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Traveling alone can be invigorating. It can be empowering. It’s quite liberating not to be tied down by the demands, needs, preferences, and schedules of another traveler. You set your own agenda. You decide what you see and what you don’t see. You can follow your whim at any moment. And there’s nothing like the friendships you form with other solo travelers—you are kindred spirits, bold enough to trek the planet alone, but with open enough hearts to make connections wherever you go.
Now that last thing I mentioned—the whole friendly with an open-hearted thing—can also put a female traveling alone in danger. You have to remember that not everyone is curious about you for innocent reasons, and when you travel, you’re vulnerable. You’re unfamiliar with the settings, so it’s easy to get lost. You may not know the language or the customs. You’re tired and jetlagged and overwhelmed with information, so you may not be as aware of your settings as you are when you’re back at home. Women traveling alone need to be especially careful. While you may already know about some of the ways to keep you safe once you’re at your destination—enjoying your hotel safely and seeing the sites—do you know that you may set yourself up for danger in those places through your airport and travel behavior?
There’s a lot that can happen before you even reach your destination—a lot of security breaches, I mean. You can get lonely, bored, and generally sloppy while you’re still en route to your destination. But if you are a woman traveling alone, you need to be cognizant of these behaviors that can make you an easy target for thieves, scam artists, or worse. Here are airport and travel mistakes women traveling alone make.
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Telling a stranger your itinerary
So you get friendly with another solo traveler in the terminal. You start sharing with each other where you’re going, what you’ll see there, where you plan on eating, where you’ll stay, etc. You just gave a complete stranger a play-by-play of where to find you at any given moment.
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Drinking to pass the time
Though that airport bar looks tempting when you have a long layover, have finished your book, and have nothing to do because the Wi-Fi is down, don’t overdo it on the booze. You can become sloppy, leaving your passport in the restroom, over-sharing information with strangers, and generally risking your safety.
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Telling a stranger where you’re staying
Remember that any stranger at the airport telling you all about himself could be a con artist. There are advanced con artists who buy the cheapest airplane ticket possible, just to get into the terminals and trick people into sharing information with them. Don’t tell a stranger where you’re staying.
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Saying that you’re traveling alone
Never let it be known that you are traveling alone. Say that you are meeting someone when you arrive at your destination. You may feel disarmed by someone who claims he’s also traveling alone, but, again, he could be a con artist. Never tell anyone that you have no chaperone on this trip.
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Asking a stranger to watch your bag
So you’ve become friendly with a fellow traveler. You’ve been sitting side by side for a half hour now, passing the time while you wait for your flight. You need to use the bathroom and get a coffee, and dragging your suitcase along seems like a hassle. But do it. Don’t ask a stranger to watch your luggage, no matter how nice he seems.
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Waiting in an empty terminal
If your plane is taking off from a dark and otherwise abandoned terminal—because you arrived super early and nobody is there yet—wait in a terminal where the businesses are open and people are around. You are not safe all by yourself in a dark terminal.
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Over-sharing in your Uber pool
You take an Uber pool or shared Lyft to the airport to save some bucks. You start talking to the other passengers, and wind up telling them all about your trip. You may have just let many strangers (who know where you live, because the car picked you up there) just how long your house will be vacant.
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Checking into the airport
You’re so excited to be on your way that you check in at the airport. Hey, doing so gets you free Wi-Fi or a drink voucher, so that seems like double the win: brag about your trip and get some cash. But you also just let any online stalkers know that your home is officially unsupervised.
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Accepting edible offerings
There are so many ways travelers have camaraderie. Maybe someone offers you a mint, a piece of gum, or some candy—just something to snack to while you both wait during your layover. But if that gum or mint packet was already open, do not take a snack from a stranger. No matter how badly you need that mint.
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Taking a nap
Unfortunately, airport naps are for people traveling with companions who can look over them and their things while they’re snoozing. Sleeping alone at an airport is a recipe for someone to steal your things. Plus, nobody will wake you to let you know if your flight is boarding.
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Exposing your luggage tag
Your luggage tag doesn’t need to show your address. It’s not like anyone who finds it will be delivering it to your front door—especially if you lose it in a foreign country. So don’t put it on your luggage tag. Just add your phone number. If you must, for some reason, add your address, be very careful about keeping that concealed.
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Watching someone else’s bag
Not only should you never let a stranger watch your bag, but you also shouldn’t watch a stranger’s bag. Remember that con artists and criminals come in all different shapes, sizes, genders, and ages. A woman your age, who seems very similar to you, could ask you to watch her bag for sinister reasons.
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Agreeing to share a cab
You’ve hit it off with a fellow traveler, and you two have been chatting and entertaining one another the entire flight. When you touch down at your destination, you discover that you’re going to the same area, and the person suggests you two split a cab. She could just be a con artist who pretended she’s staying in your hood, just so she can see where you’re staying.
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Wearing a backpack
Backpacks are naturally vulnerable pieces of luggage. You cannot see what’s happening behind you. While there are slash-proof and locked backpacks, it’s still much safer to carry a cross-body bag or wheel a suitcase that you can keep an eye on.
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Taking an independent car service
There’s a long line for the regular taxis. You’ve just landed after a long flight and want to get to your hotel ASAP. Then this very nice looking car pulls up, claiming to be an independent car service, offering you a ride. Never get in any strange car—only get in the known taxi company vehicles.
