Monday Q&A: Aren’t You Worried About Your Safety?

One of the most common questions we got, before and after – and even during – our trip, was “Aren’t you worried about your safety?” And people didn’t mean ATGATT – people meant our safety from the people in the countries we were passing through. People seemed most shocked that we were traveling through Mexico, although Guatemala came close behind. (Comparatively few people asked about Colombia, in contrast, which kinda surprised me.)

The answer was and remains: No. We’re not worried about our safety. After having traveled through 14 countries, including some areas which are pretty hot politically, we have reached a conclusion we’d suspected before we left: people are people everywhere. Both Kay and I share a belief that people are basically good. Sure, you’ve got a few bad people everywhere – but how is that any different from home? I live in a city, where crime is a fact of life (although our area is pretty tame). I’m more likely to get mugged on a street corner in my own neighborhood than at the side of the road in some foreign country.

That being said, here are some of the facts that we traveled by to get us safely through 14 countries and 18,000 miles overland.

1. People are people.

2. People are good.

Both Kay and I believe that people are basically good. Whenever we had challenges on the trip, people came forward to help us. Both people here at home, and people abroad in the countries we visited – there seems to be a universal love for (good) travelers, and you’ll find people willing to help you, share a meal, share a smile – wherever you go. It’s one thing on which all overland travelers seem to agree – the outpouring of help and support can be truly overwhelming, and you learn to believe that people are inherently good, even if you didn’t start that way.

3. Use common sense.

Use common sense when traveling. Kay and I rarely ventured out after dark – everyone told us not to ride after dark (for a lot of good reasons, we learned!) and when we did venture out on foot after dark, we tried to stay in well-lit, well-populated areas. Use common sense; lock things up when you can; don’t leave expensive stuff unattended or sitting alone – and you’ll go a long way just fine.

4. Pay attention.

Pay attention to your surroundings. Listen to your instincts. Don’t be fooled, folks – we all evolved from early man, who had to learn to be alert to survive – and we still retain many of those watchful instincts, although we may not be great at paying attention to them. Even if you don’t see an immediate cause for alarm, listen to the little voice in your head. Pay attention to the people around you. Watch their body language. Listen to the tone of voice. If an area or situation doesn’t seem safe, don’t stick around.

5. Don’t talk about your travel plans.

Locals may ask about your travel plans. Be general, when possible. Most of the time, the chatter is harmless; but a word into the wrong ear that you’re going to be on a deserted road around dusk, or you’re camping in a secluded spot off the road – can be asking for trouble. Likewise, use your judgment when asking for permission to camp. General wisdom is to not camp exactly where people say to camp. But use your judgment, and trust your gut.

6. Carry a dummy wallet.

One great trick that we used on our travel was to carry a dummy wallet in an obvious place. Only put as much money as you’ll use in a single day in the wallet, and use that wallet when paying for food, gas, etc. Put fake or expired credit cards and license into the wallet. That way, if someone is watching you pay for something and does rob you later, you can hand over the wallet they saw you use with very little consequence. You’re out a day’s cash, but your real credit cards and the bulk of your cash is safely secured elsewhere.

7. Hide your money all over.

Don’t just put your extra or “backup” money in one spot. Hide it all over your motorcycle, throughout your luggage and throughout your gear. This way, if someone finds and steals one stash, or you’re forced to use backup money and someone tries to steal *that* from you, you still have more cash in a secure location. Always carry more cash than you think you’ll need, in case you can’t get to an ATM or your credit card gets lost, damaged or otherwise inactivated.

8. Play dumb.

If you don’t speak the language, you can just play dumb. Don’t underestimate the extent to which you can pull this one off. You can get away with a LOT of crap by just playing dumb tourist. Some of the people we met on the road had some GREAT stories, and we managed to talk our way out of every single traffic ticket and violation by playing dumb (typically because the cops were corrupt, though, and trying to extort cash – not because we were driving like lunatics and actually earning the tickets). If you have the guts, you can potentially get out of a mugging and other very negative situations just by playing dumb.

9. When in doubt, REV IT!

If you have problems while you’re on a motorcycle, you can always use your motorcycle to get away from the trouble. People in most of the country don’t actually want to hurt you – they’re just relying on intimidation to get what they want. Most places, killing an American would be far more trouble than it’s worth, so if you rev it and drive off, they won’t pursue you. We even know some people who got away from corrupt cops this way – they grew tired of extortion attempts after the 5th stop in a single country, so they started blowing through police stops. In most of the world, your motorcycle is better than the rest of the vehicles on the road; you can often get yourself out of danger just by riding away from it.

10. Carry a safety whistle.

This wasn’t so much about getting robbed or otherwise entangled with unsavory types, but both Kay and I carry a safety whistle. Air horns and other loud noise makers work, too, but safety whistles are good when you can secure them to your person. The primary purpose of our safety whistles is in case you have a bad off and are lying somewhere out of sight; you can use a safety whistle to attract attention and alert people that you need help. (And this is why it should be on your person and not your bike; you may become separated from your bike and unable to get back to it in the event of a bad off.) But this can also double as a security measure if you need to raise attention to get out of a dangerous situation.

Realistically, we only felt unsafe at one point in the entire trip – and that was because we’d been stupid. But no danger materialized. It was an adjustment to get used to police and military openly carrying around big guns, like AK-47s, at police checkpoints or even in guarding a shop. But we never had trouble, and we don’t carry weapons.

As long as you use common sense, stay aware, and trust to the universe to get you through – you’ll find it typically works to keep you out of trouble. And if it doesn’t, well, you’ll have a hell of a story to tell when you get back home!