Those Who Wander Magazine April 2016 | Page 22

SO,WHATISTHETRAVELADVICETHATI WOULDGIVETOAFELLOWTRAVELLER?I AMNOTGOINGTOTELLYOUTOBE SENSIBLEASI ASSUMETHATYOUARE. - - - - - Be real ist ic in your risk assessment . Treat every country, every place differently and make your assessments based on that. You will make a lot of your decisions based on experience so take the least risky option until you build up enough experiences to safely recognise a dangerous situation. Tal k t o ot her t ravel l ers? l ot s of ot her t ravel l ers. Try and ask questions behind the stories. I often find travellers want everyone to love a place they have loved so they may leave out a few gritty details. Keep asking questions and if you feel someone isn?t telling you the whole truth, find someone else and ask more questions. BUT don?t take one person?s opinion on a place as gospel ? not everyone loves a place, and not everyone hates a place. List en t o your gut . Most times your gut is right on the money. Listen to it always, ignore friends and cute crushes who may and convince you otherwise, if your gut says no ? then no it is! Have net works/ sol ut ions in pl ace t o hel p you if needed. Simple things like travel insurance or knowing the number for reverse-charge to call home. It won?t save you from bad things happening but will help you if you do need help. Be conf ident or f ake it t il l you do. Often a little bit of confidence even in the worst situations can be a great help, it?s a hard thing to tap into when you are scared so practice a confident walk and rock that when the little hairs are standing up on the back of your neck. My final piece of travel advice is, t ravel is dif f erent f or girl s and boys. Anyone who says it isn?t is being naive ? to be clear, I am not saying that boys don?t have risks ? just that they are different to what a girl will face.Yesterday I was walking down a quiet suburban street on my