While it can be a fun and enlightening experience to visit a foreign country, if the area of the world you’re visiting is vastly different than what you’re used to at home, you might want to spend some time before your trip ensuring that you’re prepared for what you’ll likely see and experience there.
For many westerners, the type and quality of transportation available in developing countries can be thrilling yet sometimes very unsafe. So to help ensure that you’re able to stay safe throughout the duration of your trip, here are three tips for staying safe while traveling within a developing country.
Prepare For The Driving Culture
In some countries, the culture surrounding driving may be very different from that of your own country. Because of this, you could be putting yourself and others in danger if you haven’t educated yourself about this beforehand.
According to Rita Anya Nara, a contributor to the Huffington Post, many countries in the developing world don’t put as much value on things like property, animal life, and even human life. As a result of this, other drivers might not try to avoid getting in car accidents, hitting animals, or driving too close to pedestrians. By learning these things before you hit the road yourself, you’ll be better able to drive defensively and know what to expect from the other drivers on the road.
Research Safety Records
If you’re not planning on driving around on your own during your travels, you should still do some research about transportation safety in the areas you’ll be visiting.
Elissa Leibowtiz Poma, a contributor to Smarter Travel, shares that safety standards in many developing countries are far below what you might expect. So before you think you’re safe stepping onto a public bus or hopping a plane to another city, you should first research the safety records of the company you’re planning on using. If your quick online search shows you that this company has been involved in crashes or accidents, you might want to find another option for safe transportation.
Stay Off The Streets At Night
While the nightlife in many countries is something that you’re not going to want to miss, you should be aware that being on the streets, both as a pedestrian and a passenger, can sometimes be very dangerous.
In many countries, cars and other vehicles don’t use lights to see where they’re going at night. And with limited light coming from the infrastructure of the city, it can be very dangerous to be around moving vehicles at this time. Because of this, the CDC recommends that you avoid riding in a car at night when visiting developing countries.
If you’ll soon be visiting a developing country, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you stay safe when traveling throughout your trip.