Coyote Broad's Advice for
Health & Safety (Especially for Women Travelers)

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Advice

Don't let concerns about personal safety keep you from traveling altogether - except during something like a global pandemic, or after an extreme disaster when local systems are taxed.

Yes, many thieves and otherwise bad people target travelers specifically, and target women specifically. But these same kind of people also target locals who are Christmas shopping in their own communities. Yes, global pandemics happen, and you may need to delay your long distance travel, for your safety as well as out of respect for the safety of others, but there are ways to do road trips and overnight stays in contact-free, socially-distanced, safe way in your own country in such times.

I have a British friend who went to Morocco and she never felt unsafe or particularly harassed, unlike when she visited St. Louis, Missouri, USA a year before, when a hotel employee tried to break into her hotel room in the night. I have another well-traveled friend who went to Morocco and was harassed and felt in danger the entire time. I have American friends who went all around the world for a year with their children, and never had a problem until they were back in the USA and had things taken out of their luggage at a DC airport.

Dangerous and/or opportunistic people, as well as wonderful people, are everywhere. That hasn't stopped me, or millions of other people, from traveling - or walking out the front door. The only thing that's stopped me from traveling has been lack of funds or the global pandemic (I stopped traveling before I was vaccinated both for my safety and out of respect for others). But, absolutely, women need to take extra precautions, whether solo travelers or in groups.

I'm also very conscious that I'm a white woman and, therefore, I don't face the level of or same kinds of security concerns that black Americans face when traveling, whether in the USA or abroad, or any other race perceived as different from me, for that matter. I am reminded of this when I read an article like this one offering thoughts from three different hikers in the USA or this one about traveling abroad or various links from the Outdoor Afro Facebook page or when I talk to my many colleagues and friends from Africa - most especially the female friends. I am reminded of this when, in Jordan, and a woman from Central America asked to hike with my husband and I in Petra because she was so tired of being constantly sexually harassed. So I want to acknowledge my privilege - that privilege is throughout my travel advice, and I acknowledge that.

I'm also conscious that a global pandemic completely derailed the travel of millions of people. It stranded people abroad, like Jeremy Kroeker and Elle West, on an epic motorcycle journey from Canada all the way to the Southern tip of South America and back - stuck in Uruguay for months. Check out this blog where I note several people stranded abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic and the lessons learned from travelers stranded because of COVID19 (we were in Mexico when numbers started surging). And I am appalled at how privileged people acted during the pandemic, with unvaccinated motorcycle travelers in the USA happily driving over the border with Mexico as though they weren't putting other people in danger, nor worried about further contributing to the image of USA travelers being inconsiderate assholes. 

This part of my travel advice is the hardest to write, because while I want to be realistic, I also DON'T want to

I also cringe at the idea of saying to a woman, "You can't go out for drinks, you can't ever be alone with a stranger, you can't go on a guided tour by yourself, you can't ever dress such that you feel beautiful, and you can't stay out late, because you're a woman, and you might get raped!" Travel safety shouldn't mean feeling ever-restricted or continually afraid or never taking risks or never ever trusting strangers. But travel safety does mean thinking about surroundings, learning about a location's culture and crime rates, thinking about the chances that circumstances can change, thinking about why you are trusting someone - and then balancing all of those considerations with what it is you want to do and making what you think is the best choice.

Travel safety advice for women is about staying aware of your surroundings and assessing the risks of various situations you will encounter while traveling - often more so than if you were a man, I'm sorry to say, because women are often targeted specifically because of their gender and a perception that they are weak - no matter what their age or appearance. It's about realizing things like how you actually might be MORE safe with local men than someone from your own country you met on the road, or that all those people who blogged and said, I traveled to such-and-such place, and did such-and-such thing, I was fine, therefore, all safety warnings are alarmist and untrue were just lucky, and you might not be.

Remember: women who are harmed while traveling tend not to blog about it or make YouTube videos about it.

It's so unfair: I doubt any man has a plan for what he's going to do if he's raped while traveling. 

With all that said, here's the good news: learning to be more aware of your surroundings and avoiding certain risks while traveling will help you be safer in your every day at-home life. 

Also see: Lessons learned from travelers stranded because of COVID19.

Staying Healthy

 

Getting help for Health Issues

Too many travelers think that if they are generally healthy, or have never been sick while traveling, they won't face this dire situation. Trust me: it can happen to anyone.

This is a post to a Facebook group I follow, for foreigners that are traveling by motorcycle in Mexico, or want to. What if this was you traveling abroad?

Caught some bug, think I'm actually dying and I'm not even joking. Coughing up green, diarrhea all the good stuff. I'm somewhere outside Guadalajara and I can't even find a motel that will let people stay for longer than 8 hours. Tried to visit a doctor, but the area was so bad I can't even park my bike for 20 minutes without all my stuff being robbed. Any suggestions.

It's a scary situation, even if you are in your own country!

In your own country, I'm going to assume you know how the health care system works and how to get medical help and how to find accommodations if this happens to you while you are traveling. If you are staying at a hotel or motel, ask the front desk if there is a hospital or clinic nearby if you can't find one on your phone or laptop and the Internet, where the nearest pharmacy is, etc. And let the staff know you are very ill - they may look out for you, make sure you haven't passed out or died, etc. 

If you are traveling abroad outside of your own country and are in the USA or other developed countries - Canada, somewhere in Europe, Japan, etc. - you should be able to find an emergency medical facility that will help you, via an Internet search or a referral. Just know that, in the USA, you are going to pay a LOT for treatment, and waiting times can be horrible, both because of COVID and because of how our health care system "works." If a hospital or clinic can't help you, ask them where the nearest one is that might be able to help you.

In many countries, pharmacies can give you medicines without a prescription that would require such in the USA.

It's essential when you are abroad that you carry a smart phone with a local SIM card and Internet access so that you can search the Web for information about clinics and accommodations in case of emergency.

Check the web site of your country's consulate in the country you are in - they MAY have information about English-speaking clinics on their web site.

Whatever you do, do NOT let an illness get to the point that this person is experiencing before you seek medical attention, if at all possible. And do not wait for such a dire situation to get local Internet access on your phone. 

My suggestion regarding the motorcycle dilemma would be to do just what this person did: post to an online group known for travelers helping travelers and say exactly where you are and how to contact you (his post included a map showing EXACTLY where he was). Don't wait to find such a group before you go - already be a part of the group before departure. Or, make sure your network is following you on social media while you travel so that, if you need their help, you can let them know. The of this guy posting to an online community known for travelers helping each other:


General Safety for Women Travelers

Women's Safety While Tent Camping

There are plenty of places online that talk about staying safe while camping in regards to bear safety, flood safety, insect bites, first aid, etc. But what about safety specifically with regards to being a woman?

There is a perception that camping in a remote area makes you more vulnerable to crime than staying in a hotel. I disagree. If no one knows you are in a remote area, and it's not likely you are going to be found, you aren't going to be targeted as a crime victim in a remote area. Are you, as a woman, more or less vulnerable to robbery - or worse - while camping than while staying in a hotel? I don't think so. I cannot find statistics anywhere on the matter. Using Google I can find far, far more stories of women being assaulted and/or robbed within hotel grounds - even within their own rooms - than while tent camping.

Each year, I go to Google and type in robbed while camping (no quotes), and the stories that come up are pretty scary - but many years apart, and never for the same area (often not in the same country), so relatively speaking, it seems to be rare. Same for searches of raped while camping and raped camp ground : they bring up scary stories but, again, all months or years apart and in different countries - it's a very rare occurrence. The cases of strangers assaulting campers that you will find if you search the same terms: a German couple raped in 2018 in the Siegaue Nature Reserve, north of Bonn, where I used to live. In 2017, a Russian/British motorcycle rider traveling on her motorcycle from South America to Alaska was attacked at her campsite in Boliva, raped and beaten by three men, robbed and left for dead. She survived (and her story is very much worth reading). In 2014, in the USA, a woman was raped near Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday night while camping with her children - the rapist had helped her get her horse trailer unstuck. A Swiss woman on a cycling trip with her husband in central India was gang-raped by local men as the couple camped out in a forest in Madhya Pradesh state after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha in 2013.

I'm sure there are more incidents that aren't reported, and certainly many attempts that aren't reported either, but think about how rare these attacks are. I'm sure people have camped in all these places and been just fine. The blame lies squarely with the rapists, not with these campers.

My own experience: I've been way more wary of some of the hotels I've had to stay in than when I've been tent camping. But I also haven't really camped entirely alone; I've had my dogs or my husband with me. But would my husband or my dogs really make a difference if someone really wanted to target me for a crime? It didn't in three of the four aforementioned cases. What I do know is that, even with the very few, though horrific, stories of people being assaulted or robbed while camping, there are many, many, many more news stories of women being robbed, assaulted and killed in their own homes or in parking lots near their homes.

So, with all that in mind, here's some tent camping safety tips for women:

The quietest camping night I ever had when a camp ground was full was in a very run down camp site in Northern England, near the Scottish border, populated mostly by Travelers in beaten down RVs. My husband and I were on a motorcycle, and we left everything in our tent or in locked metal panniers and walked across the street to a bar for three hours. And everything was still there when we came back that evening. It was a family campground, and there were plenty of people around who would hear me if I called for help. By contrast, I camped with my dogs at Bottomless Lakes State Park outside of Roswell, New Mexico, which is a very nice campground, but I was terrified the entire night because there were NO other campers there at all that night. 

Women's Safety Traveling Abroad

I'll say it again: dangerous and/or opportunistic people, as well as wonderful people, are everywhere. I have a British friend who went to Morocco and she never felt unsafe or particularly harassed, unlike when she visited St. Louis, Missouri, USA a year before, when a hotel employee tried to break into her hotel room in the night; yet I have another well-traveled friend who went to Morocco and was harassed and felt in danger the entire time. I have American friends who went all around the world for a year with their children, and never had a problem until they were back in the USA and had things taken out of their luggage at a DC airport.

So I don't want to make it sound like developing countries are crawling with predators. Also, regions within countries vary: one province can feel safe while another feels dangerous. And no safety concern about any country has kept me from going there if I really wanted to. 

Women from the USA are capable, independent, and grew up in a country where, for the MOST part, it is our legal right in our country to do anything that a man can do and go anywhere that a man can go. Unfortunately, this is not how it is in many other countries. Other cultures may see this capable, independent attitude and lifestyle as "loose" sexually. This opinion is sometimes created/reinforced by the perception abroad of television shows and films from the USA. It can feel insulting to not be yourself, to have to dress a certain way and not look people directly in the eye - I so get that. But your safety has got to be paramount when you're traveling abroad, where you may or may not get help from the police and legal systems. 

If you think something weird just happened, it probably did;, so speak up! Creating a fuss, especially on public transportation or in any public place, may shame the creep, or creeps, and may even rally your fellow passengers to your aid. Never hesitate to find a new spot on the bus, or take a different train/bus/sidewalk/hotel room altogether, for ANY reason.

But also note that, in some cultures, being a woman may be to your advantage: you might have access to women's society and friendship that is denied to men in certain cultures, for example. You can be super friendly to women and families with children that you encounter in shops or restaurants and not have to worry about your actions being misinterpreted. I've had some amazing exchanges with women my husband could never have. Some men may be especially protective of you if you are their customer (and particularly if you are modestly dressed and making an effort to be respectful of their culture), and that may pay off in a situation where other men are being threatening or just creepy.

In addition to being careful about how you dress, in some countries:

The most important thing is to read as much as you can about a country or culture before you go to a particular country -- and seek out women authors as much as possible, because men can sometimes gloss over cultural concerns that women need to be very aware of. Become aware of cultural differences, specifically that pertain to attitudes toward women (and American women). Lonely Planet books offers tips specifically for women, tailored for each country, and I have found the books very helpful specifically regarding their advice for women.

Safety at Bars & Pubs

And then there's going to bars or just sitting around drinking with friends. I went to a bar in the middle of the day in Madrid, by myself, for a pint of Guinness and a rest for my feet, and had a wonderful afternoon chatting with the women that worked there. But that's just not possible everywhere - and even there, I was on my guard about who was handling my drink and who else was in the mostly empty bar. And even if you are with friends, you are incurring risk, per the now rampant use of date-rape drugs. So, especially for bars, here are some tips:

More Resources

The CDC Yellow Book: Health Information for International Travel, last updated in 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), is published every two years as a resource for health professionals providing care to international travelers. The fully revised and updated CDC Yellow Book compiles the US government’s most current travel health guidelines, including pretravel vaccine recommendations, destination-specific health advice, and easy-to-reference maps, tables, and charts. It's available free online. Have a read if you want further guidance on what to pack. It also has advice for the Business Travelers, for Aircrews, for Long-Term Travelers & Expatriates, for Study Abroad & Other International Student Travel, for Adventure Travel, and more (including advice for Sex & Travel). Note that Chapter 9 is all about health care for aid workers traveling abroad. As the site notes, "Humanitarian service can have an adverse effect on personal health. Studies of long-term humanitarian workers indicate that >35% report a deterioration in their personal health during the mission."

BootsnAll, a travel web site packed with articles by a variety of travelers on a variety of subjects, has a good article to read: Reclaim Your Power After Harassment (or Worse) as a Solo Female Traveler. 

Transition Abroad: Women Travel Guide has advice for solo woman travel, women-only tours, women travel websites and information on safety for women traveling abroad.

Founded in 2006, Diversity Abroad is an international organization that works to ensure that students from diverse economic, educational, ethnic and social backgrounds are aware, have equal access and take advantage of the benefits and opportunities afforded through global education exchanges - international study, internships, teaching opportunities, volunteering opportunities, degree and job opportunities, etc. They have a resource for women abroad focused on safety and cultural awareness. They also have resources especially for racial & ethnic minority travelers abroad, LGBTQ+ travelers abroad, and travelers with disabilities abroad

Final Thoughts

Before your trip, think about what you would do if you were robbed or raped. Imagine the plan: whom you would call (police, credit card companies, family, your country's embassy, etc.), where you would go immediately, how you would ask for help, how you would get to a safe place or home quickly, etc. Imagine the plan in your mind - and may you never have to follow that plan.

Before a trip abroad, think about what you would do if a police officer said you were under arrest and wanted you to get in his car. Do friends traveling with you know that if you have any trouble with police or local officials or they otherwise think you are in danger that they should IMMEDIATELY call your country's consulate and tell them what is happening? If you could manage to get one call through before being taken away, probably the only number you could call quickly would be someone in your family - does your family know that, if you were to call and to say, "I'm in trouble. I'm in (name of city and country). The police are arresting me. Call our consulate." Would that person know how to find the number of such a consulate and call them immediately and relay all that you said?

Before your trip, also think what you would do if an epidemic or pandemic broke out and you had to leave the country immediately. When sars-cov-2 first started, I read and watched lovely accounts of people in other countries being so, so helpful to people from the USA who needed to get out quickly. I also read about sudden road blocks, keeping foreign travelers from getting from one province to another so they could reach the USA border. I also read about Asian people experiencing horrific harassment and being put in danger by people in the country where they were visiting. I've linked to some of those accounts earlier on this page - go have a look at them, look at how they stayed safe until they were able to get out of the country, and you think about what you would need to do.

Did I scare you? I really hope not. I've followed my own advice, and it has not kept me from walking on a beautiful boulevard at night, or going out to eat and having a beer by myself, or talking to strangers, or wearing something that makes me feel beautiful, and it shouldn't keep you from doing those things altogether either - as long as there isn't a raging epidemic/pandemic. The reality is that you could follow all of this advice - and be even more restrictive in your behavior - and you could still end up being the target of a bad person, for robbery or something much worse. And you could follow NONE of this advice, and be quite reckless, and perhaps nothing at all will happen to you and you can mock me for all this advice.

I'm not a blame-the-victim person, and if you are robbed - or worse - call the police (and if you are abroad, your embassy), and do not let a feeling of guilt or a feeling that it is somehow you're fault (because it is NOT your fault) keep you from seeking help, immediately and even long after an incident.

Please don't let concerns about safety keep you from traveling, but also don't let people who say, "I never take any of these precautions and I've been FINE" keep you from taking precautions.

 
Disclaimer
Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.

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  Quick Links 
Index of resources for women travelers (how to get started, health & safety considerations, packing suggestions, transportation options, etc.
 
Advice for camping with your dogs in the USA
 
Saving Money with Park Passes in the USA
 
Advice for women motorcycle riders and travelers
 
transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good." advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping.
 
Suggestions for Women Aid Workers where the culture is more conservative/restrictive regarding women than most other countries.

Where I've been
A list of all of the states in the USA and all of the countries I have lived in or traveled in, the farthest North I've been by land, the nearest I've been to the equater, various other stats.
This includes all of the places I have traveled to and through via motorcycle.

Some of my favorite photos from my travels. Very hard to pick favorites.


Advice for Hotels, Hostels & Campgrounds in Transitional & Developing Countries: the Qualities of Great, Cheap Accommodations

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Disclaimer: Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.

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