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Be safe!

Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

safety tips While travelling

Kevin Coffey, a.k.a. ‘The Scholar of Thievery’ is a detective who specialises in travel safety. At www.kevincoffee.com, clicking on the ‘Safety Tips’ link takes you to a sea of information that is designed to protect the average traveller from stalkers, phone card fraud, luggage theft and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Since the founder of the website is a veteran cop, each category has advice that’s to the point, yet comprehensive and uses real-life examples to show you what exactly to do in a situation. In the ‘Lost or stolen air ticket’ section, for example, the site gives you a step-by-step process to follow and offers some useful hints. Coffey also throws light on credit card scams that are common during international travel (“that wasn’t the front desk calling to confirm your credit card number and expiration date”).

For those who worry about having passports and money stolen while on the move, there are suggestions like neck pouches and hidden pocket wallets. For women’s safety, there are subsections that have valuable pointers on solo travelling, the date rape drug and other miscellaneous caveats that include looking in your back seat before entering the car and calling housekeeping instead of hanging a “please clean room” sign on your door. Their safety literature is revelatory and the website does not cause paranoia. On the contrary, a quick once-over of their advice will equip you to take a load off your mind when you pack your bags and head out of the door.

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