In recent months, there has been a wave of international travel horror stories on the news: An American surfer murdered in Mexico this spring, a Chicago woman still missing in the Bahamas and another tourist found dead in Greece.
As millions of Americans head overseas for vacation, Andrea Canning wanted to find out what tourists can do to protect themselves. She asked former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras for some tips on her podcast, Dateline: True Crime Weekly.
You can listen to the full episode now, for free.
Plus, read a transcript of their exchange below:
Canning: Evy, thank you so much for joining us today.
Evy Poumpouras: Thank you for having me.
Canning: We would love to get your tips on what you say is the first thing we should do if we are planning a trip out of the country.
Poumpouras: Yes, absolutely. I will tell you first and foremost, as agents, we always went to the State Department website for the travel advisory. It tells you what you need to look out for. So it’ll tell you if there’s civil unrest, if there’s high crime there, even if there’s petty thefts or pickpocketing. The other thing you can do if you want to take a step further, you can register with the State Department. That means you can say, “Hi, State Department. My name is Evy Poumpouras. I’m going to be in X country, from July 1st to July 20th. I just want to let you know.” Now, what they do is they put you in their system and should an emergency happen or -- or some type of disaster -- if they need to evacuate people, they know you’re in the country. We did that, bar none. It’s a great, great thing that so many people don’t think to do.
Canning: And, doesn’t sound very difficult.
Poumpouras: No. You just go online.
Canning: What should people do while they’re actually in this foreign country? What extra precautions could they take?
Poumpouras: Different countries, different rules. But a couple of basic principles: Anywhere you go that’s touristy, I just want you to assume that people are there looking for vulnerable targets. Really have your situational awareness -- just, your head a little bit on a swivel.
Canning: And also you say, how you dress, what you wear, can make you a target.
Poumpouras: You don’t want to attract a lot of attention to yourself. So, no jewelry. Wear your fake stuff. Here’s the other thing: If you’re carrying a big bag, don’t put anything in there that you’re not OK with having taken from you.
Canning: Or, as a man, most men put their wallets in their back pocket. That seems like a pretty easy target.
Poumpouras: Yeah, that’s totally the worst -- to put in your back pocket. You know, think about your socks. Pretty good place.
Canning: Don’t give them all these opportunities. Make it hard, right?
Poumpouras: Make it hard and also know your routes. You might not have internet service, any cell service, when you go somewhere. Just be hyper-aware of where you’re going and what you’re doing.
Canning: And it’s harder to be hyper-aware if you’ve had a few cocktails.
Poumpouras: You know, if you’re with people you know, drink and make sure you all stick together. But if you’re alone, if you get left alone, don’t drink. The other thing -- no one thinks of this: 911. What’s the 911 number there?
Canning: I would never have thought of that.
Poumpouras: Yes. You don’t know what to call if there’s an emergency, so now you’re kind of stuck trying to figure out, “What do I dial?”
Canning: That is really smart. You also talk about bringing a personal safety alarm, portable lock.
Poumpouras: So there’s -- there’s key alarms. You can get these little personal alarms. Sometimes, when you’re in shock or something happens, you don’t know what to do. You freeze. And you just push that and it does all the noise for you.
Canning: What special advice would you have for travelers that are by themselves?
Poumpouras: You’re going to share your location with loved ones who are home. I want somebody to know where you are at all times.
Canning: This has been a real treat. Evy, thank you so much for being here with us today and giving us all this incredible advice.
Poumpouras: Thank you for having me. And I hope everybody has a wonderful summer.
