Travel risk specilist Nemer Haddad about Travel risk

Global Support Services rates the following countries/regions as posing the greatest risk for Harvard travelers. All international travel poses risks for which travelers should prepare. However travel to these particular places requires unusual precautions, and travelers should also consider whether the benefits of their visit outweigh the risks. Click on the country name for further information. For security information about other countries, click here. (Please note that our safety and security partners maintain independent country risk ratings. For Harvard Travel Risk Ratings, refer to those indicated below.)We issue Travel Alerts for short-term events we think you should know about when planning travel to a country. Examples of reasons for issuing a Travel Alert might include an election season that is bound to have many strikes, demonstrations, disturbances; a health alert like an outbreak of H1N1; or evidence of an elevated risk of terrorist attacks. When these short-term events are over, we cancel the Travel Alert. Another feature of transport risk is that the impact of the numbers is very dependent on how you represent them. Basically, there are three possible ways of quoting transport risk; in terms of distance travelled, number of journeys or time of travel. Interested parties tend to choose the form of presentation that suits their own purposes. But although the act of travel is fundamentally safe, there are some risks that travelers should avoid. Certain activities are indeed dangerous, while others simply lack the reward to justify the risk. We issue a Travel Warning when we want you to consider very carefully whether you should go to a country at all. Examples of reasons for issuing a Travel Warning might include unstable government, civil war, or ongoing intense crime or violence, or frequent terrorist attacks. We want you to know the risks of traveling to these places and to strongly consider not going to them at all. Travel Warnings remain in place until the situation changes; some have been in effect for years.Travel insurance is a necessity. You need travel insurance. If you get sick or injured, if your things are stolen, if you need to cancel your trip or if you need an evacuation, it's essential to have an insurance company backing you up.The air transport industry, for example, will almost always choose a per km basis, which is optimum for them, as most fatalities occur on landing and take-off, while the intervening distances are large. Land based transport organisations, in contrast, will tend to select fatalities per number of journeys or hours of travel, since the risks are uniformly spread. Thus both are able to demonstrate that theirs is the safest form of transport. The actual statistics are given below (taken from an article by Roger Ford in Modern Railways, Oct 2000 and based on a DETR survey). They record the number of fatalities per billion km, journeys or hours of travel.= Elevated-Risk: This category includes countries or regions with low level conflict including frequent terrorist attacks, high internal tensions (tribal or political), violence that often impacts civilians and other non combatants, violence that may be state sponsored, a rule of law that is ineffective with weak emergency services, and/or an appreciable risk of violent crime perpetrated on foreigners. Countries may be placed on this list during periods of uncertainty or volatility.Repost This Article Photo by gruntzooki There are plenty of travel risks worth taking. THE MOST VALUABLE risk is the decision to travel in the first place, to open yourself up to the world and challenge your most basic assumptions about how best to live. But although the act of travel is fundamentally safe, there are some risks that travelers should avoid. Certain activities are indeed dangerous, while others simply lack the reward to justify the risk. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or a bright-eyed backpacker, here are ten travel risks that aren't worth taking. Going Barefoot Last month I was reclining on a pristine white sand beach, desperately trying to get my student's foot to stop spurting blood. We were 3 hours from the Cambodian mainland, but even in this isolated paradise there was a broken bottle hidden in the sand. Going barefoot anywhere is asking for injury, and cuts on the feet are especially prone to serious infection. Don't go barefoot. Wear all-purpose sandals like Keens, Chacos, or Tevas at all times. Making a Big Commitment Too Soon Surfing the internet at 3 am, you find a brand new mongoose rehabilitation program in Angola. Since reading Kipling's short story about Rikitikitavi in the Jungle Book, it's been your dream to work with endangered mongeese. Yippee! To reserve your spot, you need to make a deposit and sign a contract committing to one year in Angola…but hold your horses. Before committing to any volunteer program, group tour or overseas job, take the time to do some serious research. Due diligence early on could save you a lot of angst and money in the long run. The best strategy is often to travel independently until you find a program that you can assess first-hand before making a commitment. Otherwise you might find yourself paying 43 times the average Angolan salary to breastfeed orphaned mongeese - and those little buggers have sharp teeth. Riding Motor-Bikes There's a reason your travel insurance policy doesn't cover motor-bike accidents: the two wheeled menaces are freaking dangerous. A friend of mine once worked in an emergency room. After two weeks on the job, he sold his motorcycle. ‘‘There were just too many people coming in with crushed skulls, road rash and broken legs," he said. If you do ride a motor-bike, be sure to wear a helmet and watch out for the muffler, which can leave a nasty burn on your inner calf. Photo by andydoro Buying Illegal Drugs So you've never seen the inside of a foreign prison? Good. Keep it that way. Buying illegal drugs when you don't know who you're dealing with or what you're getting is an enormous risk. Soft drugs like marijuana are pretty harmless, but actually buying drugs means dealing with sketchy hustlers who have no qualms about making a few extra dollars by turning you in to the police or selling you adulterated product. Gambling in Casinos Never mind the fact that casino gambling is a great way to lose money. Especially in poor countries, casinos are nasty places. Profits are funneled to the gangster elite, sexual slavery flourishes, and locals who struggle to get by are treated to the sight of high-rollers throwing around $100 chips. Have some respect for the locals and for yourself, and don't patronize casinos. Photo by Idol Booking Tight Connections Eager to get to Angola, you go online to book transportation. An American Airlines flight from New York to Lisbon gets in at 4 pm, which gives you plenty of time to catch the 8 pm Angola Air flight to Luanda, via Dakar, Nairobi and Capetown. Isn't it amazing how easy world travel has become in the age of intercontinental flights? Well, yes, but getting from New York to Angola without any mishaps along the way is never a sure thing. What happens when your flight to Lisbon is delayed just long enough for you to miss your Dakar connection? You could easily get stranded and lose a lot of money. When booking overseas travel, especially when switching between airlines, it's important to leave plenty of time to cover unexpected delays. Why not give yourself a few days to explore Lisbon before jetting off to Angola? The mongeese will survive without you. Flaunting Wealth Traipsing the streets of a foreign city with an iPhone in your hand, a fancy watch on your wrist and a healthy bulge in your back pocket is obnoxious and stupid. One of the most valuable lessons travel teaches is humility, and you'll find it easier to interact with the locals if you dress and act modestly. As a foreign tourist, you're already a target for scam artists and thieves - don't give the bad guys any extra incentive to rob you by flaunting the bling. Photo by cambiodefractal Getting Wasted I'm all for having a few drinks while traveling, but there's a big difference between getting buzzed and getting wasted. Weaving down a dark street in a sketchy part of town late at night after drinking too much alcohol will make you an easy target. Trusting Tourist Touts In general, you should trust the locals. Keeping an open mind and taking people at their word will often lead to warm friendships and memorable travel experiences. One important exception are the tourist touts, people who make a living by ripping off naïve travelers. Touts are people too, and there's no need to get rude with them, but remember that they're desperate to make a buck however they can and don't have your best interests in mind. A good rule of thumb is that the sooner someone calls you ‘‘my friend" the more they will try to scam you. Not Buying Travel Insurance Travel insurance is a necessity. You can get help with travel risk awareness training, country risk assesments and much more. Contact risk and security specialist nemer Haddad at marloninternational.com