I was mugged once, at gunpoint. I was 23, sitting on a park bench with a male colleague, eating lunch. A sunny afternoon and crowded park seemed the least likely scenario for a holdup, since there were so many witnesses. Still, it happened, and it continues to haunt me. Three teenage thugs, one sawed-off shotgun pointing at my navel, and I am forever vigilant about personal safety. Especially when traveling.
There are good reasons for vigilance. When you travel you're distracted; you're stressed and often navigating in a place you've never been. If abroad, you may face all those stresses plus the disadvantage of not speaking the language.
Thieves everywhere target travelers in creative ways: chatting you up at the baggage carousel while a pickpocket partner fleeces you, retrieving your laptop at the security checkpoint while you're putting your shoes back on or trailing you into your hotel and getting on the elevator with you.
The list of nefarious tricks is long; go to detective Kevin Coffey's website and click on his travel safety tips. Coffey, a Los Angeles Police Department detective, is an expert on travel safety and crime avoidance. His website includes hair-raising stories about the ways criminals target travelers.
Here are some tips from Coffey and other travel-safety experts:
Don't advertise that you're from out of town. Hide maps and guidebooks in your car. If you need a guide on the street, plan ahead and photocopy the pages you need.
Download directions and maps if you're driving a rental car; otherwise, rely on taxis (but no gypsy cabs) and public transportation. If you take the subway, train or bus, make sure you know your routes, because maps are not always handy or legible. Also make sure you know when trains and buses stop running. You don't want to be stranded at night in an area that doesn't have taxis.
Be especially vigilant in parking lots and parking garages. That's where a surprising amount of crime (theft, assault, rape) occurs. It may be more prudent to pay extra for a valet to park your car.
Don't wear jewelry unless it's clearly costume jewelry. Wedding rings are the only exception. Some single women I know wear a wedding band when they travel to keep creepy men at bay.
If you wear trousers, wear a money belt. These loop through regular belt loops and, in many cases, don't have metal buckles, so you don't have to take them off to go through airport security. Find them at corporatetravelsafety.com, which retails a number of safe-traveler products, from handbags whose handles can't be slit to electronic doorstops that shriek if an intruder tries to break into your hotel room.
Use covered luggage tags. There's no reason to advertise your name and your hometown to a thief casing out everyone at the baggage carousel.
Invest in TSA-sanctioned locks for your suitcases and laptop locks for your computer. These can secure not just computers but flat-screen monitors and LCD projectors.
On overnight flights, keep your valuables in a security waist pack. Wear the waistpack at all times--when you sleep, when you get up to stretch and when you go to the lavatory.
Always carry a fully charged cell phone. If you're traveling where your phone doesn't work, rent one. And put the police on speed dial, Coffey advises.
When you're driving, always keep your doors locked. Criminals armed with a gun or a knife have been known to hop into cars stopped at traffic signals, ready to wreak havoc.
Prepare ahead for recovery in case you become a crime victim. Photocopy two sets of important documents. Keep one set with you in case your wallet is lost or stolen. The other set should be with someone you can reach in an emergency.
An alternative is an online safe deposit box offered by companies such as KeepYouSafe.com. Use it to upload documents (scans of passports, birth certificates, traveler's check stubs, driver's license), store lists of credit card numbers and ways to reach card issuers, and banking information.
More likely to lose something than be ripped off? StuffBak sells bar-coded labels you put on valuables (such as cell phones, cameras, jump drives and remote-entry key fobs). If a good Samaritan finds something you've lost, the label lists a toll-free number to call. StuffBak immediately notifies the owner when a lost item is found and coordinates the recovery process. The company claims a 75 percent recovery rate.