The Risks of Traveling

So, the other day I was watching this thing about human trafficking (and let me tell you it was terribly and horribly sad and in-human) on...well i actually forgot what channel it was on but anyway, yeah, these girls were from other countries, mostly tourist, and were tricked into becoming sex slaves. Now when I heard the stories of these ordinary happy girls and the torture they went through, I was...distraught and horrified.

It happens in every country and these girls can be as young as 14..or probably younger. Its like that movie, Taken with Liam Neeson (or however you spell his name) where he's running around all over Europe looking for his daughter, but unlike in that movie, some of these girls are never found.

I love traveling and I'm a risk taker. My friends say I'm naive and gullible (and their absolutely right by the way) but even I know there are risks a person should never take if their traveling to a different country or a different part in their own country. Here are just 5 to keep in mind when traveling on your own or in a group.

RISK 1.
Talking to strangers!!!! I can't stress that enough. There are some people you can trust and some you can't but mostly there's some you can't. If you have a guide...stick with them. You may never know what might happen. Just look at what happened to Liam Neeson's character's daughter and her friend in Taken. (If you have never seen that movie I'm just going to tell you flat out they were taken or kidnapped to emphasize my point and were put on drugs and forced to be sex slaves.)

RISK 2.
Not trusting your instincts!!! If you have a bad feeling about someone or something trust your instincts and get as far away from them as possible..

RISK 3.
Not planning your vacation or holiday before hand!!! There's a million things that can go wrong to spontaneously deciding you want to go Australia or Madagascar or something without proper planning. Even just saying lets go on a road trip to...where ever is a risk. You don't know anything about the place you're going to, for all you know you can end up in a village filled with robbers and rapist, you have know place to sleep, you're not familiar with your surroundings and what if the locals don't like strangers. There's a million things that can go wrong.

RISK 4.
Not having a back up plan!!! Here's a scenario: You're riding around in...Barcelona, Spain (Beautiful place by the way) and you have become a victim of pick pocketing. Your wallet, passport, hotel key, your VISA card and cellphone were all stolen. What do you do? Do you take RISK 1. or use plan B, a plan you made if something like this ever happened to you? ALWAYS have a back up plan. (This and RISK 3. are totally different. RISK 3. is about planning your vacation and this is about actually being on your vacation and having a plan in case of an emergency.)

RISK 5.
Traveling alone!!!! NEVER GO TO A STRANGE PLACE BY YOURSELF!!! There's a million scenarios that can happen to you and I'm not just talking about becoming a sex slave. There's safety in numbers.

Well these are some risks of traveling. Do you have any others?