You Are More Capable Than You Think

Colorado Meets Cabo da Roca, Portugal. Photo by Wendy Stieg

Got Concerns? How Do You Stay Safe When Traveling?

I remember my first international trip. The goal was to do the research and feel competent and confident. In the process, article after article warned that pickpockets were everywhere. Someone once told a story about a friend who had fallen asleep on a train in Europe and woke up to discover someone had used a razor blade to cut her thin purse strap and steal everything. Images like that stay with you.

Not long before that, there had already been a personal experience in Hawaii. Alone at a beach park, a backpack was left with a purse, a Sony Walkman, and some cash inside while going for a short swim. On returning, something felt slightly off. The bag was gathered, a bike ride home followed, and only then was it clear that the purse remained but the cash and the Walkman were gone. Being alone in a new place and realizing someone had sneakily stolen from you leaves a mark. Lived experience shapes how events are interpreted. After that, awareness heightened, but so did paranoia. It became hard to shake the sense that something could happen at any moment.

New to Travel? Your Lived Experience Is a Plus

After the experience in Hawaii, my awareness heightened, but so did my paranoia. It was hard to shake the sense that something could happen at any moment. For a while, those two things felt tied together. Over time, though, I began to understand that feeling excited, uncertain, alert, and responsible can all exist at once. Traveling somewhere new naturally sharpens your senses. In mild form, those heightened feelings are signs that you care. They are not automatic signs that you are in danger. There are always ups and downs before, during, and after travel. That is part of stretching. What took time was learning to temper the edge without dulling it. Safety and enjoyment are not opposites. Competence means knowing how to navigate a foreign country, remaining aware, and still allowing yourself to enjoy the journey.

When I first moved to Hawaii at nineteen, there was no roadmap waiting for me. I had to find work. I had to find shelter. I had to figure out transportation. I had to learn how to move through daily life in a place that was beautiful and unfamiliar at the same time. Problems came up and I dealt with them because I had no other choice. That season of life taught me something I did not fully understand at the time: competence does not arrive fully formed. It grows because you respond. Travel is a condensed version of that same process. The steadiness you need abroad is often something you have already practiced at home. That early stretch is the same stretch travelers feel when they land somewhere new.

If you want to think more deeply about travel protection without sliding into fear, I wrote about it in Force Majeur: Preparing for the Unpredictable without Fear.

Exploring Sintra, Portugal. Photo by Wendy Stieg

Experienced Travelers Aren’t Fearless, They’re Fluent

Sometimes hearing stories about seasoned travelers makes it sound as if they have everything figured out. They do not. If travel had no novelty, no uncertainty, and no moments of discomfort, most of us would lose interest. Experienced travelers still feel the stretch. The difference is not fearlessness. It is fluency.

Fluency shows up in small ways. Moving through an airport without freezing. Booking lodging without overthinking every detail. Stepping onto public transportation and trusting you can sort it out. That smoothness does not come from luck. It comes from repetition. It comes from having been uncomfortable before and surviving it. Fluency will not prevent things from going wrong. It does something better. It builds trust in your ability to respond. When plans shift or something unexpected happens, experienced travelers adjust. They recalibrate. They recover. The skill is not avoiding every problem. It is knowing you can handle one when it appears. That fluency extends beyond airports and train stations. It includes how you handle your money.

Thinking about transportation? Transportation in Europe, Part 1, grounds your decision-making.

Money Safety: Financial Awareness Creates Competence

Money safety deserves its own attention because there are many ways to lose money while traveling, and not all of them look like theft. Sometimes it is simply exchange rates or transfer fees quietly eating away at what you worked hard to earn. Charging high fees for converting U.S. dollars is common. Airport currency exchanges are one of the easiest ways to lose money, which is why I never change money at the airport. Moving funds into a Wise account and using a Wise card at carefully selected ATMs has been one of the most practical adjustments I have made. Understanding how exchange rates work and where your money is being converted is part of financial fluency.

Monitoring accounts regularly is also essential, but how you check matters. Public Wi-Fi is convenient, and it can be used safely, but not for financial transactions unless you are protected. I use a VPN and avoid accessing bank accounts on unsecured networks whenever possible. Setting up bank alerts adds another layer of protection, and notifying your bank before international travel prevents unnecessary account freezes. Quick awareness reduces escalation. The sooner you see a problem, the easier it is to address.

Physical considerations matter as well. Do not carry every card and every dollar in the same location on your body. Separation creates protection. I have tried money belts and found that, for me, a secure, lockable purse works better. The point is not the specific tool. The point is fluency. Competence includes knowing how your money moves, how it can be accessed, and how to protect it. Preparation prevents panic.

Paul at a Picnic in Portugal. Photo by Miguel Rodrigues.

Fluency in Digital Safety

There we were, trying to figure out where to stay next as we were driving around the Algarve. I was ready for a bed and a shower. The van was great, but my deal with Paul remained: every three days or so, I get a hotel room for the night. That meant we had to search online for our next room. We purposely did not plan everything out and went where we felt like going. I had already done my research, and for that to happen, I first had to set up a travel pass through my cell phone provider.

When you are using data, texting, and making phone calls for 10 days or less, a travel pass through your provider is the way to go. Over ten days, you should look into an eSIM that gives you access through a different provider. There are a number of those to choose from. Stay tuned because I plan to review those options. So having your phone set up is the first thing. Then there is the VPN and safety piece, so you can use your phone safely.

A friend of mine once used public Wi-Fi and checked her bank account, only to find an unsolicited withdrawal within an hour. Do not ever go to anything related to your personal information or your finances on public Wi-Fi, even with a VPN. Use the data from your cell phone for checking bank accounts and financial institutions. If you are ever on a public Wi-Fi, use a VPN.

Go through all of your regularly used passwords before you travel and update them, making sure to use two-factor authentication. Arriving with safety in place, with a Virtual Private Network, a secure international phone plan with an eSIM, understanding when to use and not use public networks, and having your international plan in place is what you have to do in order to use your phone and search safely. These precautions do not make me anxious. They make me fluent in digital safety.

Cristo Rei, Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Wendy Stieg

How Choosing Travel Gear Supports Safety

I travel light. I much prefer to use a laundromat than to drag a lot of clothes I might not even wear around with me across the world. I’d rather buy something like an extra shirt if I have to than overstuff my travel backpack. I also have an eye on safety as well. My decision to buy a crossbody purse with locking zippers and secure straps was a start. My Cotopaxi travel pack has zipper covers, making it a lot harder to unzip. I am also mindful of where everything is as I move from airport to transport to lodging.

When you are out and about for the day, travel light there too. Nothing oversized, extraneous or complicated needs to go with you as you explore your location. Your gear should support awareness and mobility. The right travel gear reduces vulnerability without turning you into a fortress.

25 de Abril Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Wendy Stieg

Be Prepared So You Can Feel Joy in Travel

Whether you are new to travel or very well-traveled, safety crosses your mind. It often plays some role in where you choose to go and how you move through the world. Most of us live in relative safety, but not everyone does, and lived experience shapes how much trust we carry. That experience in Hawaii left a trace of hypervigilance. I still lock my car wherever I park. I still lock my doors at home. That small sense of trepidation sits in the back of my mind, but years of traveling have also taught me to trust myself and my instincts. When something feels off, it usually is.

The answer to feeling confident is a combination of preparation and trusting yourself to be able to handle whatever comes up. Preparation makes room for joy. You can sit at a café and feel both relaxed and responsible. You can move through a crowded station without feeling tense. You can enjoy your trip and know you have taken reasonable steps to protect yourself. Competence supports freedom. Fluency reduces fear. You are more capable than you think.

Safe Travels Without Paranoia