Travel safety-scary experiences-tips for avoiding them.
 

I think this could be valuable for all travellers-what kinds of crazy unexpected scary situations have happened to you while travelling and what are your tips for handling these situations.

What kind of scary situations are you expecting to encounter? I can't think of anything along these lines that has ever happened to me traveling.

Well, my husband and I have been befriended by a local in Montego Bay who would not let us leave him and eventually we had to pay him off and get into a "taxi" he had chosen to get us back to our cruise ship. It end up costing us $80 but we were lucky that we were safe but not happy with ourselves ! Although we were aware of the reputation to take advantage of tourists we got caught up with it before we knew what was up.

I was driving from Denver to Arches NP once, and I ran out of M&M's on the way. It was kinda scary, but I was able to stop and get some more at the next exit. :)

I would recommend that everyone keep a large bag in their car to avoid running out, and implement an inventory management system so they can be alerted to the impending scariness.

<b> The best thing you can do: to act the same way you do at home -- use common sense. Don't take unnecessary risks you would not ordinarily take. Lock up your valuables; your doors and always be aware of your surroundings. Even if you are on vacation, don't let your safety take a vacation </b>

That said...this a suggestion I got the first time I traveled to the Bahamas. We were told to not go off on our own [DH and myself] to find &quot;beaches&quot;. This was in early 70's. We were told to stay where tourist typically go and not look for the &quot;off the beaten path.&quot;

I have ventured more in my later years of travel, but I try not to go too far from where others are around. Never want to be really alone, that works for me at least.

Also, I would not encourage rentals of motorscooters anywhere they drive on the other side of the road and may have round abouts. Especially true if you have never done either [scooter or other side of the road.]

Of course, this is my humble opinion and I know lots who go off on their own with no ill results.

Hope this helps...
Debi

LoL TheWeasel. My DH can certainly identify with that crisis situation!:-D

Dang, Weasal. That was close!

I kept loaf bread and peanut butter in the car for long road trips. The kids could get very, very scary when they got hungry! (Can ya tell I'm Southern with that &quot;loaf bread&quot;?)

&quot;I kept loaf bread and peanut butter in the car for long road trips&quot;

Ahh yes, but do you use Mapquest ahead of time so you know how long those road trips will be? :)

No, I just post inane questions for the millionth time, but don't actually do any research - or open up a map. Map? What's a map?

I have traveled a LOT!. Over 60 - probably 70 trips to europe at this point - and literally close to a thousand in the US.

I have had only a couple of scary experiences and they all involved things over which I had absolutely no control:

One landing when it appeared the landing gear would not lock - they did - the problem was the light not the gear but no one could tell until we landed in all that foam and fire trucks

Wind sheer landing at CVG when the plane turned perpendicular to the ground right before landing (the pilot righted it and we were on the ground before what had happened really &quot;took&quot;)

A flight out of LAX that almost crashed into the Pacific (we were less than 30 seconds from putting down in the water)

What I have learned is live your life, don;t sweat the small stuff and in a scary situation be as sensible as possible (I don;t know how to learn the latter - but can tell you that in all 3 situations almost everyone was sensible - only a few &quot;lost it&quot; - so I think that the natural adrenaline rush may help you keep your wits about you)

If you're talking about things like having your pocket picked or having your hotel reservation misplaced - that comes under the category of &quot;don;t sweat the small stuff&quot;

And if you're looking for categories of &quot;scary stuff&quot; to worry about - you have too much time on your hands

2 years ago I was on a flight that was supposed to go from Houston to London and the plane caught fire on take-off. The plane filled up with smoke and I wondered if this was the end. There was no time for a fuel dump so the pilot had a challenging job of making an overweight landing. When we landed we were met by many fire trucks that put out the fire as we were rolling to a stop. We had to evacuate using the inflatable slides. That within itself was scary because the slides are very steep and slick, and it's a hard landing on the concrete runway.

This was indeed a very scary situation and I almost cancelled my trip. But I pulled myself together and decided to take the next plane to London. From London I went on to Geneva. I was still pretty shook up the first couple of days of this trip, but I got past it and really enjoyed my time in Switzerland.

Okay i get your point, this sight is only for &quot;regulars&quot; and I did look up safety before I posted this and got very little info. I guess I am wrong to think that all places are not equal as far as safety goes. I have not travelled much and I guess when I look up Buenos Aires and hear about two guys getting almost killed in a supposed safe area by being hit over the head with a bottle I kind of wonder if I want to go there. But I guess from the jest I am hearing over my question I just shouldnt even think about safety. Stupid me!

To answer the second part of your question, how to handle it. As I said above, I almost cancelled my trip. But after I had some time to think about it, I decided to face up to this by getting on the next plane. It was hard to put this out of my head and it took a couple of days, but I did manage to do that and I went on to enjoy my trip.

Irecommend, this is the US forum, so naturally everyone thought you were asking about travel in the US. There is a South America forum if you'd like more information about traveling there. Good luck with your trip planning! :)

Thanks PM your response came as I was typing mine. Mighty brave of you and I think I would have done the best to pull myself together too. Wow you were brave.

Hi Bayougal
I guess the US forum is the busiest one on the sight and I am not only planning on travelling in South America but was interested in general travel safety tips. Sorry if you dont have any suggestions.

irecommend - the exchange between myself and Starrsville had much to do with another recent, and little to do with this one. I'm sure you'll get plenty of replies to your questions. Some of them will be silly, but that's OK. Taking offense will only encourage more mis-direction of your thread.

Thank you, irecommend, you are very kind. I hope you're not too upset by the kidding around, I don't think any harm was intended. This is a friendly and fun forum, but we all do take safety very seriously and this is indeed a good question.

Well I was most offended because I actually only like Milky Way bars. M &amp;ms are just for kids.

:-D

That was nice of you to explain, Weasel.

irecommend, the reason I'm joking instead of giving a &quot;serious&quot; answer is that I don't look forward to a &quot;horrors of travel&quot; thread. A relative in federal law enforcement advises to just be aware - very aware. Most &quot;bad&quot; things happen because folks are blithely unaware of their surroundings and the potential danger. Having said that, in 20+ years on the road, I know of only a handful of &quot;scary experiences&quot; - and none were fatal. Be aware and trust your gut.

Snakes on Planes = a level-headed poster scared about snakes in the SW.

I, for one, don't look forward to a thread (and the repercussions) of a litany of scary tales. But, then again, I don't like ghost stories around a campfire either.

Sure, irecommend. I'll offer advice from the only bad travel experience I have had.

My worst travel experience was driving home to N.O. a day after hurricane Katrina hit. We were 5 hrs from home, but it took us over over 15 hrs just to get to N.O. because we had to go 4 hrs out of our way to find some place with power and gasoline. Then we had to use the chain saw we had in the trunk to cut our way down the back roads because the interstates were closed, and of course, watch very carefully for live, downed power lines. And all this was done in the dark. I have shortened this trip report for brevity.

In any travel situation, the best thing to do is remain calm, THINK through whatever it going on, and keep functioning.

You were lucky you had a chainsaw in your trunk. So is that a safety tip (no offense intedended) travel with a chain saw in your trunk!!

LOL,wouldlovetogo. The OP expressed upset that I hadn't responded with safety advice, and to be honest after being pushed, I wanted to say &quot;be careful what you ask for.&quot;

No, we purchased the chainsaw in Monroe before leaving. We had one at home, but knew we'd probably need one. We'd have bought a lot more but entire stores were sold out of everything by Monday morning (when the storm was coming in).

irecommend -

I think the point is that your situation was not &quot;scary&quot;. It was simply that you did something silly and then didn;t get out of it.

In travel - just like at home - you have to use your common sense at all times. If you don't you can end up in trouble anywhere. (Walking down a dark alley at 3 am and being accosted by strange men isn;t &quot;scary&quot; it's just ridiculous.)

You don;t really want to know about &quot;scary&quot; you want someone to tell you how to exercise your common sense - perhaps you could get a book at the library.

OK- Airline mishaps, now THAT can be scary. No cabin pressure was the worst I have experienced, fortunately no flames or smoke. There was nothing I could do to 'handle' the situation.

irecommend- These answers have nothing to do with being regulars on this forum. But rather about expectations. I don't think bad things will happen to me when I go traveling and for the most part they do not.

Perhaps you could have handled the Montego Bay situation differently by not getting involved with that person? Remembering to put on your travel savvy. Also realizing that cruise ship passengers often have a worse time of it because local scammers know when then boats come in.

For Debi- I hardly see the point of travel if you don't &quot;go too far from where others are around&quot; - assuming by this you mean other tourists? If no one is around, what harm could come to you?

Also answers may be different if you are talking about Americans traveling in the U.S. or foreign travel. I assumed you meant the United States since that is the forum you posted on, but rather your concern is about Buenos Aires?

Beware of small hotels which double book a room. We checked into a family run hotel in Jerusalem and when we opened the door to the room a young couple was in there and said &quot;She told us we would be the only ones in this room.&quot; Always check the room for strangers before you pay!

Hi irecommend ~ In this day and age especially I think your post is not out of the ordinary or stupid (as you put it)in any way.

Practical common sense may be your best travel companion.

With that, I will add my travel safety two cents:

1) Always know your emergency exits. Don't be obsessed about it, just be aware.

2) Pay attention to your surroundings!

Safe journey, Tiff

Sideways on der Nurburgring at about 150 mph.
Check tire pressures hourly.
Inverted at Mach 1 + in the Grand Canyon below the rim.
Simply avoid.
Insertion with a Seal Team in ... in the 70's. Not fun.
M

You have been given great advice already, so I won't repeat it, but would like to add another thing I've seen and experienced on my travels.

If you look and act like a victim, then you will be treated like one. Someone who stands straight, head up, looks them in the eye, and walks away (thinking of your situation in Montego Bay) usually gets away from any sticky spots just fine. There have been times I've had to say, no thank you or shake my head in the negative, but it's always turned out fine.

How one earth did you get in that situation to start with? You can't entertain these people who harass you right off the cruise ship. Just say no and walk away.

Actually what happened was it was our very first cruise and our very first stop. We had gotten off the boat to what were supposed to be the shops and everyone from the ship kind of scattered. We were overcome with sea sickness and there was a sewer smell in the air. There was not one other person around from the ship so we decided to head to the only other attraction that was supposed to be a craft market on the other side of the downtown. This young man said he would show us the way as the street was busy and we were actually feeling very sick by the moment so much so that my husband needed a washroom. Which this guy found for us in a seedy bar but we really had no choice. The rest is history as he wouldnt let us leave.

Oh and we were fully aware to be on the lookout for this. We were just not expecting Montego Bay to be such a dump and were overtaken with sickness.

A hotel giving you a room with people already in it is a pain - annoying but not scary (and yes - it has happened to me once or twice).

As for the OP - if you encourage people like that you are making yourselves victims - and anything that happens is your own fault.

Anyone over the age of 12 (and I think they teach this to kids in first and second grade now) knows enough to say no and walk away when approaced by a stranger. It's that simple. Just say no and walk away. they won't do anything to you - and this isn't scary - just annoying. (And if your husband was really ill you should have either gone back to your ship or found a local policeman to head you to a hospital.)

If you really have trouble with saying no to sttrange people I suggest you seek some professional help - assertiveness training would be very useful. (As my grandmother always said, if you keep throwing yourself on the floor, there will always be someone around to step on you.)

This is a bit specialized, but my recent experience taught be a lot and some can be adapted to other circumstances.

My partner has some early development of Alzheimer's. Our final night in Las Vegas, he headed up from the casino at our hotel (the Aladdin) to go to bed at midnight. He is good about direction and I certainly felt he was fine -- as we were right by the correct elevators at the time. An hour later when I got to the room it was clear he had never gotten there -- despite going into the elevators. To make a long story short -- he was missing until after noon the next day. Security at the hotel was sort of a joke as they kept saying people wander off all the time in Vegas. The Alzheimer's meant nothing to them, but they &quot;pretended&quot; to alert all guards with his name and description. Later when I went to one of the guards at the main door to the strip I found he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. The Las Vegas police were wonderful and came to my room where we filled out a missing person's report and they sent flyers to all casinos, hotels, and taxis, as well as to all the police. But the one thing they wanted was a picture of him.

NOTE: Always travel with a picture of each of you (kids as well, of course), as you never know when you might need it.

He was found by security at the Gold Coast hotel -- past the Rio and off the strip. Apparently he had wandered all the way there over the course of the night. We have no idea what happened during those 12 plus hours and he was totally unconcerned insisting he wasn't lost, but was the most confused he has ever been, only able to give his name. Incidentally, when security at the Gold Coast found an Aladdin Key Card in his wallet they called Aladdin security who despite their supposed all-out efforts of finding him, didn't even recognized the name, and entered it into the computer saying he wasn't a guest there -- porhaps it was an old key. The room was in my name.

Note: Always make sure the names of all guests are listed with registration -- especially if last names are different.

Another note: Always make sure that everyone in your party has each other's cell phone numbers written down. If something happens to that person, it gives the authorities a number to call.

Everything came out fine with our situation (despite having to cancel our flight out and extend a night at the hotel then rebook a flight), but it taught me a lot.

Oh my goodness, Neopolitan! I am so glad everything turned out safely for you both. I would have never thought to make sure all of our names were on the registration.

NY traveller-seek professional help???? we DID say no to him in a very serious tone but he would not leave us. Wow.....

Neopolitan that is the kind of tip I was thinking could help any traveller going anywhere, I guess that was the idea of my post. Thanks

Wow Neo, I'm glad he was OK and that is some very good advice.

Your post reminded me of when I was younger and I used to travel with my grandmother. She always made me take a business card from the hotel, which of course had the name, address, and phone # of the hotel. This way if I got lost I could show the card to the cabbie and find my way home. This would be especially helpful in countries that use a different alphabet, such as China or Japan.

I realize this wouldn't have helped under Neo's circumstances, as his partner didn't realize he was lost. But for most travelers I do think it's a good idea for the each member of a family to have a hotel business card.

And a room key.

Oh Neo, I can only imagine how scared and worried you were! Thank heavens he was found but the terror you must have gone through during those hours..how horrible that must have been for you.

Your comments reminds me of something. In my wallet where one would normally put their drivers license ( a plastic covering that shows up when you first lift of the tab of the wallet) I have &quot;In case of emergency&quot; and than lists my daughter and son-in-laws names, address and phone number.

I never thought of having a photo of anyone I travelled with but that is certainly a very good idea. A must actually. If the person that is &quot;lost&quot; does not know they are lost than any ID on them will not matter. But a photo would certainly help the law enforcement people hopefully find the lost person. And perhaps write the persons height and weight etc. on the back of the photo.

Neo, I am glad that everything turned out alright but I am so sorry you had to go through such a scary experience.

And making sure anyone, dementia patients, youngsters, well anyone actually, have a business card of the hotel they are staying in is an excellent idea also. Thanks P_M.

Also, a thought, there are the medical ID braclets for people with dementia. That might be a good idea? Just one more way to try to cover all basis.