I am compelled to write this post because of my friend, Matt Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt. I don't recall where I first heard about Matt, but I know he created his Nomadic Matt Facebook page in April 2008, which is around the time I decided to plan an around-the-world trip. I joined Facebook in late 2007 and quickly learned that it was a great resource for meeting like-minded travelers and for getting the latest information about places I wanted to visit.
I first met Matt in person at a meet-up in Portland, Ore. in July 2014. It was a fun night of making new friends with other world travelers based in the Portland area, several of whom I'm friends with to this day (shout out to Kalong Wong and Marin Hoag). Over the years Matt and I have followed similar paths, even choosing to live in the same cities for a while but never at the same time. He has continued to build his business through his website, books, online courses, and nonprofit organization FLYTE.
Today, Matt posted his story about getting stabbed in Bogota, Colombia, which inspired this blog post. That's because I was traveling in Colombia at the same time as Matt, and was literally days behind him on a similar itinerary going from Medellin to Bogota via the coffee regions of the northwest. I was quite surprised when he cut his trip short without any real explanation, and I honestly thought it was due to an illness in his immediate family that necessitated a last-minute flight back to the U.S. I missed seeing Matt in Bogota by just over one week and now I know why.
You need to read Matt's story to fully understand why I'm writing this. One of the most frequent questions I have gotten, both from locals and other backpackers over the past six months of solo travel in Central and South America is, "Do you feel safe as a female traveling alone?" The others, paraphrased here, are similar: "Is it safe to go to Honduras, El Salvador, or Nicaragua?" "Has anything happened to you?" "Were you ever afraid?"
So here's my experience.
The overall answer is "No, nothing bad has happened to me on this trip." The truth is that I have taken many precautions including not going out after dark in many places, not walking on deserted streets, not traveling on overnight buses, and not going to a bar alone, especially at night. I have met many other travelers, male and female, who have run into trouble in this part of the world. After listening to them tell their stories, the bottom line in almost every case is that they got complacent.
The reality is that all over the world there are people with bad intentions. Whether it's desperation as a result of extreme poverty, mental illness, or addiction, if you need money quickly one of the easiest ways to get it is to snatch a smart phone or other valuable electronic device, jewelry or wallet from an unsuspecting tourist. This is such a common occurrence in the big cities of Central and South America that the hostels and tour companies will almost always make you sign a disclaimer voiding them of any responsibility for your personal belongings or else will have signs posted throughout the premises or will verbally advise you to not have anything valuable in your pockets; to carry your purse or day bag on your chest; and to never have your cell phone unsecured in your hand.
The firsthand accounts I have heard have ranged from minor (but still a big hassle) like having a wallet pickpocketed from a backpack (worn on the person's back without locks or other security measures) in Valparaiso, Chile a few weeks ago to an assault that required hospitalization. In the second case, the victim was a middle-aged man who had gone to a bar alone to have a drink and, while he went to the bathroom, the drink was spiked with some type of drug that made him completely forget the next 48 hours. The assailants took him to an ATM where he withdrew his maximum daily limit, then they kept him in a locked room and forced him to give them his bank account information so they could get even more money. When they had taken all they thought they could get, they left him in an alley.
The closest I have come to being scammed or robbed (that I'm aware of) happened just a few days ago. And the only reason it wasn't a complete success was because I kept my guard up.
I was sitting on the seawall in upscale Vina del Mar, Chile last Friday afternoon. I had been walking all day and was tired, plus my phone was down to under 10% battery power and I wanted to connect it to my portable charger. I needed enough power to navigate my way back to the bus station in Valparaiso and then back to my apartment in Santiago. It was around 4:00 p.m. so still full daylight and there were lots of local families as well as tourists strolling by. I had my day bag in my lap with the straps looped over my shoulders and across my chest. I opened the bag to get out the battery pack, connected it to my phone with the micro USB cord, then immediately closed it again. As I was doing this, an older woman approached me.
She started speaking to me in Spanish, asking where I was from, how did I like Chile, etc. I have met many friendly locals in Chile so this was not that uncommon. Then she told me she was from Yugoslavia, said I was very pretty, and that she wanted to give me a travelers blessing. She asked me to give her some change and demonstrated how the blessing worked. Essentially, she would hold the coins in her hand along with a sprig of rosemary. She would say a prayer for my health, safety, onward travels, etc. and then would return the money to me.
She was sweet and seemed harmless and, initially, I didn't want to offend her by just telling her to go away. So I played along and put two 10 peso coins in her hand (worth a total of $0.02 U.S.). She didn't scoff at them and said the blessing, which I thought was a nice gesture. But then she told me that for it to really work I need to put more money in her hand. At this point I became more suspicious and did a quick check to make sure my bag was completed zipped up, even though it was still in my lap and physically strapped to me. She was very insistent that I should at least put paper money in her hand. Honestly, at this point I just wanted her to go away but didn't want to make a big scene. I knew I had a 1,000 peso note (worth $1.48 U.S.) so I got it out and let her do a more elaborate blessing. Then I told her "thank you, but that's enough."
After another minute or so of dialogue during which she tried to convince me to put a much larger bill in her hand (she was specifically referring to the 20,000 peso note which is worth almost $30 U.S.), another younger woman approached us. She was also holding a sprig of rosemary. That's when I knew for sure it was a scam. I remained friendly but insisted that I would not be getting out any more money for any reason. Soon enough, they left me alone and then I saw them join up with another woman and then a man as they walked off.
I know I was lucky because they did not get any money from me other than that 1,000 peso note. Nor did the woman ever physically come in contact with me. Considering that I now know there were four of them working together, I can only imagine how easy it would have been for them to follow me and overpower me, even though it was daylight and I was in a very affluent area with plenty of local people around.
I was angry at myself and at that woman for the next 24 hours. But, like Matt's very scary experience, it did not change anything about my overall impression of this country or of this trip. It just reminded me that I do have to be vigilant all the time, even though it's tiring to constantly be on guard. At least 90% of the local people I have come into contact with through all of Central and South America have been so warm, welcoming, friendly, and helpful, and they have often gone out of their way to make sure I was being cautious, felt comfortable in my surroundings, and was not alone.
I have felt far more threatened in other parts of the world and then I was traveling with a male partner. The only time I've ever been pickpocketed was in Paris, France when I was 15 years old. I was traveling with a group of about a dozen students from my high school. We were waiting on a train in the underground metro station one evening and a man and woman approached us and started asking where were from, how long we were visiting, etc. Then they frantically said they were on the wrong platform and were going to miss their train. Our teacher had instructed us to stand in a circle facing each other so we could keep an eye on our belongings. But when the couple ran off, another man standing on the platform told us to double-check our bags because he thought they were acting suspicious. Sure enough, I opened mine and my wallet containing all of my cash, travelers checks, and passport was gone.
The moral of this story is that bad things can happen to people anywhere, including to seasoned travelers. Yes, the frequency of events like petty theft is higher in certain parts of the world. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't visit those places. You just have to take a few more precautions than you might at home.
In case you're wondering, I also have comprehensive travel insurance and do not travel outside of the U.S., particularly on longer trips, without it.
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