Introduction
Foreign travel can be an amazing experience. You get to see the world and meet people from different walks of life. It is of my firm opinion that some of the best education you can get is by traveling in a manner that allows you to be involved in a different culture, landscape and experiences outside of your normal baseline.
That being said, however, traveling abroad may exhibit some risks that often go unnoticed by most travelers because they are unfamiliar with enhanced precautions practiced by most experienced travelers. I’ve spent nearly 20 years working in risk management and I’ve had the fortune to travel to nearly 45+ countries with a large majority of them considered high risk. As a risk advisory executive, myself and our team at Riley Risk have devoted a considerable amount of our time to managing travel risk for clients. This task presents a unique challenge due to the intricate nature of each destination, the traveler’s individual profile, and a vast array of other factors that can potentially influence every aspect of the journey.
At Riley Risk, we strive to ensure the safety and well-being of our clients during their journeys abroad, especially more challenging of travel locations which can be considered austere or higher risk. With this in mind, I have compiled a basic list of crucial travel risk management maxims that we have relied on for our clients over the years. These practices are applicable to most individuals and can significantly enhance their travel safety.
Emergency Resources
Understand what emergency resources are available to you for each area you find yourself in. Resources to identify will include law enforcement (especially tourist police), hospitals and clinics, safe transportation options, embassies, ect. The time to find an emergency resource is prior to an emergency, not during an emergency.
Attempting to discern what is a reliable emergency resource during a potentially life threatening incident is akin to calling the insurance company when you think you might have a heart attack. Definitely not advisable.
An excellent source of information for emergency resources is to view the Department of State’s travel page and list of emergency resources. Other locations which may be more rural will require some sleuthing, but a small amount of effort might save your life, or the life of someone you know. It’s an easy habit to get into before traveling to a new location and over time becomes second nature.
Communications
Communication capabilities are even more critical when traveling. Make sure you have a phone that works in your destination. For some regions, that may mean carrying multiple SIM cards, and viewing a couple of travel pages or destination specific forums will quickly give you an idea which networks are worth the money. For travel to countries with more restricted telecommunication infrastructure, use of a VPN may be needed for your data-enabled communication apps such as Skype, Signal or WhatsApp. When traveling internationally, it is considered best practice by security professionals to utilize an effective VPN service for the duration of travel and to avoid unsecured networks if possible.
Situational Awareness
This category involves a bit more than knowing what cafes are most popular in the area. Having an understanding of what is considered a normal baseline for a new location is absolutely vital. For travel to a completely new destination with a different culture, that may take a little bit of time. Take extra steps before you depart, such as downloading digital maps to your phone, identifying high profile venues or prominent landmarks as area anchors will be useful in for expanding your level of awareness for an immediate area. Marking emergency resources on your digital offline map can also be another habit that helps you understand what and where everything might be and can better prepare you for rapid contingency planning actions, if required.
Another useful strategy to get useful context about a new destination, expand your own culture awareness or find out more about the general area is to set up a Google Alerts feed or Twitter feed to monitor destination specific news cycles before you arrive. If you have been spending a little time regularly reviewing destination specific news cycle reports delivered to your email inbox, you will definitely arrive with a far greater perspective of the current environmental drivers which may be affecting the destination. After you arrive, doing a quick daily check each day of the news feed will continue to keep you well informed, which is never a bad thing.
Personal Item Accountability
Always keep your belongings and personal items close to you. Do not leave anything valuable unattended if it can be easily accessed by others who might wish to take advantage of it or even harm someone because they feel insecure about their own belongings. While out and about, avoid showing your money, especially if you find yourself in a bar or a club and even more so if you are traveling alone.
Threat Awareness
Keep an eye out for places where criminals and other threat actors congregate as such individuals often gather in certain areas where they can easily observe others and that includes airports, train stations, bus terminals and even public places. The State Department and other agencies commonly define non-violent crimes as “Petty Crime”, but I can assure you that it doesn’t feel petty if you find yourself in a situation where you have been robbed, assaulted for a phone, cash or other items due to either lack of profile awareness, or “Wrong Time – Wrong Place” circumstance.
If you do find yourself in these areas, take the appropriate precautions with your personal items and be aware of common social engineer tactics or conversations with strangers who ask questions veering into a personal nature. Keeping your lodging and other personal information confidential should be an obvious habit for safety’s sake, but little bits of information pieced together from multiple sources can quickly be exploited by experienced criminals and other threat actors.
While traveling, then always keep an eye out for any signs of danger or unusual activity in order to avoid being harmed by anyone who might wish to harm someone else. Intuition can be a powerful tool, so if a situation or someone just doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore that thought and seek a safe exit at your first opportunity.
Active Threat Response
Unfortunately, we all live in a world where violence can affect us and our communities, no matter if we are traveling or not. Being prepared for violence is generally not something most sane individuals think about, but having a basic understanding of options available to you in an active threat situation is something all individuals can benefit from. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has published an excellent foundation for active threat response based on the Run, Hide, Fight process, which enables rapid assessment of a threat incident with basic response protocols based on the situation and individual specifics. You can find a video here, but there are plenty of other good sources based on the same principles to view as well.
Regardless if you find yourself traveling or not, the basic principles of the Run, Hide, Fight protocols will apply for the majority of active threat situations.
In short, no one hopes never to find themselves in an active threat situation. However, understanding the basic principles of response can literally be a lifesaver, and while a short sub 6 minute training video will not replicate active response training, at a minimum, it is a wise investment of time for yourself, your family and other loved ones to review and refresh that knowledge on an as needed basis. Even if you are not trained in active threat response or survival tactics, having a basic understanding of the Run, Hide, Fight protocols and basic principles of human behavior can potentially save your life.
Closing Items
While travel safety is an interesting topic, the attention to safety and security outside of the business traveler realm is often an afterthought. The reason for that to me is rather obvious, given the reluctant nature of most personalities who subconsciously excuse themselves from a reality where an adverse incident could impact their personal travel plans, especially if planning holiday travel.
That said, regardless if the travel is for personal or work-related purposes, following the above travel safety guidelines as a general practice will benefit you, and potentially those you travel with as well. Most of the travel safety habits will take minimal time, but will dramatically reduce your travel risk.
In conclusion, adhering to these travel safety guidelines can significantly reduce your travel risk, whether you’re traveling for personal or work-related purposes. Most of these habits require minimal time investment but can have a profound impact on your safety. If you found this travel risk primer helpful, please subscribe or reach out to us directly.
If you’re interested in exploring more comprehensive travel risk management solutions for your organization, we invite you to schedule a call with a Riley Risk Advisory team member. Our experts will be happy to discuss tailored strategies to address your specific needs and enhance the safety of your team while they travel.
