Protecting yourself and your valuables away from home should be on the packing list for every adventure traveler . These tips are especially for the solo traveler.
When phoning for reservations, ask the annual ration of female to male occupancy. If women make up a large percentage, you can be comfortable knowing the hotel is especially aware of safety and security.
Put your hotel's telephone number on speed dial on your cellphone, even if your cellphone doesn't have coverage in the city or country you are visiting. Just reaching for your phone and appearing to dial a number provides a level of security in some situations.
Take the hotel's business card with you. It is easier to show it to a taxi driver in cities or countries where taxi drivers are unlikely to speak English, than try to make yourself and your destination understood.
If you are driving a rental car and return to the hotel late, bring the vehicle to the porte cochere for valet parking. If that isn't available, park up front by the lobby and have the front desk clerk get someone from hotel security to meet you in the garage or lot and escort you into the hotel.
Never use the doorknob hang-tag to order room service breakfast if you are travelling alone. That's like a neon sign telling everybody you are alone and expecting a knock on your door at 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m. or whenever. Instead, telephone room service to place your order.
Ditto, skip the “please make up this room” sign – that tells everyone you’re not in. Telephone housekeeping instead.
Ask the concierge for advice on the safest places to shop, eat and go for a morning or evening run. Many hotels now offer small maps with a safe and recommended running route. If you are jogging before dawn or after dark, tell the concierge or front desk approximately how long you intend to be gone and to come looking for you if you are not back in time.
Use covered luggage tags, and use your office address instead of your home address.
Large items such as laptops and SLR cameras do not fit in the wall safe. Put them in your suitcase and lock your suitcase, with the same TSA-approved lock you used to lock your back on the airplane.
For more on hotel security, see Dan Florio's article hotel room security tips
