Study Abroad - Once Accepted
Return to Checklist: Fall / Winter / Spring / Summer
General Overseas Safety:

Be aware at all times of your physical safety and security. Risk is a part of everything we do, but there are precautions you can take in an effort to reduce that risk.

Be aware of your surroundings. Though you'll be busy looking at thousands of new and different details around you, you should also be thinking about your physical surroundings.

Develop a consciousness about moving around in large crowds. Most thefts or losses occur because of careleess-leaving a camera or a bag on a seat, putting down a purse for a moment without watching it, etc. Unfortunately, you can't be so trusting-there are few places in the world where someone will come running up to you with your misplaced item.

Direct thefts on the street, or in a crowded tube car--pickpocketing--occur through the principle of distraction. A pickpocket rarely works alone; sometimes everybody around you is in on the act! Distractions may occur, for example, when someone appears to block your path on a crowded street, or when you are pushing through a crowd to leave a tube train; when someone spills their packages in front of you or even falls down hurt-and while you are busy being the Good Samaritan, someone behind you has taken your wallet.

Make sure to always lock your doors and close the windows upon leaving your housing.

If your lodgings have intercom systems which allow someone to enter the building by pressing a buzzer after you have identified your caller, do not provide access to the building unless you know the caller, and do not allow anyone to follow you into the building -simply shut the door in their face. If they have a key, they will be able to enter. This doesn't sound very neighborly-and it isn't-but it is a standard precaution to prevent unwanted people from wandering around the building.

We recommend that you purchase a money belt or a passport pouch, and use it when you're taking money or credit cards with you.

Women, use purses with relatively thick straps and wear them slung over your head, and clasped under your arm.

When people press around you for whatever reason, place a hand directly over your wallet (never carry a wallet in a back pants pocket!); women should hold their purses or bags carried under the arm with their arm pressed close to their side.

Don't display your wallet so that its contents can be observed.

Don't carry more cash than you think you'll need on an outing, and don't keep it all in the same pocket.

Refuse people who approach you on the street with a "deal," for instance, a cheap ticket to a popular theater show. And don't participate in the occasional "three-card monte" games that sometimes appear on street corners. It's fine to watch, but never display any money or participate. These games are illegal as well as fraudulent. In general, you get what you pay for, and if anything is offered for much less than its apparent real worth, you're probably being had.

"Safety in numbers" applies abroad, too! You probably wouldn't walk home by yourself late at night near campus, and you shouldn't do it abroad. If you're out late at night, take a taxi this may seem extravagant, but it's probably safer than walking. Or have everyone take the subway together. And if you must walk, walk with as many other people as possible. Your numbers are inversely related to your vulnerability; the more people in a group a mugger sees, the less likely he will be to target them, and the fewer people, the greater the likelihood. Don't make yourself an easy target.

In many countries, people drive on the left side of the road--and don't make the culturally ignorant statement of calling it the "wrong" side! But DO look BOTH ways crossing the street, and finish by looking RIGHT. American casualties on streets are high for the first few days after arrival-don't become a statistic.

When you go out, always let someone know where you're going.

Finally, listen to your natural warning system, and don't take unnecessary risks. If a situation feels uncomfortable, get out! And remember: alcohol is an impairment to your sense of personal safety.