Travel Safety
Hi BTT friends! Let's talk about travel safety!
This week, we're going to talk about how to stay safe while traveling, including things to bring that I've found helpful and what to plan before leaving for your trip. I'm jumping with anticipation as I leave for my first out-of-the-country trip in a few months, and felt this would be fun to talk about to settle my excitement for at least a little while as I count down the days to my trip!
Taking trips is so exhilarating. Seeing the room for the first time, staring and touching everything as if you haven't seen a phone before or bedside lamps. Then we remember, we're on a trip! As the excitement quadruples in our hotel room/rental, some people forget a very important step: WIPING EVERYTHING DOWN! Now be honest with me; how many times have you walked into where you're staying and started hitting light switches, opening cabinets, touching the favors they leave in the room, etc? It happens, and as much as we want to believe they did an extraordinary job cleaning, we've got to be careful! No one wants to get sick on their trips, and wiping and sanitizing what you'll be touching is one of the best steps to protect from illness. I am such a FREAK when it comes to germs; my biggest fear is getting sick while I'm not at home, so I take as many precautions as possible. I bring Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and mini-Lysol sprays, and will probably bring a mask for the plane when I leave for my international trip! I wipe down my airplane seat, arms, and tray, and then sanitize my hands. As bad as it is, if I’m really feeling freaked out, I put hand sanitizer under my nose! Can’t be too careful. As long as hand sanitizer is always accessible, I’m happy! Now in the hotel room, my partner and I have taken quite a few trips, so we've gotten our game plan down to a science. Our bags never touch the floor, but they also don't go on the bed. If possible, we put them on a countertop or dresser after wiping it down. The wipes are always at the top of my personal bag so that they are easy to access and can be used ASAP. Once we've got a place for our things, we start wiping any contact points that we know are going to be touched. Door knobs, light switch, thermometers, telephone, headboard of the bed, side tables, outlets, windows, you get the point. Now, if you wanna talk freak, we don’t even sleep on their bedding! We always bring our own fitted sheet to put over theirs and then our own blanket and pillowcases. Were always usually impressed at the pristine-ness of our rooms, but we don’t take chances!
Okay, were Safe enough to enjoy the trip now, right?
WRONG
Now that literally everything has been wiped down, you’ve got to check that room. It’s not a secret that nowadays people are creeps and insane. I always make sure nothing looks out of place, there’s no weird cameras hidden anywhere, and whoever told me mirrors can be double-sided in hotels, thanks, but I hate you. I’m so paranoid about using bathrooms or mirrors facing the bed in fear that someone is watching me. I make sure windows lock properly, our door locks and can’t be opened from the outside, and the bed is cleaned properly with no bugs, etc.
Travel safety does not end there. It’s your first night in your nice room, and you’re exhausted, traveling, cleaning, exploring the first day, you just want to knock out. If you feel safe with just the 1-2 locks on room doors, then maybe you can skip this step, but I don’t feel safe with just that. I bring a door alarm that sits right behind the door, where if someone were to push it open, it would send off an extremely loud alarm to wake me up and hopefully scare them off and get a staff member or other guests’ attention. I will pile whatever I can in front of the door as well, including furniture, luggage, and whatever I can find. Maybe overkill, but it helps me feel safe and get rest.
Okay, so now that we have room safety down, there are still some things that need to be done on your trip that are important for staying safe. It’s really important to be mindful on trips, meeting new people, engaging in conversation, exploring the area, and more. My partner and I tend to be somewhat outgoing if need be, and we usually talk to people on trips. We’re very careful about what information we give out, as you never know someone’s intentions. You should NEVER tell someone where you’re staying, when you leave, or any details of your trip, as they could use that information in harmful ways. When exploring its important to stay vigilant, making sure you’re always aware of your surroundings and paying attention to see if you’ve seen someone, maybe a few too many times on your trip, or if someone is weirdly watching you. We always think “it won’t happen to us” until it does. It’s better to be prepared and stay vigilante then to wait until something happens.
Alright, that’s a lot to take in. We’ve got one more category. How to prepare for your trip and what precautions to take before.
It’s no surprise that things happen, and it’s very important to be prepared in case of an emergency. One case in part is where the nearest hospitals, urgent cares, grocery stores, etc. are. This is something I always look at once the trip is planned and the area we are staying is settled. I’m sure this step is unimportant to some; however, anxiety gets the best of me, and I like to be prepared! Just in case I need to run out and get medicine, someone gets hurt, and we need an urgent care or hospital, just stuff for the just-in-cases! I think it’s good to know and research the area, not only for the just in case emergency things but also for what there is to do, security and safety of the area, and more.
Alright, if you made it through this, I applaud you! I think travel safety is something super important, and I wanted to share with others the things I do to stay safe. If you’re a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants person, I’m envious and hope all your trips are extraordinarily fun! If you’re more like me and absolutely need to hear that someone else does a crazy number of things to prepare for a trip, then I hope you feel seen and have an extraordinarily amazing time on any trips you may be taking. (Did you find the hint to where I'm going?)
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Goodbye for now, see you in the next one!
