Travel Security Tips:
What you need to know to be safe
Use the following travel security tips to help you avoid common mistakes which can ruin your holiday.
Travel Security Tips #1: Official Taxis
When you arrive in the bigger city airports, it seems like every taxi-wallah (taxi dude) in the city is clamoring for your business. There have been attacks on people (especially single foreign girls) by auto/taxi drivers on the (relatively) desolate roads on the way to the airport in Delhi, for instance. So the best idea is to only take official taxis from the taxi booth. This means going to the booth and telling them where you need to go. They organise you a driver and you get a receipt with the driver’s details on it. This affords you some security as your journey can be traced and the driver knows it.
This is not a taxi, but a scooter can hold a family of 5 in India!
Travel Security Tips #2: Money Belt, not Fanny Pack
Definitely take a money belt. By this I mean one that’s worn inside the clothes, against the skin. There are two main types, ones which go around your neck and ones which go around your waist. Either is fine, but I find the waist ones the easiest to use, as I usually travel in pants and tops, or shalwar kameezes (beautiful, long, loose (and very comfy) pants –salwar--with a long tunic top—kameez.) If you wear dresses, you may have no choice but the round the neck ones.
Keep your passport in there as well as your emergency cash (USD50-100) and if you have them, any paper airline tickets. (Your hotel manager may want to keep your passport while you’re checked into a hotel, but try to keep it with you if you can, just for your own peace of mind.)
Travel Security Tips #3: Pickpockets
Expect pickpockets or bag-snatchers anytime. For this reason, I would recommend not even putting your money and documents in a day pack on your back, because you can’t keep an eye on it while you’re walking and in a crowd it’s easy to be pick-pocketed. Ladies can use a regular handbag for the day’s money, but keep your passport and other important documents in a more secure location. Also, whenever you stop somewhere, try to secure your bag if you can, eg, loop the handle around a chair leg, sometimes, I loop it around my foot if nothing else will work. It may look silly, but it sure beats being robbed, and there are some quick hands in India.
I personally haven’t had a whole bag taken, but I have had my purse taken from my handbag while I was at a cultural fair a few years ago. There were crowds pressing everywhere and it was very difficult to keep distance enough to ensure security. That day I had been really stupid and had my driver’s licence and credit cards in there as well. Of course it was the worst possible time, I was flying to Kathmandu the next morning. At least my passport was back in my room. Which leads me to...
Travel Security Tips #4: Police Reports
I wasted many hours that evening with my friend Kara, to get a police report about the theft. I have to tell you I think this was the biggest waste of my time, bigger than even watching Howard’s End. I have to say that trying to get the police to believe you is very frustrating and they gave me lots of grief (over a report for around $150 theft). In retrospect, I wouldn’t have bothered, but I thought since I had taken travel insurance I should claim back the money that was taken. But the police were very uncooperative. We tried our best to communicate (Kara knows much more Hindi than me), but they refused to believe that we didn’t understand everything they were saying. It was weird to be treated like a criminal, I’ve never had that experience before. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you really need that police report. Follow my travel security tips and you won’t need to!
Travel Security Tips #5: Spare Document Copies
Always photocopy your photo page of your passport, your tickets, visa, itinerary and any other important documents. (It’s a great idea to do this no matter where you’re going). Keep the photocopies separate from the real documents, so that you have backup if something goes wrong. You never want to feel the vulnerability of being in a foreign country with no identification, like my friend Melissa did.
Travel Security Tips #6: Trains and Train Stations
If you’re traveling with other people, always leave at least one person in charge of the luggage at any one time. Actually, I have a funny story about ‘bag minding’. Last time we were at the New Jalpaiguri train station after coming down the mountain from Darjeeling, we were waiting for an hour or so before our connecting train to Varanasi. Rather than sitting on the platform, there was a ‘first class’ waiting room (in name only) at the end of the platform, which was pretty full but we found seats in the corner next to a couple of soldiers. After a while of sitting, reading, etc, the senior soldier left the room to walk the platform. Five minutes later, the junior soldier looked at me, said nothing, but signaled would I mind his bag while he went outside. I nodded and he left. Then I looked down to find he’d not only left me in charge of his duffel bag (and the senior soldier’s), but of his rifle as well, which was lying on the top of the bag! I certainly felt the responsibility, but having been in the Australian Army Reserve once myself, I’m reasonably certain he shouldn’t have done that!
After getting very paranoid about your luggage, it can be quite disconcerting to have it almost wrenched from you at the train station by a porter, called a Coolie. Faster than a speeding bullet, even at 70, these amazing people will stride off with your luggage on their head and your job is to keep up (and keep an eye on your bags, because sometimes that’s all you can see above the crowds). Your bags are safe as long as it was a proper Coolie. They have uniforms and official name badges, but the uniforms themselves can change from city to city. It may be a red jacket or white traditional dress. You’ll get to know the uniforms by just looking for groups of them around the train station. Those Coolies who aren’t engaged in getting you and your luggage into your allocated seat, are usually standing around in knots of 3-5, scanning for other tourists and foreigners.
A Bonus Travel Security Tip: Using Coolies:
The first time I went to India, I didn’t use Coolies because I thought that I should be ‘democratic’ and carry my own bags. Why should someone else have to do it for me? But eventually I thought these guys are just trying to make a living and it’s a mutually agreeable arrangement. So I just give in when they take my bags. They help me find the right carriage and then the right seat. I tip according to how far we had to go and how much trouble it was to get everything sorted.
Once you’re on the train, if you’re in a sleeper compartment, lock your luggage with a chain to the metal legs. These compartments are not always lockable, sometimes it’s only a curtain, and it’s hard to sleep if you’re worried about your luggage being taken.
I also wrap my handbag in a pashmina and use that as my pillow. That way, it minimises the possibility of anyone being able to sneak it away while I’m sleeping. If it’s a bit lumpy, just add another piece of clothing around like a sweater or another pashmina or whatever until it’s comfy.
Travel Security Tips #7: Taj Mahal
Don’t take electronic stuff with you to the Taj Mahal if you can avoid it. The first time I went, I had my calculator taken off me and I was unreasonably annoyed, because it just didn’t make sense to me. Don’t get mad like I did (I thought they just wanted my calculator), just don’t take stuff like that in the first place. Leave your mobile phones etc behind as well. Cameras and video cameras are ok, but you will pay extra to take them in. Also there are now security screening check points you have to walk through (like at airports and now some train stations in India). Last time I went, the lines were much longer than I’ve ever experienced before as there were only two of these security screening machines for the whole crowd. I think it took us maybe 1.5 hours to get through, the line up went for maybe a mile or so. That’s because we went on a Friday, which is free day for any Indians who want to go but can’t afford the fee. It was still worth it of course, but still...
Travel Security Tips #8: My Brother/Cousin’s Shop
This can be a frustrating conversation if you’re not ready for it or if you really need to get somewhere. What I’m talking about is when you get in an auto or taxi and say where you want to go, then the driver asks you what you’re shopping for. Just say you mention (‘cos you’re practising Hindi) that you’re looking for fabric or saris or something. The driver gets excited and tells you that you reeeeally have to see his brother/cousin’s shop, it’s on the way and he has everything you want at a good price.
Basically, what happens is that the drivers have commission arrangements with certain stores and sometimes they can become very insistent if you say you don’t want to go. There’s been once or twice that Kara and I have worried about the growing desperation of the driver as he tried to persuade us. But for personal safety, I would recommend never agreeing to be taken to an unknown destination, especially if you’re female. It’s always best to follow these travel security tips be sensible and protect your personal safety.
Travel Security Tips #9: Get extra help if you need it
Do you need help with extra security? If you are a company executive or, for whatever reason, feel you need more than the average security for your trip, my friend Andrew Edwards’ company,
The Security Guy
, can help you. He organizes executive protection as well as other security services.
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