Regardless of who you are and where you may come from, regardless of your age, sex or ethnicity, you should know very well that travelling is a mind-opening experience that can change your life forever. Some choose to travel in luxury, that’s true. But that does not mean that it is the only “right” way to travel. In fact, there is no “right” way to travel and backpacking can offer you with so many great experiences that you will almost feel like writing a book about it. However, you always have to make sure that you stay safe because even the best cities and most peaceful travel destinations in the world will sometimes hide dangers you have to protect yourself from. Here are some of the most important backpacker tips for travel safety:

Choose Your Hostel Wisely

There is absolutely no reason in the whole wide world to choose a bad hostel just for the sake of saving money. Really, choose a hostel that looks like a nice and clean place and that is located in a peaceful are of your destination. You don’t need to wake up and see your shoes gone, you don’t need anyone to steal your laptop, your mobile phone or your wallet and you really don’t need to stay in a dangerous foreign area.

Everybody Knows

Keep yourself in contact with the people back home and always tell them about your plans for the day or for the entire trip, at least broadly. This seems common sense, but many of the people out there simply forget about this aspect and neglect it completely. As for common sense, following your guts and basic safety tips (not getting too drunk, not accepting lifts from complete strangers, not walking on dark alleys at night and so on) can keep out of a lot of trouble.

Keep Your Things Well

Make sure you have two copies of your documents: a set where you normally keep them (in the wallet, for example) and a set in a completely different place in your luggage. In case you lose the first, you can at least go back to the second copy and return back home in safety. As for money, you should try carrying small amounts only with you and you should try to split them the same way as you do with the documents. And if you want to go even further with the safety, get a pacsafe. These are somewhat like locks for your backpack which will prevent anyone from taking it away (or, better said, the things in it).

Don’t be Flashy

The one thing you really don’t want when you are in a foreign country (alone or not) is to be flashy. You should not flash out your jewellery, your $2000 camera or anything that will attract people’s attention on the fact that you are well-off. Also, you should try to blend in and not act like a tourist because although most of the people will have absolutely nothing with you, those looking into scamming tourists know how to spot one from afar.