credit card.
Yeah, that's a big one.
Now, document I always carry atleast two copies of my driver's
(16:22):
license and my passport when Itravel, just in case something
happens to those.
At least I have a copy that Ican show people like, hey, this
is me, this is what's happening.
Or if somebody like sometimessome of the older hotels will
(16:42):
still do this, they'llespecially in Europe they'll ask
for, like your ID, to makecopies of it so they can prove
to the tourist and stuff likethat.
So just give them the copy andsometimes they'll take that.
So that way then you're nothaving to like watch your id or
your passport go away yeah youknow, um, so that's a big one.
(17:05):
uh, we talked about not flashingyour money around.
Make sure you know you kind ofkeep it and if you know how much
you're going to spend, you knowif you're like, oh my, my cow
is going to cost 20 euros, makesure you put like all fold like
22 euros in my wallet and standit up.
So I just reach in, I just grabthat stood up part, I already
(17:25):
know how much it's going to cost.
Or if I know we're going to goeat and I know it's going to
cost, you know, 100 euro, ormaybe you know you know 100 euro
, or maybe you know, maybe I'llput like four things of 25 euro
stacks like folds and I'll keepthem to stand up on my wallet so
I can just squeeze my walletand pull it out so not to show
(17:45):
all of the water yeah, that's agood one um, so there's some
document, money, things.
I, I, you know a lot of peopletalk about using the safe in
hotels and I think they are safefor the most part.
It's just you got to use them.
Don't be afraid to use it.
(18:06):
If it's bigger, higher cost oryou can't fit in there, ask the
hotel.
The hotels will tell youwhatever you want to hear,
because they want to keep yourmoney.
So just be careful.
Like a lot of times, they willhave safe deposit boxes and use
those if you can.
Um, you know, I think I've toldthe story on the podcast again
(18:27):
and again.
I'm sorry if I'm repeatingmyself, but I, my, um, my bike
got stolen out of the hotellobby on the 4th of July because
they said that they were goingto keep me and they asked me
actually where they put it inthis hallway, and the hallway
opened up to an alley that allof the kitchen staff and
(18:48):
employees would leave and walkin and out, of, so anybody can
just walk into this alley, fromthe alley into kitchen and up to
where all the luggage and stuffwas.
Megan (18:58):
Oh my gosh.
Jimmy (18:59):
So my bike got stolen and there was no cameras there.
There was just cameras on theFrom the lobby, like near the
door, and I said that doesn'tmake any sense.
Oh my gosh, now that you saythat it doesn't, so that's crazy
, very eye-opening, yeah, andfun fact in California, I think
(19:21):
it's only.
I think they're only Like theirinsurance, they're only
obligated to pay like $450 or$250, because it varies by state
, and I think maybe Hawaii was$450, maybe California was $250
(19:43):
or something like that, justbecause I was talking to a lady
that did this stuff.
You have the internet, yousearch it for me.
But, yeah, so that you know,like, where you're going, what
you're getting, you have theinternet, you search it for me.
Megan (19:52):
But yeah, search it for yourself so that you know where
you're going, what you'regetting yourself into.
Jimmy (19:56):
Yeah, so on the back of your door in the hotel.
So hotel safety is going to beyour emergency evacuation map
and it's also going to be yourinsurance it's going to tell you
how much they're liable for.
Yeah, so if you leave somethingin your room and somebody takes
it, that's all they have to payyou.
They might pay you more if it'sbecause of good customer
(20:17):
service, but that's all theyhave to pay you is what's on the
back.
Yeah, so if you have a $1,000laptop and they stole it, or my
$1,000 mountain bike got stolenand they gave me $250, I believe
it was that's they gave me 250bucks, I believe it was that's
so rough, that sucks horribly sothere's lots of ways to lock
(20:39):
elevator or excuse me, notelevator but hotel room doors.
you know, if you're by yourselfand you know whatever makes you
feel comfortable, I think youshould do it.
I use all of the locks on thedoors regardless.
I'm seeing people put like achair in front of the door.
(21:02):
I've seen people there's hackslike use like a hanger, things
like that, anything to wake youup.
I've seen people put glasseslike the actual drinking glass
on the handle so when it opensup, the glass will fall and
break.
That's a good one.
The only thing I don't likeabout that one is if you have to
(21:26):
run out of the door, you're notrunning through the glass also,
just like the bad person.
Oh yeah, and you're probablybarefoot because you just got
out of bed, yeah, so I think itdefinitely works.
I'm not saying not to use it,I'm just saying Keep in mind,
keep in mind, keep in mind Again.
Count the doors when you thedoor frames on your exits, know
(21:47):
which way you're going.
Yeah on your exit to know whichway you're going, yeah, towards
and backwards, towards theelevator, because that's where
usually we're in the center ofthe hotels.
Are there's staircases thereand count the stairwell doors to
the stairwell?
Excuse me, so that way you knowif it's smoky or something like
that, you can get out and thenout and about.
(22:11):
Don't take your backpack andlean it next to you.
Put it always in front of you,like between your legs, so like
if you're leaning at a guardrail, so like, let's say, like one
of the last places I, me and myfamily went, we were in Paris
and I like to carry.
(22:32):
I carry a crossbody, you know,like everybody carried
crossbodies in Europe, so theydidn't fill out a place.
Or like a fanny pack and that'swhere, like, all of our things
were, like my wallet and my epipen and my passport were all in
those and everybody carriedtheir own, plus I.
I had a travel wallet, likeunderneath my shirt, you know.
(22:55):
So we can, if I needed moremoney or something like that, I
had that which is harder tospill, and but your backpack,
carry it in front of you, likeon your front, especially in big
crowds.
That way you're not blockingpeople and any people A lot of
people overseas will justappreciate that anyways.
But also that way you're notwalking people and any people, a
lot of people overseas willjust appreciate that anyways.
But also that way you can seetrying to be trying to grab you.
(23:18):
Yeah, let me can like just openup a zipper in the back.
You know, that's another reasonwhy I like those zippers at the
top or in the middle, becauseit's harder to get to if
somebody's trying to open it.
Megan (23:35):
By that he means, like if you have some sort of zipper
thing and there's two zippers,you don't just put them both to
the side, you have them meet inthe center or the middle or the
top of the zipper channel.
Jimmy (23:44):
Next time you see one of us ask because the zipper's
probably like that.
I'm actually looking at a caseright now that the zippers are
like that.
I think I've got everybody todo it now.
Megan (23:57):
Oh yeah, I'm broken.
I get really stressed out if myzippers aren't in the center
now after working here.
Jimmy (24:08):
So when you go to restaurants or cafes, when
you're traveling, don't takeyour backpack and stick it in a
chair High likelihood offorgetting it, High likelihood
of somebody walking by andtaking it.
Don't put your wallet or yourphone on the table, especially
if you're on the patio.
Somebody walk by and grab it.
Walk by and grab it.
(24:30):
You know, I, For instance, likewhat I do is like with my phone
, because I always have like thelarge phones because of my big
hands.
So I always keep them, Because Ican't keep them in my pocket
when I sit down, because I bendphones all the time when I sit
in them.
Oh my gosh, I think my phone'sbent right now.
Actually, that's crazy.
(24:50):
I'm a large human, I can't helpit.
So I take them and I take itout of my pocket and I sit on it
, so I actually raise my leg andthe chair so I'll feel it, I
embrace her and everything else.
When I stand up, it'll fall orit'll be there and I'll just
know it's there.
I'll do the same thing with mykeys, or it'll be there and I'll
just know it's there.
I'll do the same thing with mykeys so that way I don't forget
(25:14):
them.
I don't have them up on thetable so people can just grab
them and run or whatever.
It is Fascinating, so I do thatwith my backpack.
I always leave it next to myfoot.
It's annoying because you takeit all the time, but at least I
know where it's at.
Megan (25:25):
Yeah, fair enough.
Jimmy (25:26):
And if somebody walks by and tries to grab it, then it's
going to be pretty obviouswhat's going on there, mm-hmm.
So that's some basic stuff youcan think about.
Out and about Never play cardgames, you know, like the
Avengers, three-card money,things like that.
It's fun to watch the crowdsthey always give these.
(25:48):
There's almost always somenefarious actions going on
inside the crowd too.
Don't be stuck.
Don't argue with the streetvendors.
Yeah yeah, say no thank you andkeep walking.
Yeah yeah, I think those arepretty good ones.
Good place to start.
(26:09):
You got anything to add that Ihaven't touched on?
Megan (26:12):
No, that was good.
Jimmy (26:15):
Yeah, another thing is too.
I mean not just because of thepolitical climate we live in now
, but it's just a good idea.
You know, there's lots ofwebsites out there that will
tell you like what the safetyand security things are going on
right now around the world outthere.
That'll tell you like what thesafety and security things are
going on right now around theworld.
Like right now, a lot of majorcompanies or major cities in
(26:35):
europe are actually protestingagainst tourist.
You know, a nice thing to know,yeah, nice thing to know.
Like we're, you know, againblessed to be in paris.
Um, when october 7th happenedand and Gaza and Israel's
conflict reignited, they all sayoh yeah, and it was very
(26:57):
noticeably different in Paris.
What I mean by that was therewas security at all of the major
monuments.
But there was like three timesthe security at all the major
monuments the next day and wewere on vacation, so we were
kind of off social media and wewere kind of off the news and we
(27:19):
were like what's going on,what's happening?
And then on October 8th weactually flew home and we landed
in Germany.
We had a pretty long layoverand the airport we were looking
at it going.
Oh the news.
The first news thing we saw waslike holy crap, that's so
interesting.
All this stuff's happening.
Yeah, oh my gosh.
So you know, maybe have a goodidea before you get there what's
(27:44):
going on Other than that?
Savile Safe, Speech, dyslexia.
Savile Safe and peace.
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