The saying “she was at the wrong place at the wrong time” is one that is used to describe me. Whenever I travel, I usually find myself in compromising situations. I usually find myself being verbally harassed and followed when I walk across La Plaza de Espana. When this first happened, I called up my friends to help me, but they were too far away. I managed to leave safely but I was annoyed with the fact that this had happened. Travelling as a young woman is doable, but sometimes difficult.
Just this Sunday, I was walking home alone when I saw a man getting mugged by three men. I was watching in shock until two of the men noticed and started running toward me. I knew I could definitely not fight them, as I am five feet tall and I have the body mass index of a stick, I decided to run. I ran for three blocks and I finally lost them. I found a nearby Burger King and hid in the restroom and thought about what I should do next. Should I take a cab back home or should I walk. I realized I wasn’t carrying much cash, so I decided to take the 45-minute walk home. Now that I reflect on this decision, I realize it was a stupid idea. Maybe the guys could’ve still been searching for me, or I could have found myself in another situation.
I used the walk home as a time to reflect on what I could do safer next time this could occur. I made a list of do’s and don’ts when travelling alone:
| Do | Don’t |
| Be aware of your surroundings | Be distracted. (No calling friends on the phone, no headphones) |
| Know the countries emergency phone number | Use the time to call your friends and panic at the situation (that’s what I did) |
| Walk in populated and well dimmed areas | Walk into dark and secluded alleyways |
| Keep your belongings close to you | Carry large sums of money or expensive items |
| Ask the locals if an area is safe. (I asked my professor if muggings usually happened in that area. She was helpful and told me which places are more prone to this.) | Just assume everyone is here to help you. You never know who is trying to harm you. |
| Tell your friends and family where you are going and when you will be back | Forget this! I like to explore alone, and I usually forget to tell people where I’m going |
Travelling is supposed to be exciting! Not scary! You should always remember to never put yourself in harms way. I had to cancel a flight to Barcelona due to the massive protests. While I was disappointed by this, I knew that I had to put my own safety first. My security is more important than the money I was losing. One final piece of advise is to always do your research whenever you go into a new city, there are always good places and more dangerous places to be in.
Ali's Adventures Abroad 