Travel Safely With These 8 Helpful Tips

Travel should be fun, spontaneous, and freeing, but the road is also riddled with obstacles. Winging it has its place, but when it comes to safety and security, planning ahead and acquiring the right tools to travel safely can ward off a lot of trouble.

Before we take off on that big vacation, we need to invest a bit of time and money to address the “What if?” questions ahead of time. Anticipating the potential problems and making sure you have solutions for them can mean smooth sailing instead of rough seas in your personal safety.

You can add a layer of travel safety on your phone by installing the right apps and loading the right documents. That way you’ve got options and answers at your fingertips. Then with a few small tweaks to your wardrobe and a few items you can pick up relatively cheaply from Amazon, you’ll be a superhero with a force-field that protects your valuables. 

I’ve been traveling every year since the early 1990s and have circled the globe multiple times, plus my main home base is in Mexico. Here’s my hard-won advice on how to travel safely no matter where you’re headed. 

Get a Travel Safety App for Free

If you have a travel insurance plan from one of the leading companies, there’s probably some kind of app you can download to access your info. The Allyz TravelSmart app from Allianz goes much further than most though and it’s free to download and use even if you are not a customer of theirs. Allyz (pronounced “AH-LEEZE“) isn’t just a new and improved version of the app. The new name, a combination of “all” and “ease,” is meant to convey a menu of simplified, accessible, and practical services for everyone. 

When you open it up, you find a wealth of resources that will come to your aid if you have a medical issue:

– A medical translator for common terms so you can converse with (or show) a medical professional what’s ailing you. It’s currently in 18 languages including Thai, Russian, and Chinese.

– A medical dictionary for drug names. Big Pharma may be drilling their nonsensical drug names into our heads though constant advertising, but the actual medical name of that drug is going to vary from country to country. Or sometimes the name brand isn’t available but a generic version is. This app will sort it out for you.

– An embassy finder. If you get into trouble in a foreign country and need help, or you lose your passport, the Allyz TravelSmart app will tell you where to turn.

– A hospital finder. Navigating the medical facilities in a place you don’t know can be daunting, but this app will guide you to an appropriate hospital.

– Local emergency numbers. It’s easy to remember “911” when you’re in the USA, but what if you’re exploring the Yucatan Peninsula or you’re on a French-speaking Caribbean island? The app gives you quick access to local police, fire, and ambulance numbers.

In addition to the pre-loaded aids, the app is a lifeline if you’re an Allianz travel insurance customer because it provides 24/7 support by phone or e-mail, plus there’s a separate medical assistance number. It also shows alerts for the area you’re in, whether it’s a hurricane on the way or some kind of civil unrest event. 

Plus this app will let you know about flight delays if you’ve fed your info into the travel planner and you may even be able to get approved for an incidentals payment while you’re stuck from a flight delay, depending on your plan. You can file claims easily on the go, right from your phone.

Available for Android and iPhone. See more info on it here.

Use Dropbox or Google Drive to Have Documents On Your Phone and In the Cloud

Via a cloud service you can access with an app, you should have copies of all key documents with you in case of trouble. This would include your passport, driver’s license, boarding passes, loyalty program numbers, Global Entry number, and all insurance policies.

It also wouldn’t hurt to make sure you have all the phone numbers, confirmations, and details about where you’re staying handy if you don’t have them in a travel app.

Ideally these docs are on your phone and in the cloud somewhere. I like Dropbox because it’s always both: I can get to everything on my phone whether I’m online or not. But then if my phone gets lost or stolen, I can still access everything I need from any computer. 

Use a  Universal Password Manager

Speaking of accessing your documents in the cloud, can you log onto any website with your password no matter where you are and what device you’re using? Again, if you anticipate potential problems, you can see what this is necessary.

If you get robbed of your passport, phone, and wallet, now what? Even one of those is going to require a whole lot of logging into various sites to get the problem fixed. Nobody can remember the passwords for 100 or more sites, so it’s wise to use a password manager like LastPass or OnePassword so that all you need to remember is your master password.

Then you can log into anything from a hotel business center or your buddy’s computer. (Just remember to log into that VPN as well if you’re doing banking on a public network.)

Use a Trip Planner App

Are you trying to keep all your travel bookings in your head or in your phone calendar? Make it easier on yourself with a travel planning app that keeps everything in one place.

I’ve used the TripIt app for more than a decade now and find it relatively seamless for keeping all my travel confirmation info in one place: flights, rental cars, hotels, train tickets, whatever. When a confirmation comes into my personal e-mail, it automatically gets added to TripIt. If it misses one or I receive it elsewhere, I just forward the e-mail to [email protected] from the address it recognizes. 

Install Airline Apps, Ride Share apps, and Texting Permissions

I don’t have an app installed for every single airline, but I do for the ones I fly a lot. In the cases where I don’t, I always give them texting permission so I can get updates if a flight is delayed or canceled. Sometimes the gate changes and you want to know about that immediately. 

I also find it useful to have both Lyft and Uber on the phone because I’d rather use Lyft, but sometimes the latter has more drivers around and it works in Mexico too. On a recent trip I found Lyft to be $15 cheaper on one route, Uber a whopping $30 cheaper for a trip to the airport. In some cities there might be Didi or some local app you have to use instead. Install it while you’re there, then delete it later. You don’t want to be stuck not being able to find a ride. 

For some hotel chains it can be worth downloading their app because you can use it to check in or out and in some cases you can get keyless entry to your room, bypassing the front desk entirely. 

Use Communication Apps for Friends and Family

While I can understand why some people don’t want to have the bloated Facebook and Messenger apps on their phone, these do offer other avenues for reaching friends and family in an emergency and you can check yourself in as “okay” when there’s a natural disaster and people are worried about you.

It also pays to have WhatsApp on your phone, maybe Skype too for good measure. When traveling internationally, you may want to have an eSim card installed if you don’t have T-Mobile. As with banking and credit cards, it’s good to have multiple back-ups available.

Arm Yourself Against Pickpockets and Thieves

While most people think of harm to themselves when they think of “travel safety,” you also have to be diligent about protecting your belongings as well. Some things you’re traveling with would be an inconvenience to lose, but others would be a disaster. My laptop and phone are essential to my business. Replacing a stolen passport means days of embassy visits and police reports. Stolen credit cards lead to multiple calls to report and replace them. 

So it pays to put some barriers in place to hold onto what you own. I’m a big fan of Pickpocket Proof Pants from Clothing Arts, money pouches, money belts, and PacSafe bags. Anything that makes your valuables difficult to get to will cause the pros to move on to an easier target. 

I’m also a big advocate of keeping a few credit cards and some cash in a separate place from the rest, just in case. Like in a separate pocket in a suitcase or bag that you’re not going to have on you when walking around in Rome or Athens. Anticipate the worst that could happen and be sure you’ve got a back-up plan for that scenario. 

Some people get peace of mind by attaching tracking tags to their bags as well. This is only going to tell you where something has gone when someone else has carted it off, but there are cases now and then where this info leads to a recovery. See Airtags for Apple and Tile for Android OR Apple. 

Be a Savvy Traveler With Sense

While a lot of crime victims were just unlucky, some were letting their guard down or doing something stupid. Like walking down a dark street alone at two in the morning, maybe drunk on top of it. Or wearing a Rolex and expensive jewelry on vacation. Or waving around a collection of electronics worth more than the average local annual salary while in a poor remote village.

The thieves actually have it easier in the age of smartphones too because people are now more likely to be distracted. As in playing a game on their phone while their bag full of valuables sits on a seat beside them out of their field of vision, ready to be snatched. Or Facetiming with the sound on in a train station while a pickpocket goes to town helping himself.

A healthy dose of paranoia can be a good thing when you’re a stranger in a strange land. Don’t make it easy to steal from you. 

How about you? What else have you found helpful to have on your phone for travel safety and being prepared?

This post was sponsored by Al Centro Media advertising partner Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) from whom I have received financial compensation. I also use them as my travel insurance provider. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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