How Do You Resolve If A Journey Vacation spot Is “Secure?”

I don’t suppose there’s a proper or incorrect reply right here, although I’m curious how others method this subject…

My common philosophy on journey & security

For many individuals, security is a serious concern when touring. When planning journey, they could have issues in regards to the security of the airline they’re flying with, in addition to issues over the vacation spot they’re touring to. Having flown thousands and thousands of miles and having visited 100+ international locations, right here’s my common philosophy:

• I don’t put any thought into airline security, and am pleased to fly any airline; that merely comes all the way down to relative danger, and that even the least “secure” airline is safer than different types of transportation
• I’ve visited round 100 international locations, and when touring solo I are inclined to suppose {that a} overwhelming majority of locations are secure, particularly if you happen to simply apply widespread sense and take some primary precautions (don’t have something flashy, watch out the place you stroll, analysis scams prematurely, and many others.)

Admittedly everybody has totally different requirements as to what’s “secure” and what isn’t. By way of vacation spot security, there’s a giant distinction between Dubai, Paris, Sao Paulo, and Mogadishu, for instance (roughly in that order).

Talking of individuals having totally different requirements, I’ve household associates who will at all times get in contact previous to reserving a flight to ask if a specific airline is secure. “Is British Airways secure?” “Is Norwegian secure?” “Is JetBlue secure?” I at all times reply “sure,” after all, but they preserve asking. It simply reveals how all of us have totally different requirements in relation to these items.

The problem with researching vacation spot security

Let me pose my query within the type of an instance. I’m contemplating two totally different journeys that may take me by Abidjan, Ivory Coast (ABJ), and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (VVI). I may simply join proper by, or I may spend a day or two in every vacation spot. Personally I at all times take pleasure in trying out a spot I haven’t been to earlier than for no less than a day or two.

However after all I additionally don’t need to be completely reckless, or at a minimal, need to know what I’m getting myself into by way of the precautions I ought to take. Can I simply (rigorously) roam the streets within the daytime? Ought to I rent a information? Ought to I prepare airport transfers prematurely? Is that adequate?

Whereas the web is an incredible useful resource usually, I generally discover it’s not terribly helpful in relation to establishing the relative danger of a vacation spot:

• Journey warnings are sometimes overly cautious for locations that I discover to be fairly secure, and that generally makes it tough to find out if a vacation spot is definitely larger danger, or simply has the standard disclaimers
• Whereas there are some on-line message boards speaking about security of varied locations, it might generally be exhausting to determine if the individuals have an identical danger tolerance to you; some individuals appear overly cautious, whereas others will go anyplace
• It appears that evidently once you Google “is [insert destination] secure?” the reply is nearly at all times the identical, and mentions that there’s at occasions violent crime, to stay vigilant, and many others.

That brings me to my general query for OMAAT readers — how do you determine if a vacation spot is secure to go to, whether or not you’re planning it as a vacation spot, or simply as an prolonged stopover the place you allow the airport? I’d after all welcome ideas particularly on the above cities, however I’m extra curious in regards to the thought course of that folks use.

Backside line

Most individuals think about security when touring to an off the crushed path vacation spot. This is without doubt one of the issues that it’s surprisingly powerful to analysis, although, on condition that that everybody has totally different requirements in relation to security, and authorities journey warnings typically aren’t very helpful.

So I’d love to listen to from OMAAT readers on this — how do you go about deciding what precautions you’ll take when touring, primarily based on the vacation spot?