» Potential Dangers?

Potential Dangers?

When I tell people about my trip, I get a variety of different reactions. But, one common concern that people have is how safe it is to hitch hike and live with random people I don’t know that well. The most common stated dangers are: I could get raped, robbed, or killed. Well, I’m going to confront those specific dangers in this post.

First off, I want to direct you to a blog I found about a guy who documents his trip hitchhiking across america. Now, his blog is pretty interesting and he definitely has some interesting adventures. But, I’d like to quote him on this topic of dangers to be faced:

“They say hitchhiking is dangerous. Everyone said I’d get robbed, raped and killed. I paid no attention. I figured America’s paranoid, and hitchhiking is safe. You can’t have an adventure nowadays without someone saying you’ll get robbed, raped and killed.”

Now he goes on to say that he NEARLY got raped and killed, but that’s because he thought hanging out with an ex-convict would be good company to have. Anyway, I agree with him that people are pretty paranoid about the dangers that exist, and lots of the fears people have are completely irrational and ridiculous. So, let’s talk about them one by one.

Rape: Now, this is the most ridiculous fear of them all. It hardly even needs discussing. But, I’m pretty sure I can hold my own on this one. If I ever get into an awkward situation, I’ll use my Ninja skills. No worry.

Murder: This one cracks me up. It’s like people think there are mass murderers that just drive down the highway looking for people to kill just for the shear pleasure of it. Seriously? Maybe we need to stop watching so many movies. The only reason I would get killed is if somebody has a motive for doing it. I don’t have money. I don’t have wealthy parents. I’m not from some famous family. So, the only motive somebody might have is if I’m an eyewitness to something. I’ll guess I’ll keep my eyes half closed the whole time, just in case. Trust me when I say that I was in a lot more danger as a missionary then I’ll be on this trip. I have the wits to avoid the kind of places I sought out on my mission. No more likely to die on this trip than I am every day as I drive in my car.

Robbery: Ok, now this is a legitimate concern. I could definitely get robbed on this trip. I won’t have that much, but, I know I could still get robbed. So, here’s my game plan if it does happen:

1. Try to smooth talk the robber out of it. I think even robbers would get excited about my trip and want to help me out. Hopefully at this point I’ll have made a bunch of money on the streets, so maybe I can offer to teach them some of my tricks. I’m not planning on a high probability of success with this one.

2. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to get away. So, this will entail a quick kick to the man’s pride and joy, or maybe some mace in the face. I’ve already had some offers of friends to buy me a can of pepper spray. They say they’ll feel better about it if I’m armed.

3. If I do get robbed, no worries. I won’t really have that much stuff anyway. Then, I’ll just rely on the kindness of people around me to help me get what I need to finish my journey. I’m sure it will all work out.

Now, I doubt anybody is going away with this blog relieved from the worries they had for my physical safety. However, maybe you can see how ridiculous and unlikely the possible dangers are. I’ll be fine, and I’m sure I’ll come away from this trip with a renewed perspective on how good most of the people in this world really are.

Tags: dangers, fear, safety, strangers

The Nomadic Lifestyle | Aaron Anderson | November 25, 2009 4:44 am

4 Comments

By Steve, November 30, 2009 @ 9:43 am

Ok, I agree with some of the logic here. I’ll give my take on the 3 areas identified.

Rape and murder are not likely to happen to you, so I won’t spend time discussing. Murder is most likely to happen in connection with robbery anyway, so I’ll cover it there.

Robbery: very likely to happen to you at some point. You should have two goals in mind when it comes to being robbed. (1) Minimize your losses (2) Minimize bodily harm to yourself.

I think you’ll agree that minimizing bodily harm is the more important of the two. Therefore, you should devise strategies to satisfy the robber without getting hurt. Bodily harm is most likely when you are being robbed at gunpoint, knifepoint, or when the robber is twice your size. This may not be extremely likely, but it’s worth thinking through. If the robber has a gun (or pretends to have a gun in their pocket), you should probably just do whatever they ask you to do. Most likely, this will just be handing over your cash. They may be just as scared as you are, and if you make any fast moves, or disagree with them too much, their finger might slip. You may not have much time to explain to a guy looking for his next high about your trip. He just wants more crack.

When I lived in Venezuela as a missionary, it was policy to carry something called a “Rob fund”. This was basically a wad of cash we could hand to a robber. The cash was mostly worthless bills, with a half-decent bill covering the outside. To make a rob fund in the states, it’s probably best just to keep somewhere between 20-40 bucks in your wallet. That way, you can have something to give a robber and you won’t have to worry about cancelling all your bank cards and such.

Another good point is that you should make friends with people on the street. If someone bigger than you asks for a buck or some change for a soda or something silly, just give it to him. You establish yourself as a friend instead of an enemy. One of my hospital roommates in DC was a guy who got walloped when he wouldn’t give some money to a guy who wanted a soda. Result, the guy got both his hands broken badly, and everything stolen. The only time I ever got robbed, it was when I was a missionary in Venezuela and my companion and I wouldn’t give some change to a couple of thugs who wanted to catch a bus.

The best advice is probably to avoid seedy areas, and don’t act too much like a lost tourist if you ever do end up in a seedy area.

The most likely robbery scenario is that someone will grab your backpack when you aren’t watching it too closely. That is such an easy theft that it even happens frequently in Provo. It’s probably advisable not to keep your wallet in your backpack for that reason. It’s probably also a good idea to make a list of important items/documents in your backpack/wallet just in case one of them does get lost or stolen.
By Brook, December 20, 2009 @ 10:01 am

Steve’s advice is spot on, and i agree with your post, that most people are way, way paranoid. They simply don’t have any travel experience to know that the world is very safe as long as you aren’t walking alone down dark alleys in crime-infested areas at night.

I don’t recommend fighting a robber, but rather focusing on details of his appearance so you can give the police an accurate description. Like Steve said, have a small amount of cash ready to hand over. On my travels, I kept only about $30 on me at any time, so if I did get robbed it wouldn’t be a big deal. I had an ATM card, credit card, and ID card. Anything else is unnecessary.

If you want to be really smooth, cut a slot in the tongue of your shoe to use as a storage place for the cards. Another thing to do, something I had done, is to have a little secret pocket sewn on the inside of pants, basically right behind the zipper. Nobody wants to go there! Seriously, what person, robber or not, wants to reach into your private area? Robbers are all about speed. They want to take a wallet and run, not stand around chit chatting while inspecting you for hidden shoe and pants pockets. And if they do find your secret pants pocket, well, at least you made them earn their loot!
By Michael Critchfield, December 29, 2009 @ 6:12 pm

“The world is a safe place with a few scary moments, not a scary place with a few safe moments.”
By Aaron Anderson, December 29, 2009 @ 11:20 pm

I love that quote. Thanks for posting.