ARRIVAL AT THE HOTEL

If you intend to arrive by car and don’t know the area, obtain detailed directions from the hotel. Be sure to ask if there are any areas that should be avoided en route, and if possible, plan to arrive during daylight hours. Parking is your next concern. If you drop off your luggage at the hotel and park your car in a public lot, consider how visible your car is, and how safe you will be walking to your car after dark. Find out in advance if the parking area is monitored by surveillance cameras. If you are a single woman, you may want to request that the hotel provide you with an escort to and from your car. If you use valet parking, make sure only your ignition key is left on the key ring given to the valet. It is unwise to leave anything of value in your car while it is parked; Even an adapter cord left plugged into the cigarette lighter is risky, since it an indicator to a potential thief that you own a cellular phone. Items to be stored in your car trunk should be placed there before you arrive so as to eliminate the security risk of someone watching you do so in the hotel parking lot. If you are arriving by limousine, taxi or hotel shuttle bus with other passengers, ensure that all your bags are loaded before you embark. If there is more than one stop between the airport and the hotel, watch to see that your bags remain on board as others disembark.

CHECK IN

At the front desk, the simple process of checking in can make you vulnerable from a security standpoint. For example, you will identify yourself by name to the desk clerk, and may be overheard by others. Your luggage tags may be visible to people standing near you. You will pull out a wallet or billfold to give the desk clerk your credit card, in clear view of others. Your room number may also be overheard, and a thief who is paying attention will quickly discern whether you are traveling alone or with others. To the greatest extent possible, be discreet when disclosing information about yourself, and be aware of who is standing around you and may overhear you. Women traveling alone should consider registering as Mr. & Mrs. Whatever. Generally, there is no additional charge for an additional person and it hides the fact that you are alone. If asked, say your husband is just around the corner. Where practical, look people in the eye to leave the impression that you could identify them. Request a new room if the desk clerk is overheard giving out your room number and then have them write down the number rather than announcing it. At a foreign hotel, discretion is much more difficult since a passport must be produced and sometimes even left at the desk. Unless you are familiar with the hotel, you have no way of knowing who will be privy to your passport.

If a bellhop is available to carry your bag, take advantage of it, especially if you are traveling alone. He will enter the room ahead of you and enable you to safely verify that there are no intruders hiding in the bathroom or under the bed. If you enter your room alone, prop the room door open with a chair while you check for intruders. If you are traveling with others, have someone stand in the open doorway while you check. Do the same for them if you are staying in separate rooms.

SMOKE AND FIRE

In most hotels there are bedside instructions outlining what to do in case of fire. It is wise to read them and follow them. Your first task should be to count the number of doorways on your floor from the door to the exit staircase, and then walk down the staircase to the ground floor. This will help you familiarize yourself with your escape route so that in a fire situation, when it is likely to be dark and smoky, you will be able to walk or crawl along your route to safety with no confusion, surprise turns, or unexpected locked doors. Put your room key and glasses beside your bed so that in an emergency, you will be able to find them quickly. If you leave your room in an emergency, take your room key with you so you can retreat back into your room if necessary. If you discover that the hotel does not have a smoke detector system, carry your own. It is also a good idea to carry an emergency escape smoke hood, which filters out the harmful gases that are present in a smoke filled environment, and provides those precious few extra minutes you might need to escape.

HOTEL ROOM SECURITY

Access to your room by strangers, and protection of your belongings, are the basic issues of hotel security. This is where the question of electronic door locks and key control comes into play. It is a virtual certainty that people unknown to you the cleaning staff will enter your room when you are not present, and the door will be left open for a period of time each day. Well managed hotels have elaborate security procedures in place to control who is issued a key.

Some hotels can monitor when and with which key a room is entered, and there are usually regulations about staff room cleaning procedures to thwart intruders. Out of the way hotels in foreign countries, hotels in cities like Moscow, and hotels in less developed countries, often do not have secure door locks. In some cases, the hotel staff may actually target you and your belongings. Your level of security awareness and the precautions you take must be adjusted for each city and area you visit, but there are standard minimal precautions that apply almost anywhere. Here are some tips to protect yourself and your belongings when you travel: e Don’t leave valuables in your room when you are absent. Use the hotel safe, and get a receipt for what you leave there. Professional thieves and hotel staffs are usually aware of every possible hiding place for valuables. Some hotels provide a safe in each guest room for storing valuables. Be aware that there could be an insurance liability coverage issue if you use a guest room safe rather than using the main hotel safe (e.g. your credit card loss/theft policy may not apply if you use the room safe). * When you are in your room, lock the door, use the chain lock, and use your door peephole to identify people who knock at your door. Overseas, there may be no chain lock and no peephole, so you should carry a good quality traveler’s door lock, a doorstop alarm that wedges against the base of the door, or a motion detector. * Do not open the door for unexpected visitors. Call the front desk to verify that someone claiming to be making a service call is from the hotel. Overseas, where a language barrier may complicate such a call, you should definitely carry your own interior door lock so that even someone with a key may be barred from entering when you are in the room. e Some hotels and motels that do not have their own dining facilities allow food to be delivered to your room from outside the hotel. It is best to have such deliveries made to the lobby. Delivery to your room allows an outsider to meet you, know your room number and determine whether you are alone. It is especially perilous for women traveling alone to have such details known by an outsider. Also, be careful about the leftovers you leave on a tray outside your door. A single drinking cup with lipstick marks and/or remnants of a single meal can alert passersby to the fact that you are alone in the room and can help them to determine your level of vulnerability.

When you are sleeping, make sure that your deadbolt lock and chain locks are in place and that no window or sliding door will provide access by an intruder. When you are not in your room, you may want passersby to believe that it is occupied. If possible, find out the hours for maid service, so that you may place the DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door and leave the TV or radio on at an audible level. At out of the way foreign destinations, this may be difficult because room cleanings may not be at appointed hours, and maids may have instructions to take down DO NOT DISTURB signs in your absence.0 Most security specialists advise you to keep your room key with you at all times in and out of the hotel so that no one (including hotel staff) can see by checking the front desk that you are not in your room. If you decide to use a hotel fitness room or pool, it’s a good idea to leave your key at the front desk rather than with your belongings. At some foreign destinations, hotels require you to turn your room key in as you go out. In Moscow, a concierge at the end of each floor is responsible for holding and dispensing room keys as guests come and go. With a few simple precautions, you can improve your personal security and protect your belongings even if there may be criminals lurking about your hotel.

A former chief investigator of a major law enforcement agency and director of the International Security Group, Ltd. in New York City and Israel. An executive level experienced security and investigative expert with proven diversified experiences in: anti-terrorism, managed operations, applied automation and technical information systems, administrative, staff development, and supervisory skills. Career spans more then thirty-five years in both the private and government sectors, with increasing levels of professional responsibility to the highest level. Decades of experience in national and international affairs, as well as close working relationships with U.S. and Israeli Security & Special Forces Units.

Badler can be reached at:

E Mail: mb@implexsecurityproducts.com

It can be very enjoyable to go traveling both in country and abroad but you should be alert for possible cons while traveling on vacation. There are many types of cons to be on the lookout for and you can never know what direction they are going to come from.

Con Artists are very clever and one of their prime targets is the uninformed traveler. When you visit someplace you have never been to before take the time to research and learn a little bit about the place you are headed. You can easily find information on town and city layouts, crime rates and the types of restaurants and services available online or by making a few well placed phone calls. A Con Artist may offer to help you find information on places or help to secure you a hotel reservation or place to stay at a much cheaper cost, but will really take your money and leave you lost and confused. There are some people who actually supply these services to travelers but their methods may be under the table, quasi illegal or down right against the law. You could get in trouble if they are caught or you may even be tricked by undercover police officers pretending to offer such services.

You can take some simple steps avoid being taken by a con artist. Travel in groups or with another person. There is safety in numbers and con artists are less likely to go after a herd of tourists. If someone does approach your or your fellow travelers tell them ?no thanks,? in a firm tone of voice. If they persist and even begin to follow you remain firm, threaten to call the authorities. If you?ve done your research you should have seen at least a few photos of the type of clothing people wear in the place you are about to visit. Take note of this when packing. For example the French, especially Parisians wear dark and muted colors and they only smile at people they know, friends and family. If you take clothing that is similar to the style and do your best to adopt the social attitude of those you are traveling among you are less likely to stand out as a tourist. There may not be much you can do about the language barrier, but from a distance you won?t look as much a foreigner and therefore an easy mark.

Gail Leino is known throughout the internet world as Mrs. Party. She has become the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies with clever themes. Her simple party planning approach demostrates how to use proper manners while teaching etiquette with organizational skills. She shares lots of interesting fun facts. See travel vacations for information on exotic destinations.

If you are planning on heading someplace as a hiker or backpacker or just looking to go on a local camping trip there are a few extra essentials that you can add to your kit to help with those unexpected things that turn up.

? Sarong
? Duct Tape
? Plastic Baggies
? Wet Naps or Baby Wipes
? Fold Down bag
? Plastic film canister that comes with each new roll of camera film
? Earplugs and eye mask
? Toilet paper

Many women have found the sarong to be an invaluable tool. You can use it as a skirt, head covering, bag, swimsuit, dress, towel, shawl, blanket, curtain for privacy and it can even be used as an impromptu bandage in case of injury. Duct tape explains itself. It can be your quick fix for numerous problems including a rip in your tent. Plastic baggies can hold everything from food to seashells found on the beach. Baby Wipes come in handy when you are short on running water. If you plan on making a lot of purchases a fold down bag can fold out and hold items for you. Those plastic film canisters make great medicine containers. Those who are on a long flight or in a hotel with paper thin walls will greatly appreciate earplugs and an eye mask. Last but certainly not least you can never know which places will run out of toilet paper right when you need to go, so always keep some on hand.

These are recommended extras that you can pick and choose from at length and will probable be more essential for some people, while merely being extra baggage for others. It?s really up to the traveler to decide what items they should add to personalize their travel kits, but my top three picks are duct tape, Baby Wipes and toilet paper.

Gail Leino is known throughout the internet world as Mrs. Party. She has become the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies with clever themes. Her simple party planning approach demostrates how to use proper manners while teaching etiquette with organizational skills. She shares lots of interesting fun facts. See travel vacations for more tips.

Most of us have been issued and used a credit card type hotel room key when traveling. During checkout, the clerk will often ask if you have your key(s) to turn in or the hotel has a box or slot near the reception counter to drop them off. It saves the hotel a few cents being able to reuse the cards. No big deal, right? Maybe not for the hotel but the situation presents a real threat to your personal security.

Recently, Southern California law enforcement professionals assigned to detect new threats to personal security discovered what type of information is embedded in the credit card type of hotel room keys used throughout the industry. While the information recorded varies from hotel to hotel, the law enforcement officials found room entry cards containing the following information:

• Customer?s (your) name
• Customer?s partial address
• Hotel room number
• Check-in and check out date
• Customer?s (your) credit card number and expiration date!

Generally, hotels do not erase your information on these room entry cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next guest and overwrites your information. This is what the hotels mean by recycling when you read ?Please turn in your hotel key cards as we recycle them.? Depending on a specific hotel?s procedures, any number of individuals could have access to the room entry card before your information is overwritten. A simple scanning device can pull your information off these cards?allowing someone to go shopping at your expense or worse.

Bottom line: keep your hotel entry card, take it home and then destroy it. Cutting the card up is the best method, being sure to cut the electronic information strip. Dropping a room entry card the trash whole is not a safe method?credit card and identity thieves have no problems rummaging through trash. Never leave room entry keys in your hotel room and don?t turn them into the front desk when you check out. Legally, the hotel cannot charge for the room card and you won?t be leaving behind valuable personal information that can be easily lifted with a card scanning device.

A graphic artist and writer with a marketing degree, Jennifer Johnson performs a wide variety of tasks for Women Traveling Together and other clients. Founded in 1997, Women Traveling Together is the perfect solution for women who want to travel but don?t want to travel alone. To learn more, visit: www.women-traveling.com

ARRIVAL AT THE HOTEL

If you intend to arrive by car and don’t know the area, obtain detailed directions from the hotel. Be sure to ask if there are any areas that should be avoided en route, and if possible, plan to arrive during daylight hours. Parking is your next concern. If you drop off your luggage at the hotel and park your car in a public lot, consider how visible your car is, and how safe you will be walking to your car after dark. Find out in advance if the parking area is monitored by surveillance cameras. If you are a single woman, you may want to request that the hotel provide you with an escort to and from your car. If you use valet parking, make sure only your ignition key is left on the key ring given to the valet. It is unwise to leave anything of value in your car while it is parked; Even an adapter cord left plugged into the cigarette lighter is risky, since it an indicator to a potential thief that you own a cellular phone. Items to be stored in your car trunk should be placed there before you arrive so as to eliminate the security risk of someone watching you do so in the hotel parking lot. If you are arriving by limousine, taxi or hotel shuttle bus with other passengers, ensure that all your bags are loaded before you embark. If there is more than one stop between the airport and the hotel, watch to see that your bags remain on board as others disembark.

CHECK IN

At the front desk, the simple process of checking in can make you vulnerable from a security standpoint. For example, you will identify yourself by name to the desk clerk, and may be overheard by others. Your luggage tags may be visible to people standing near you. You will pull out a wallet or billfold to give the desk clerk your credit card, in clear view of others. Your room number may also be overheard, and a thief who is paying attention will quickly discern whether you are traveling alone or with others. To the greatest extent possible, be discreet when disclosing information about yourself, and be aware of who is standing around you and may overhear you. Women traveling alone should consider registering as Mr. & Mrs. Whatever. Generally, there is no additional charge for an additional person and it hides the fact that you are alone. If asked, say your husband is just around the corner. Where practical, look people in the eye to leave the impression that you could identify them. Request a new room if the desk clerk is overheard giving out your room number and then have them write down the number rather than announcing it. At a foreign hotel, discretion is much more difficult since a passport must be produced and sometimes even left at the desk. Unless you are familiar with the hotel, you have no way of knowing who will be privy to your passport.

If a bellhop is available to carry your bag, take advantage of it, especially if you are traveling alone. He will enter the room ahead of you and enable you to safely verify that there are no intruders hiding in the bathroom or under the bed. If you enter your room alone, prop the room door open with a chair while you check for intruders. If you are traveling with others, have someone stand in the open doorway while you check. Do the same for them if you are staying in separate rooms.

SMOKE AND FIRE

In most hotels there are bedside instructions outlining what to do in case of fire. It is wise to read them and follow them. Your first task should be to count the number of doorways on your floor from the door to the exit staircase, and then walk down the staircase to the ground floor. This will help you familiarize yourself with your escape route so that in a fire situation, when it is likely to be dark and smoky, you will be able to walk or crawl along your route to safety with no confusion, surprise turns, or unexpected locked doors. Put your room key and glasses beside your bed so that in an emergency, you will be able to find them quickly. If you leave your room in an emergency, take your room key with you so you can retreat back into your room if necessary. If you discover that the hotel does not have a smoke detector system, carry your own. It is also a good idea to carry an emergency escape smoke hood, which filters out the harmful gases that are present in a smoke filled environment, and provides those precious few extra minutes you might need to escape.

HOTEL ROOM SECURITY

Access to your room by strangers, and protection of your belongings, are the basic issues of hotel security. This is where the question of electronic door locks and key control comes into play. It is a virtual certainty that people unknown to you the cleaning staff will enter your room when you are not present, and the door will be left open for a period of time each day. Well managed hotels have elaborate security procedures in place to control who is issued a key.

Some hotels can monitor when and with which key a room is entered, and there are usually regulations about staff room cleaning procedures to thwart intruders. Out of the way hotels in foreign countries, hotels in cities like Moscow, and hotels in less developed countries, often do not have secure door locks. In some cases, the hotel staff may actually target you and your belongings. Your level of security awareness and the precautions you take must be adjusted for each city and area you visit, but there are standard minimal precautions that apply almost anywhere. Here are some tips to protect yourself and your belongings when you travel: e Don’t leave valuables in your room when you are absent. Use the hotel safe, and get a receipt for what you leave there. Professional thieves and hotel staffs are usually aware of every possible hiding place for valuables. Some hotels provide a safe in each guest room for storing valuables. Be aware that there could be an insurance liability coverage issue if you use a guest room safe rather than using the main hotel safe (e.g. your credit card loss/theft policy may not apply if you use the room safe). * When you are in your room, lock the door, use the chain lock, and use your door peephole to identify people who knock at your door. Overseas, there may be no chain lock and no peephole, so you should carry a good quality traveler’s door lock, a doorstop alarm that wedges against the base of the door, or a motion detector. * Do not open the door for unexpected visitors. Call the front desk to verify that someone claiming to be making a service call is from the hotel. Overseas, where a language barrier may complicate such a call, you should definitely carry your own interior door lock so that even someone with a key may be barred from entering when you are in the room. e Some hotels and motels that do not have their own dining facilities allow food to be delivered to your room from outside the hotel. It is best to have such deliveries made to the lobby. Delivery to your room allows an outsider to meet you, know your room number and determine whether you are alone. It is especially perilous for women traveling alone to have such details known by an outsider. Also, be careful about the leftovers you leave on a tray outside your door. A single drinking cup with lipstick marks and/or remnants of a single meal can alert passersby to the fact that you are alone in the room and can help them to determine your level of vulnerability.

When you are sleeping, make sure that your deadbolt lock and chain locks are in place and that no window or sliding door will provide access by an intruder. When you are not in your room, you may want passersby to believe that it is occupied. If possible, find out the hours for maid service, so that you may place the DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door and leave the TV or radio on at an audible level. At out of the way foreign destinations, this may be difficult because room cleanings may not be at appointed hours, and maids may have instructions to take down DO NOT DISTURB signs in your absence.0 Most security specialists advise you to keep your room key with you at all times in and out of the hotel so that no one (including hotel staff) can see by checking the front desk that you are not in your room. If you decide to use a hotel fitness room or pool, it’s a good idea to leave your key at the front desk rather than with your belongings. At some foreign destinations, hotels require you to turn your room key in as you go out. In Moscow, a concierge at the end of each floor is responsible for holding and dispensing room keys as guests come and go. With a few simple precautions, you can improve your personal security and protect your belongings even if there may be criminals lurking about your hotel.

A former chief investigator of a major law enforcement agency and director of the International Security Group, Ltd. in New York City and Israel. An executive level experienced security and investigative expert with proven diversified experiences in: anti-terrorism, managed operations, applied automation and technical information systems, administrative, staff development, and supervisory skills. Career spans more then thirty-five years in both the private and government sectors, with increasing levels of professional responsibility to the highest level. Decades of experience in national and international affairs, as well as close working relationships with U.S. and Israeli Security & Special Forces Units.

Badler can be reached at:

E Mail: mb@implexsecurityproducts.com