Pandemic or not, safe travel is so important if you plan to strike out alone and see the world. It’s a big place, with different rules and laws wherever you go. You want to ensure that you can get from place to place without too much disruption. Travelling is a huge adventure, but it’s going to cause you constant stress and looking over your own shoulder if you’re not managing your safety. You deserve to climb mountains and see the city sights at night time, and you deserve to do it knowing your money is secure and your travel plans are safe, too.
Safety these days means more than just money security, too. The pandemic has changed the rules on what’s healthy and safe, and that’s why we’ve put together ten top tips for safe travel. You can get from place to place on your bucket list, and you can ensure that you are ready and able to get moving no matter where you are.
- Be COVID-Safe. Two years ago, you wouldn’t have had to plan your travels around the pandemic, but even when the pandemic is over, the world won’t go completely back to normal. Travel will still include wearing masks, using sanitizers and paying close attention to your proximity to others. Protecting yourself involves more than just using the hotel safe and driving carefully on mountain tracks. You need to ensure that you are not in a position where you will be spreading germs to others. COVID may not be in the world by then, but there really isn’t any reason not to use a mask if it could continue to protect other people.
- Use Sanitizer. When you’re getting on and off trains and planes, sanitizer is also a great idea. It’ll keep your hands clean and prevent infections and germs being picked up. You can buy travel bottles of sanitizer for out and about, and you can refill these with the larger bottles you can buy. If you don’t want to carry bottles around, you can also use sanitizing wipes. Clorox wipes are a good idea to use to clean surfaces in restaurants, on public transport, and on door handles of public toilets. Even without COVID, there are other common germs you can avoid picking up.
- Watch The Water. Depending on where you go in the world, you may need to stick to bottled water and avoid tap water or ice. Most restaurants make ice out of tap water and you don’t need a stomach bug while you are trying to see the world and experience new things. Buying bottles of water may not seem particularly eco-friendly, but you can always buy a refillable bottle and keep it topped up from a larger bag of water.
- Watch Your Money. Money is easily pickpocketed while you are travelling, so carrying cash is not the best of ideas. You can avoid carrying too much cash with an Airwallex foreign currency account and card. Changing your money using the app will help you to keep your cash and if you do have your card stolen, you can cancel it via the app. Money being lost on your travels can be very stressful, especially when you are trying to explore and you find yourself stuck. If you use travel cards and credit cards, you can recover your cash and manage the theft easily.
- Share Your Travels. Are you planning to be away in multiple locations? The best thing that you can do is to share your whole itinerary with your family and friends. You can even start a blog or a Facebook page for your friends to track you from place to place, which will help them to know you are safe as you go. Parents are especially able to feel secure when you share your flight and transport plans to them. If you commit to a daily update and your usual update is not forthcoming, they will know something is wrong, where you last were and where you were staying. It’s a good way to have your own FBI team waiting for your update!
- Go With A Friend. Solo travel may be exciting on paper, but it’s so much more fun and safe travel you have someone else. Not only can they provide you with comfort and laughs, they’ll be able to provide you with a second set of eyes and ears. There is safety in numbers in whatever you do, and when you are globe-hopping you can rely on those numbers to keep you from any harm most of the time.
- Drive. If you want to go state to state in the US, it’s often safer to drive. You can avoid the queues and lack of social distancing. You can avoid the masks on a long journey – as you don’t have to wear a mask in your car – and you can dictate when you stop and go. Plus it’s a winner if you don’t want to be among crowds of people or sit and breathe the same air as hundreds of strangers!
- Bring A Bucket of Cleaning Supplies. If you plan to stay in Airbnbs and you’re driving, bring a bucket of cleaning supplies. You want to remain healthy on your travels, and you can clean down the surfaces and really give yourself a chance to avoid germs. Of course, most Airbnbs are strictly cleaned to a high standard, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t give it a wipe down if you want to.
- Go Contactless. To avoid touching anything on your travels, including changeable cash, use contactless as much as possible. You can tap on everywhere you have to spend some cash, and this will prevent you having to handle cash that has changed a lot of hands. You can even load your card information to your phone wallet and scan your phone. Isn’t technology great?
- Choose Insured Activities. If you plan to do some daredevil activities on your trip, make sure that the companies you use are heavily insured. The last thing you need is to be severely injured on your vacation.