From the moment we step out the door, we are aware of who's behind us. With good reason. Safety is the number one concern of women travelers.

We can be aware of our surrounding. We can avoid questionable neighborhoods and we can communicate that we’re self-assured by walking confidently with our heads up.

There are other ways we can prepare ourselves and avoid trouble. I learned these safety tips traveling to ninety-plus countries and I hope they’ll be useful to you. Send a link to  friend and share them. One thing is certain, the more prepared you are, the safer you’ll be.

1. Make smart choices and use your common sense. Don’t be paranoid, but be aware that bad things do happen, and protect yourself.
2. Trust your instincts. They are well-honed from living in the USA. If you feel something is off, wrong, strange – get out, move on, flee, scream, whatever is appropriate. Do it quickly.
3. Body language: keep your head up, swing your arms and act confident. Adopt a no nonsense attitude. Walk with purpose and you’ll be less of a target for hustlers who prey on disoriented or timid tourists.
4. Most of the people who offer you food or drink are just being kind. However, the rare exception exists – drugging occasionally happens. Try not to leave your drink unattended in bars, and exercise good judgment when accepting food or drink from people. Rophynol, the date rape drug, is odorless, tasteless and colorless. It is a tranquilizer that can be slipped into your drink by a man who would like to have sex with a woman who is heavily sedated. If you are at a party, don’t accept a glass of punch unless you trust the host. Don’t think this won’t happen to you. Some women don’t even know they have been raped until it’s too late.
5. If you are being followed in the street and you feel threatened, duck into a shop and firmly tell the clerk: “I am a foreigner and someone is following me. I am frightened and need help.” If need be, have the clerk call a cab or police officer for you.
6. Try to sit or stand next to other women or family groups in restaurants, on trains or buses, and in other public places. It is unlikely that you will be approached or harassed if you’re in the company of other people.
7. Consider wearing a wedding ring, if you don’t already.
8. There is power in vocal embarrassment. I have found that many men are shamed by a verbal, loud woman admonishing them in public. Practice screaming before you leave home! Also shame them by shaking your finger in their faces. Even if the crowd doesn’t understand your words, they will understand your indignation and gestures. Most sleazy men do not want public attention.
9. Ask for help or company if you feel uncomfortable.
10. It is common for a would-be thief to use razor blades to cut purse straps, take the purse, and then get away in a thick sea of bodies. Wear a money belt to avoid this happening.
11. It can be difficult to know what is considered offensive or suggestive in segregated societies, such as in Orthodox Muslim areas. At times you may feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. You may not know if the local men view you as a sex symbol representing the immoral Western World. Take your cues from the local women. Watch them. If they don’t make eye-to-eye contact with men, follow their example. Blend in. Dress appropriately.
12. Clothing that is fashionable and appropriate in the USA may project a provocative image in another culture. Leave the revealing clothing at home.
13. Anticipate potential problems. For example: if a group of men or young boys approaches you on the sidewalk on your side of the street, cross to the other side to give them space and you peace of mind.
14. Be sure to know when the sun rises and sets. A bustling market can quickly empty out and be transformed into dark deserted streets. Plan to be back to your lodging or in a safe, busy neighborhood by dark.
15. Carry enough money in your shoe or money pouch to get you out of a tight spot. Be willing to spend this money on a cab in order to get you to a safe place or back to your lodging. Do not take unnecessary risks.
16. If in doubt, take a self defense course.

When You Reserve Your Room

• Ask if they have security personnel 24/7.
• Reserve a room located between the second and seventh floors – within reach of a fire department ladder.
• Request a room that is not near vending machines (noise and loitering), and far from elevators and stairwells.
• Ask if all rooms have sprinklers, for fire safety.

Packing for Safety

• Don’t assume that your room will have a dead bolt or privacy latch or chain for the main door and all doors to accompanying rooms. So buy a small rubber door-stopper at the local hardware store and pack it for all your trips.

Upon Leaving the Airport, Train Station or Your Car

• Be alert for suspicious persons and behavior.
• After dark or in sketchy neighborhoods, do not park far from the main entrance and walk. Drive directly to the front door, unload the car and if the hotel parking is far, or it’s dark, ask for a hotel employee to accompany you to the parking lot.
• Wait until you get to your hotel room to put on your lipstick or make a phone call. Do not stay in your parked car in the garage, parking lot or any public space around the hotel. You are making yourself vulnerable to thieves and kidnappers.

Upon Arrival

• Do not wander in the parking lot, garage or public space around the hotel; kidnappers and thieves operate in these areas.

Check In

• Ask a woman, if possible, at the front desk or concierge desk, about the safety of the neighborhood and for safe areas around the city in which to jog, dine or sight see. Ask about local customs and which taxis or other public transportation to use or avoid. Ask about the local 911-type emergency number and how to use the local telephone system.
• If the hotel gives you a parking permit to display in the window, ensure it does not show your name/room number.
• Never give out more information than people need to know.
• If the receptionist announces your room number or name, ask for another room. Anyone loitering in the lobby area could hear your name and room number.

• Make a habit of leaning your bags against your leg during registration at a hotel or at the airline ticket counter; you will feel it if someone moves your bag. Always place your purse and briefcase on the counter in front of you.
• Off hours, do not be hesitant to ask a hotel employee to show you to your room.
• Do not assume your guestroom will be perfect upon checking in. Windows, connecting doors, etc. may not be locked.
• When you arrive at your room, prop the door open with your luggage , turn on the lights, inspect the door lock, locks on sliding glass doors and windows, door latch and/or chain, room safe, lock on interconnecting doors and ensure the telephone works.

During Your Stay

• Keep the door closed and engage the dead bolt and privacy latch or chain at all times when you are in the room. Use a doorstop  (See tip above. Bring one with you).
• Keep valuables, cash, jewelry, tickets, passports and other documents in the hotel or room safe.
• If your hotel room does not have a safe, keep those items with you or lock them in your suitcase.
• When you go to bed, do not leave your valuables in view. Store your watch, wallet, jewelry, purse, camera, ipod, laptops in a drawer in the nightstand, or in your suitcase. What would happen if there was a fire drill during the night and you left your room quickly, and half-asleep, and someone enters your room before you return.
• Do not open your hotel room door to anyone unless you are expecting someone and you know them. Question the authenticity of a hotel service employee by calling the front desk to verify the reason and person, before allowing entry.
• Do not disclose your gender or the fact that you are the only occupant.
• On the Room Service Breakfast Menu, that you hang overnight on your hotel room doorknob, never disclose that you are a single guest in the room or disclose your last name. Initials are sufficient.
• Although hotel personnel are well trained in safety issues, it is possible that a hurried desk clerk could offer an alleged family member an extra key to your hotel room if they are given the correct name and room number. This information can be obtained on your breakfast menu card or upon check-in.  

• When occupy or leave the room, place a “do not disturb” sign on your outside door, giving the impression that the room is occupied – whether it is or not.
• When returning at night, use only the main entrance.
• When returning to your room, be aware of what’s going on around you. Do not unlock the door if a stranger is standing nearby; keep walking past your door and return only when clear. Do not enter if the door is not locked or ajar. Ask for assistance from someone at the front desk

In the Lobby

• Be aware of your surroundings and alert for people look out of place or who stare at or follow you.
• Do not discuss personal matters, your reason for being in town, your itinerary, your marital status with friends in the lobby or strangers and pay attention to anyone around you who may overhear you.

Copyright © Marybeth Bond

Someone who appreciates French history, culture, fashion, art and cuisine, and that describes me.  Ever since I lived in Paris, for four years when I was in my 20′s, I jump at every opportunity to go to France.

Last month  I jumped at a chance to go to Normandy to follow in the footsteps of the Impressionist Painters. I criss-crossed the countryside from Giverny to the cobble-stoned streets of Rouen, across a patchwork quilt of emerald jewel fields and lush valleys dotted with lambs and cows,  to storybook seaside resorts with chocolate shops, toy stores, fresh fish and flower markets, pastries and sidewalk cafes.

TIP: Pack your umbrella, sunhat, sunscreen and a windbreaker.

Regardless of the season, I knew that we could count on the whimsical weather of fleeting clouds, peek-a-boo sun, and moody mist as our companion.

Rouen. The Street of the Large Clock leading to the Gothic Cathedral Monet painted from 20 views

Rouen

The art history journey began in Rouen, the capital of upper Normandy; one hour and ten minutes by train from Paris.  Filling street after colorfully-restored street are two-stored half-timbered homes. Antique shops, cafes and restaurants fill the first floors and red geranium-choked flowerboxes decorate the upper floor windows.

I meandered down narrow cobbled-stoned streets admiring some of the 800 restored homes dating from the 14^th to the 18^th century.

The pedestrian street of the Great Clock (rue de Gos Horloge) is the busy shopping area, home to tempting pastry shops and fancy stores. We meandered through this historic part of town, built in the 16^th century, then relaxed in a pew at the 13^th-century Gothic cathedral (painted by Monet) and watched twinkling red and blue light filter through the stain glass windows. On a more somber note, no visitor to Rouen misses the historic square where Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake.

Claude Monet said “Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”

When Monet painted the façade of Rouen cathedral, he worked on up to 14 different canvasses at one time, capturing the ever-changing light and color.

He painted at various times of day and the year and in different weather conditions as he tracked the passage of time, color and light on the cathedral façade. Monet painted – from a window in the second story of a women’s underwear shop – today it houses the office of tourism where we stood to take in his view.

In  July and August “Impressionists Nights,”  a light show, is projected on the cathedral façade and the Beaux-Arts Museum portraying the life and work of Monet, Pissaro and Gauguin in Rouen.

Red Carpet rolled out for guests at Rouen's 5-star hotel in a 16th century Renaissance Manor

Red Carpet rolled out for guests at Rouen’s 5-star hotel in a 16th century Renaissance Manor

You can go for a day or rent a car and visit all the Normandy sites in four days or more.

The tourism websites are:

Helpful Websites:

http://www.normandy-tourism.org
http://www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com
http://www.calvados-tourisme.com
http://www.manchetourisme.com

www.rouenvalleedeseine.com

Where to stay.  Rouen:  A 5-star hotel in a 16^th century Renaissance Manor. www.hotelsparouen.com

Outstanding Restaurants Rouen: www.lacouronne.com.fr/ and www.le-sixiemesens.fr

Air France has daily flights from major US cities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx63JhlmTeQ

• Ask if they have security personnel 24/7.
• Reserve a room located between the second and seventh floors – within reach of a fire department ladder.
• Request a room that is not near vending machines (noise and loitering), and far from elevators and stairwells.
• Ask if all rooms have sprinklers, for fire safety.

Packing for Safety

• Don’t assume that your room will have a dead bolt or privacy latch or chain for the main door and all doors to accompanying rooms. So buy a small rubber door-stopper at the local hardware store and pack it for all your trips.

Upon Leaving the Airport, Train Station or Your Car

• Be alert for suspicious persons and behavior.
• After dark or in sketchy neighborhoods, do not park far from the main entrance and walk. Drive directly to the front door, unload the car and if the hotel parking is far, or it’s dark, ask for a hotel employee to accompany you to the parking lot.
• Wait until you get to your hotel room to put on your lipstick or make a phone call. Do not stay in your parked car in the garage, parking lot or any public space around the hotel. You are making yourself vulnerable to thieves and kidnappers.

Upon Arrival

• Do not wander in the parking lot, garage or public space around the hotel; kidnappers and thieves operate in these areas.

Check In

• Ask a woman, if possible, at the front desk or concierge desk, about the safety of the neighborhood and for safe areas around the city in which to jog, dine or sightsee. Ask about local customs and which taxis or other public transportation to use or avoid. Ask about the local 911-type emergency number and how to use the local telephone system.
• If the hotel gives you a parking permit to display in the window, ensure it does not show your name/room number.
• Never give out more information than people need.
• If the hotel receptionist announces your room number, ask for another room. Anyone loitering in the lobby could hear your name and room number.
• Make a habit of leaning your bags against your leg during registration at a hotel or at the airline ticket counter; you will feel it if someone moves your bag. Always place your purse and briefcase on the counter in front of you.
• Off hours, do not be hesitant to ask a hotel employee to show you to your room.
• Do not assume your guestroom will be perfect upon checking in. Windows, connecting doors, etc. may not be locked.
• When you arrive at your room, prop the door open with your luggage, turn on the lights, inspect the door lock, locks on sliding glass doors and windows, door latch and/or chain, room safe, lock on interconnecting doors and ensure the telephone works.

During Your Stay

• Keep the door closed and engage the dead bolt and privacy latch or chain at all times when you are in the room. Use a doorstop  (See tip above. Bring one with you).
• Keep valuables, cash, jewelry, tickets, passports and other documents in the hotel or room safe.
• If your hotel room does not have a safe, keep those items with you or lock them in your suitcase.
• When you go to bed, do not leave your valuables in view. Store your watch, wallet, jewelry, purse, camera, ipod, laptops in a drawer in the nightstand, or in your suitcase. What would happen if there was a fire drill during the night and you left your room quickly, and half-asleep, and someone enters your room before you return?
• Do not open your hotel room door to anyone unless you are expecting someone and you know them. Question the authenticity of a hotel service employee by calling the front desk to verify the reason and person, before allowing entry.
• Do not disclose your gender or the fact that you are the only occupant on Room Service Breakfast menus that you hang overnight on your guestroom doorknob/handle. Go even further and NEVER disclose your last name either. Initials are sufficient. Hotel workers are trained to closely guard the names of persons registered in each guestroom, for many good reasons.  It is not out of the realm of possibility for a poorly-trained newbie or a disgruntled, frazzled agent at the hotel’s Front Desk to offer an alleged “guest” an extra key to your guestroom, if they simply provide the room number and name, and the story that they locked themselves out or misplaced theirs. Identification should always be required before issuing keys, but does this ALWAYS happen? Regrettably, no.
• When you occupy or leave the room, place a “do not disturb” sign on your outside door, giving the impression that the room is occupied — whether it is or not.
• When returning at night, use only the main entrance.
• When returning to your room, be aware of what’s going on around you. Do not unlock the door if a stranger is standing nearby; keep walking past your door and return only when clear. Do not enter if the door is not locked or ajar. Ask for assistance from someone at the front desk.

In the Lobby

• Be aware of your surroundings and alert for people look out of place or who stare at or follow you.
• Do not discuss personal matters, your reason for being in town, your itinerary, your marital status with friends in the lobby or strangers and pay attention to anyone around you who may overhear you.

Place the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door to discourage anyone from entering your room while you are away.

When staying in hotels, always check the window and door locks.

Bolt the door to your hotel room and don’t open it for anyone without first checking with the front desk.

Make sure the sliding door to your hotel room is locked.

Use your baggage to hold the door to your hotel room while you check the closets. Even better, ask someone from the front desk to accompany you to your room while you check it out.

If the desk clerk mentions your room number out loud and there are other guests around to overhear, request that you be given a different room and that the clerk not mention the number.

Keep the curtains in your room closed.

If it’s very late and you’re alone, go to the front desk and ask security to walk you to your room.

For peace of mind when traveling alone, choose national hotel chains with interior room entrances. More and more women are also choosing small inns and B&Bs where the proprietors will know where they’ve been for dinner and when to become alarmed if they don’t return by a specific time.

When arriving at night, rental car agencies and hotels can arrange for someone to accompany you to and from parking lots.

When alone (particularly at night), walk with the crowd and act as if you’re part of the pack.

Carry your passport, plane ticket, traveler’s checks and cash in a concealed money belt worn around the waist.

Look and act confident. Get directions ahead of time and know your destination. If you are unsure of your location, act like you know where you are headed and get directions at a safe-looking gas station, cafe, etc.

Be aware of your surroundings (people, cars, doorways, stairwells, etc.) and have a plan in case you get into a dangerous situation.

On all flights, count the seats and rows to the nearest emergency exit. If there ever is a need to make an emergency exit, you will know exactly how far you need to crawl (if necessary) to reach the exit.

Travel with a small, high-powered flashlight in your briefcase when you’re out, and on your bedside table at night for emergencies.

Use laminated business cards as luggage tags. Anyone checking the address will not know your home address and telephone number.

Leave your good jewelry at home. Don’t draw attention!

Be proactive, not reactive.

Never volunteer the fact that you are traveling alone. Lie if necessary.

Plan your trip before traveling in a rental car. Do not reveal a map in your car with a marked route on it.

To ward off unwanted male attention, especially in male-dominated foreign countries, carry fake engagement and wedding rings to be used as necessary; make hotel reservations as if married.

Do not use room service breakfast door hangers because they ask for number of guest(s). You don’t want anyone to know you are alone.