We all know that society is less than perfect and that crime could touch us all. Almost anyone can tell you tales of crime and disorder. People fear crime and other threats, they feel helpless because they think that there is nothing they can do to protect themselves, but that is wrong! There is a lot that the average person can do to protect themselves, their family and their property at home and abroad. This Holiday & Travel Security Handbook will teach you how to make your journey as safe as it can be.

Origins Of This Book

Discussing what friends would buy if they won the lottery, there were dreams of fast cars and big houses, but almost all of them dreamed of using their fortune to buy a ‘secure and safe lifestyle.’

They were ordinary people, leading ordinary lives who should have had no real security worries. I asked what special threats they thought they faced and how they thought sudden wealth would give them security? Most of their concerns could be listed under two main classifications:

In other words, they were worrying about nothing, because with the right information, preparation and guidance they could easily make significant improvements to their security at minimal cost.

Work through this book, reading each section until you understand the problems and the process you will be asked to follow. When you are sure you fully understand it, work through and compile a list of problems and counter-measures specific to you and your lifestyle and circumstances. Make a note of any additional problems you spot that may be unique and appropriate to your lifestyle, holiday or travel plans. When you identify an additional threat or risk, record it then use the same common sense process to define a counter-measure.

Lack Of Understanding And Knowledge

Statistics can be worrying, but they can help us too. Look at these statistics:

• Complaints about holiday crime have more than doubled in the last couple of years.
• Poor holiday resort hygiene leaves about one in five holidaymakers and travellers with food poisoning or gastric infections.
• Among younger male travellers, violent attacks have increased by 30% over the last year, usually when both victim and attacker were intoxicated.

 

These might worry you, but I want to train you to view this sort of information differently – I want you to use it to identify opportunities! When looking at the information above, this is how I read them:

• Complaints about holidays have doubled. If the quality of holiday arrangements or destinations is falling, acquaint yourself with the formal complaint procedure before you go. Forewarned is forearmed.
• One in five become sick through poor hygiene. If poor resort hygiene is leaving holidaymakers and travellers sick, learn how to identify questionable hygiene or suspect food and drink to protect yourself and your family.
• Attacks on young men up 30%. If drunken young men on holiday become involved in fights, they should adopt a more mature outlook and view alcohol as a pleasurable drink, not a cheap and quick way to get drunk. More importantly, you should avoid clubs and bars full of drunken young men.

 

By learning how to look, and picking up the messages behind those statistics and news stories and acting on them, you and your family will be significantly safer. As you work through this book, you will identify a number of risks, threats and vulnerabilities then decide how to remove, reduce or avoid them.

You may for example adopt the following countermeasures to the problems above.

• Read the complaints procedure for your holiday company, knowing it will help you to get problems resolved quickly. Be ready to take pictures or video footage of problems as evidence in case you need to take things further when you get home. Take the name and address of other travellers affected by the problem; a group of people will have more impact on your holiday company and have a better chance of interesting the media than one individual voice.
• Do some research on food hygiene. Find out what is good practice and make sure that your resort is following best practice. Don’t be afraid to ask to sec the kitchens; if they have nothing to hide they should not mind showing you. Keep an eye out for rats and mice, droppings, insects, poorly stored food. rubbish and a lack of cleanliness and personal hygiene among staff. If you see it, complain about it. Know what foods and drinks are safest, and know what to avoid (covered later in this book).
• If you are a young man, learn the lesson about drunken fights and assaults (see The Personal Security Handbook). A holiday is supposed to be a relaxing break, not a series of vague memories hidden in an alcoholic haze, all of which seem to be associated with a range of mysterious battle injuries! If you want a holiday and not a one-way ticket to a foreign hospital or the local jail. drink sociably but don’t drink yourself into a fight.

 

If you introduce these countermeasures, you will probably make yourself at least 50% less likely to become the victim of holiday problems, which isn’t a bad result considering you have only read a few pages!

Do you have to have a high IQ? Do you have to be wealthy? Do you have to speak multiple languages or be a trained travel agent to improve your holiday security? No – and that’s as hard as it gets.

As you review different aspects of your security, you will need to record any problems you identify. You may develop your own style and method of recording the vulnerabilities, threats and risks, but until then you may want to use the suggested ‘form’ below.

Use a new form to record each vulnerability, threat or risk that you identify. (From this point on. for clarity I will call any vulnerability, threat or risk a ‘problem’.) Making a record of any problems will help you to control and manage them as you gradually resolve them and improve your security.

Fill in the title, and the identified ‘problem’, with any necessary explanation in the next box. Lastly, add any possible countermeasures you have identified. You may take them from the examples I list in the book if they are relevant to you, or you may add countermeasures that are appropriate to you and your unique circumstances and lifestyle.

Recording each problem on a new form allows you to:

• Keep a record of all vulnerabilities, threats and risks identified.
• Gradually review and refine your understanding of the problems as you research them.
• As you better understand the problems, you will be able to add to and refine the proposed countermeasures. For example, you may find that due to staff sickness, anyone who arrives at the passport office after 2pm will not be seen.
• Review and sort the forms, which will enable you to place the counter-measures in priority order.
• With additional analysis you can select the countermeasures you wish to implement to resolve any problem. By crossing out the discarded counter-measures you will arrive at a record that shows the problem and the selected countermeasure(s).