• Home
• Contact Us
• Setting the Scene… Why Security, Privacy and Freedom?

Safe Travels for the Modern PT or Business Traveler: Part 2

Posted on April 27, 2009

In this post, we carry on from Part 1 (published last week) of a guest post from Grandpa, offshore guru at Bye Bye Big Brother and writer of the new Second Passport Report 2009.

PERSONAL SAFETY WHEN USING ATM MACHINES INTERNATIONALLY

Many a young tough will hang around a cash dispensing machine to simply grab money and run when a good target presents itself. Obviously, it is better to withdraw cash after you have visually surveyed the area and have seen several other people do it from the same machine a few seconds before you do. To make a withdrawal using your offshore credit or debit card from an ATM machine, with tough guys hanging about on a lonely night, isn’t a great idea.

PURSE SNATCHERS IN THE THIRD WORLD

Would you open up your wallet or purse on a public street and count your money in the open? Many people do exactly that. What an invitation to snatchers! Likewise, leaving your purse hanging from the back of a chair at a sidewalk café – or on any outdoor table is an invitation to snatchers on motorbikes. Many women will drive around with their purse on the vacant front car seat – with the windows down. It is only a matter of time until their purse is grabbed at a traffic light or when they are stopped in traffic. Think!

CARRYING IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ACROSS BORDERS

If local law allows it, carry only copies of important documents like car titles, driving licenses, passports. In some countries, however, the police can jail you if you don’t have originals of these documents on your person, or in your car when driving. Check local laws and customs.

Often the ‘dumb tourist’ attitude plus a good colour copy will get you a pass from the cops. (Other places, like France, it is illegal to make colour copies of official ID documents, and this could get you in trouble. Black and white copies will do fine there.)

Only one credit card internationally should be carried on the person on the street – and even then, only if it is likely to be needed. Carry only the cash (and maybe a small reserve) you think you will need for any particular outing. This will prevent any severe losses from petty thefts – or if you just lose your wallet. One of our most experienced PT friends was paying at a supermarket checkout counter when distracted. He either forgot to pick up his credit card, or it was snatched. He didn’t notice it was gone until he arrived home. Fortunately he was able to block his credit card immediately by internet banking and his total loss was around 10 € for a new credit card plus the a 2€ nylon wallet. He wisely carried no identification for his daily ten minute shopping spree.

GOING OUT TO PAINT THE TOWN RED?

Looking and acting poor and never bragging about how rich you are is a good PT rule. For young and attractive women, out on lonely streets at night, or if you have to wait for a bus alone, don’t dress like a hooker. Everyone should avoid risky spots and risky countries. Blending in and not attracting attention is the #1 P.T. Rule.

Of course if you are in Monaco, to blend in, you have to look and act rich. That’s hard for this writer to do, since I am always broke and look like a slob – even when I try to dress up and pretent to be respectable. But it’s better to look poor in a rich crowd than to look rich in a poor crowd.

IF YOU HAVE TO FIGHT BACK

A non-lethal, disabling pepper spray can be a good form of defence in situations where you suspect that you might be subject to personal violence. ‘Mace’ is illegal in many countries, but if ever you’re stopped and searched by the police and it’s found, for one thing it’s less difficult to explain than a concealed weapon. And as a ‘tourist,’ your explanation that you didn’t know it was illegal and it’s just for self defence, is more than likely to be believed.

A wooden or metal ‘ornament’ on a key ring can be a weapon. When I am out at night and sense danger, I keep my right hand in my pocket, holding my key ring with several keys sticking out positioned between the knuckles. I’ve never had to use it, but in this position it’s an excellent knuckle-duster and could inflict painful, but superficial, injuries. This could never be questioned as an offensive weapon. If you do this, make sure the ring itself is strong and you have a soft fob cushioning against the inside of your palm, otherwise it could injure you!

The collapsible steel truncheons that the police carry these days are also very effective. They are only about six inches long and an inch in diameter with a rubber grip and a small steel ball at the end. They ‘flick’ out to a couple of feet in length and are highly effective if used correctly.

A friend who owns a jewellery store always carries one with her on deliveries or when walking to the bank. Her view is that if she’s ever ‘caught’ with it, because of her circumstances – a woman on her own, possibly vulnerable and because she may have jewellery on her – the police would view carrying it as quite justifiable.

In “spy shops” and on internet sites there are many interesting defensive weapons for sale. The people in these  spy stores can tell you what’s legal in the local jurisdiction. Tiny derringer pistols would be effective at point blank range, shot in an assailant’s eye. Because of their size and limited power, in most countries they are not classed as a gun. But before you spend hundreds of dollars on any kind of gun, remember that ordinary red spray paint in the eyes of a mugger is a legal and effective deterrant!

GUNS FOR SELF DEFENCE?  NO WAY!

For a PT, avoiding confrontantions is a less risky, far better alternative than resisting. Getting into a gun, fist or knife fight means someone will get badly hurt. Probably you! Train and bus robbers, or car hijackers, normally work in pairs or teams. So even if you shot one, the rest of the gang would probably get you. Only in Algeria do the robbers massacre all the unarmed travellers on a bus or train. In other places, the crooks take the portable valuables and go on their way. The usual command is: “Nobody gets hurt if you co-operate.” And that’s usually the way it works out.

Some macho PTs insist on carrying weapons on their person or in their vehicle. This is emphatically not recommended. In most foreign countries packing a rod (gun) can get you into serious trouble with the law. If you must have a gun for self-defence purpose, see our resource list for the few countries where this allowed for citizens and legal residents. There are almost no countries where a foreigner can legally carry heat.

A real PT should have nothing to prove in terms of his macho self image. Blowing somebody away (even in self-defence) will result in a trial and criminal arrest record at best – retribution or prison time at worst.  PTs just run where possible. If you can’t run, then

(1) be aware of any ‘natural’ weapons you may  have around you (perhaps an automobile you are in command of);

(2) Remember: You’re essentially an idiot if you don’t just run – if that’s possible

(3) Never willingly allow yourself to be forced into a car. Statistics indicate that those who resist in this circumstance are far more likely to survive.

BOTTOM LINE

We hope we didn’t scare you too much with this brief article. On the contrary, we hope it was useful to you. The truth is if you use ordinary care and common sense you will be safe on your travels. You are extremely unlikely be a victim if you take the good advice of experienced travellers offered here. You’ll find a lot more material like this in Grandpa’s Missives available online from Global Liberty Publishing.

Comments