Avoid Getting Screwed

Traveling in a foreign land is a good opportunity but it involves many risks as well. You might find yourself naked, penniless and tied on a telephone pole on a side of a dirt road outside of a corn field. These kinds of situations may happen to you one way or the other so you should be cautious and put these simple warnings at heart. Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours have these simple steps for you to follow:

1. Simple Security Items You should Pack

Carry a card with you with numbers of the local police station, fire departments, hospitals and other numbers that you need to call in case of emergencies. In addition, it's not a bad idea to put your own emergency contact information on the card in case you're in trouble and someone needs to know who to call.

2. Protect your Passport

Passports nowadays have RFID which can be scanned from a distance. Scammers have been taken advantage of this to take your personal identification and information. This is easily solved with an RFID blocking wallet or case. You'll probably need to carry a wallet anyway, so you might as well carry one that'll keep you a bit safer.

3. Know your Taxi

There are a lot of taxi scams existing especially in traffic congested cities like Jakarta, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Bangkok, Thailand. You're almost always better off taking official taxis, as the unmarked cars aren't bound by the strict regulations. A reputable private car service might work just fine, but generally you'll pay a lot more for it. When an unmarked cab is offering a similar or better rate than the official taxis, it's at least worth being a little skeptical. If there's some reason you really don't want to take an official taxi, make sure the fare includes any tolls and fees that might come as a surprise later on. Also, if the fare isn't flat rate, be sure you know the possible routes. Some drivers will know better and will take good care of you, but others will take longer routes to increase the fare. If you know your options, you can suggest a different route to avoid paying too much.

4. Know Your Rights

Laws change from state to state, and certainly from country to country, but ignorance to them will get you nowhere. In fact, in many cases you can get yourself out of trouble by known the laws that will affect you. When traveling to other countries, make sure to review the laws and policies that can affect your activities. There are a lot of misconceptions and knowing better could save you a headache.