Traveling Solo | The Dangers

Traveling solo means that I can do whatever I wanted as long as I wasn't hurting anyone. I didn't have to cater to anyone's needs and I got to see and eat everything that I wanted without having to worry about another person. Yeah it sounds egocentric but nothing sucks more than not being able to do what you want because someone you're with doesn't want to. I can decide to eat what I want for whatever price point. I can do tourist attractions if I want without worrying about someone else's budget. Traveling solo means you don't have to compromise anything and do what you want.

On the flip side, traveling alone isn't all glitz and glam. It also means that you have to be constantly aware of your surroundings. Especially as a woman, it's so easy to be targeted by pickpockets or end up in dangerous situations. Personally, I'm confident in my abilities to be pick up on suspicious behaviors because I'm good at observing and analyzing body language, but you should never put your self in dangerous situations. Another important things is to trust your instincts. 

This post isn't to discourage you from traveling solo, but instead to be cautious because not all people are good people. My entire trip through Porto, Barcelos, Guimarães, Braga, Ponte De Lima, Vianna do Castelo and Barcelona I felt extremely safe and comfortable. I never felt unsafe until I arrived to Lisbon.

When I arrived in Lisbon on the last day, I landed at around 9:30pm and on the Metro at around 10:30pm with a suitcase and alone. Obviously if you're carrying a suitcase, you're a tourist, carrying money and not paying attention. It's also common to get targeted when moving from the airport to the hotel, Airbnb or hostel. Situations like this, when in a new city, I never listen to music and I make it a point to observe people and look alert. 

Seconds leading up to physically boarding the train, that's when pickpockets observe if you're an easy target. So I observed people seconds before getting on the train and if I feel that someone is being suspicious, I go to a different door and keep watching them to make sure they don't follow me to that same door. This is actually exactly what I did in Lisbon on the train. I noticed a guy looking at me multiple times from the corner of my eye as I stood by the door to board the train, so I quickly moved doors. Yeah it could've been nothing but either way I didn't want to risk anything. 

That same night as I got out of the Metro station, I noticed these two guys who got off with me and kept looking back at me every few feet. I had a bad feeling about these guys, especially the one in the black jacket. I decided to slow down and hang in the Metro station for a second. I waited for all of the tourists who were slowly getting out and hid behind a column when the two guys weren't looking. I had no idea how many exits were in the station and I didn't want to walk out of the exit alone and get grabbed or robbed. Okay I know this sounds like my imagination is running wild, but when traveling solo at night and you're a woman, you have to be 3 steps ahead of everyone else. I checked the directions to the hostel that I was staying at and figured out which way I would have to walk. 

I walked with a clan of elder Korean tourists and as I got to the top of the stairs, those two guys were standing there. So I kept holding my suitcase instead of rolling it to prevent the obvious sound of a suitcase being rolled on the cobble stone and quickly walked the different direction.

As I kept walking, I walked through a huge plaza in the center of Lisbon to get to my hostel, I walked by a group of 5 guys just standing around in the rain. They began hollering at me in Portuguese so I kept it moving and didn't give them any attention, but of course they persisted. This is something I didn't experience my entire trip. This is typical of New York, but not in any of the cities I visited prior. It doesn't seem that harmful to be hollered at, but it's definitely not comforting to think that you're out numbered. Then on the other side of the plaza, some guy also standing around in the pouring rain started approaching me, offering me drugs. Which is something I was warned about by a friend I made in Barcelona, thanks Andrew! 

On the last day when I was walking behind a family down a huge popular shopping strip of Lisbon with my cross body purse behind me. The only reason why I had my bag behind me was because I can hear it when it clips open since it's magnetic, it's also not easy to open and I didn't have any valuables in my purse. However that made me a target since two women tried to pickpocket me.

Two women pressed up against me and I heard my bag click so I put my hand over my bag, stopped walking, turned around which caused her to walk into me. I looked at her dead in the eye and loudly said "what the fuck are you doing". She looked down, muttered something in Portuguese so I asked her again loudly "what the fuck are you doing?" Which caused heads to turn and she walked off to a store in a completely different direction leaving her friend hanging. Suspicious. Clearly this could have gone bad in millions of ways. They could've assaulted me, but the point is don't make yourself a target even if you don't have anything valuable. 

Some of the things that I had in my purse was my wallet (which barely had any cash), one credit card (I can lock from my phone), NY State ID, glasses, lip balm and an external battery with a lightning cord. So there was nothing that had immense value in my purse but I still shouldn't have made myself a target.

Don't get me wrong.Traveling solo is amazing. It's liberating and you learn a lot about your self and the culture that you've immersed yourself in. However you have to be on top of your shit. 

Be alert. Pay attention.

Absolutely do not walk while on your phone.

If you have to check directions, stop and stand off to the side. Only have your phone out for short periods of time and tuck it away in a zip pocket closest to your body. 

Never have all of your cash and credit cards in one place.

Don't carry more money in your wallet than you would be willing to lose. Tuck the rest of your money away to some place safe and close to your body.

Never leave your money and valuables in the hotel, airbnb or hostel. Take them with you wherever you go.

Prepare for the worst.
Have the phone number for the embassy written down with a photo of your ID and passport just in  case you lose your wallet, passport and phone. It also helps to have the hours and the address of the embassy. In addition, have the phone numbers of the people you need to be able to contact in the case you do lose everything. It rarely ever happens, but in the case you do, you want to be able to get back home. Better prepared than stranded.

Back up your phone.

Before you leave and during your trip, make sure you back up your phone. In the case you do lose your phone, at least you'll be able to restore all of the photos and the things that are important to you. 

Trust your instincts.

If you feel like you're in danger or that someone is acting suspicious, trust your judgement and take action. Be weary of who you befriend, not all people are good people, but you will also meet amazing people.

Above all...

Enjoy your time traveling solo.

It's not fun to lose your valuables but they are replaceable. All that matters is that you're safe and able to get home. We live and we learn and this time I learned to not make myself a target even if I don't have anything valuable in my purse. Traveling alone is absolutely amazing and a lot of fun, just be alert and enjoy!

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