Author: Tanya Spencer
ISBN No: 9781 4665 59448
Review date: 16/05/2024
No of pages: 370
Publisher: CRC Press
Publisher URL:
http://www.crcpress.com/
Year of publication: 31/07/2013
Brief:
Personal Security: A Guide for International Travellers
price
£38.99
Personal Security: A Guide for International Travellers is a welcome, wise, nuanced and rightly wide-ranging new book.
So much energy and equipment goes into protecting people and assets, behind locked doors and well-glazed windows, well covered by CCTV and alarms. And then what: executives fly off to South Africa or Ethiopia to seek new markets, or go on holiday to Vietnam!? Leaving all the security behind, which is inevitable; and maybe leaving their brains behind because they are away from home and can relax – which is dangerous, and preventable. Security of travellers, I suggest, is easily overlooked – and travellers can be their own worst enemies, whether getting into situations they would never dream of at home, or finding themselves in poor parts of otherwise lovely cities where they are targets for carjackers, terrorists or opportunist thieves. Tanya Spencer, a Denmark-based trainer, who was among speakers at the ASIS Europe conference in London last year, ranges over many risks that crop up in general security – identity theft, industrial espionage; and some that may not (hotel bombings, dealing with a drunk trying to break into your room or corrupt officials). “Criminals will try anything to separate your possessions and money from you,” the author writes, who admits she has been a victim of a befriending scam in Kenya, and had her passport stolen. Sometimes you can be in an otherwise safe place for tourists but protests or riots spring up – so keep yourself informed, Spencer advises. She does not fall for the trap of suggesting too much caution or not travelling – rather, she stresses that the choice is yours; use situational awareness. Think in terms of risk. Is is worth it, that journey to Kabul?! How much can you afford to lose out of your wallet? Carry a ‘secret stash’ of cash and only carry in your main wallet what you don’t mind having stolen. And threats are not only in wild places such as Afghanistan; such cities as London, New York and Rome are worst for credit card skimming and bag-snatches and the like. Listen to what Spencer calls your ‘internal survivor alarm’. In style and content this book is most readable, including plenty of web links if you want to read more. Recommended.
Pictured: A map at the University of Durham.
