THE “BAITS” HOTEL
Whether used for business or pleasure, hotels have become an integral hub for today’s traveler. They’re inexpensive, convenient, and generally accepted as a safe, comfortable alternative to sleeping in a car or under a bridge. But hotels come with their own laundry list of pitfalls and potential threats. By the time you see this, it’ll be the height of the American holiday travel season. So we felt like this was the perfect time to dive deep into some best practices for keeping your safety, security, and privacy fully intact during your current and future travels.
For a broader perspective, we talked to two people well-versed in the dangers of domestic and international travel. William Echo (a pseudonym necessary for his current career) is a corporate security professional and former law enforcement officer with more than a decade of experience in developing, implementing, and testing protective security protocols. Opposite him is Micah Dalton, a true modern-day nomad who has spent the better part of the last decade roaming the planet in search of good whiskey and great adventure. Along the way, he has made himself a perpetual student of street lessons and trained with some very specialized experts, including OFFGRID contributor Ed Calderon. The sheer volume of his practical street wisdom is nearly unmatched, even among our own cadre. Hopefully, these gentlemen and their varied experiences will help you develop a keen eye to keep yourself safe, regardless of where your travels take you.
RECOIL OFFGRID: How would you go about finding a safe part of town in an unfamiliar city?
William Echo: www.crimereports.com and www.crimemapping.com are great resources. However, there are times where information for that specific area isn’t available (because LE agencies aren’t feeding them). I’d do a Google search for that specific area with the words “local news.” Often the news media have crime-mapping capabilities on their websites. If not, just use the search function on the local media’s website for the word “shooting” and sort the results by date and look for patterns.
Micah Dalton: I have a travel notebook. This is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure safe and successful trips. If I had to attribute my success to one “secret tip” it would be this. I don’t see a lot of people doing it, but they really should. I know at first the thought of a “travel notebook” conjures the image of a weathered, leather-bound book where poetry litters the pages. However, the travel notebook I’m speaking of is a bit more practical and utilitarian. It’s a learning tool, which will allow you to catalog and research the city that you want to visit.
My top two searches for any new destination are always “the most dangerous area in …” and “the best neighborhood to visit in …”
When researching the safety of a potential destination, I use a funnel system, starting big and going small. On a large scale, the U.S.) is an optimal starting point. It provides a foundation of general travel safety information as well as travel advisories you may not have been aware of. Check out a couple alternative news sources from other countries to build a solid framework. From there, the internet is a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.
