This article is part one of a two-part series.

Watching the two volunteers from the audience struggle to strap on and inflate the airplane life vest while the speaker’s stopwatch ticked down the seconds will haunt me forever.  A couple of years ago, I attended a conference where one of the sessions was about travel safety.

The speaker who designed that activity was travel safety expert, Bill Amaral.  He joined the travel industry in 1978 when he went to work for PanAm.  Since then, he founded the Sacramento Business Travel Association and has been the recipient of several industry awards including recognition from the National (Global) Business Travel Association (GBTA).  In 2018, Amaral received the Business Travel News Best Practitioner Award.  Today Amaral works for the State of California (in a non-safety related capacity).

He was kind enough to share his wealth of knowledge with me for the benefit of Mrs. HomeFree readers.

One of the things that always amazes me is the way people dress at airports.  Women, in particular, swing wildly between a desire to “look cute” and to be comfortable.  The first group often wears dresses and very high heels.  The second group looks like they just rolled out of bed in either leggings or pajama bottoms. While men are less guilty, they too, could improve in this area.  What would “improvement” look like? 

Clothing Tips

Amaral says, “My recommendation is to dress to be safe for the entire trip, not just to get through security quickly. Many people go for flip-flops, shorts and slip-on shoes to get through screening as quickly as possible, but this clothing does nothing to protect you if there is an emergency onboard.”  He recommends that travelers:

  • Dress in tightly knit, natural fibers, such as cotton, denim, leather or wool. Avoid restrictive clothing and synthetic fibers (polyester-because it melts). Cover as much of your body as possible. Reduce to a bare minimum the amount of metal on your person. 
  • Shoes should be low-heeled, laced, leather or canvas. No nylons, high heels or slip-on shoes.
  • Wear a safety strap for glasses and always have a back-up pair of glasses and contact lenses. 

During Amaral’s lecture, he explained to us that if there is an airplane emergency and passengers need to exit via the inflatable slide, those slides are equipped with “stop-strips” at the bottom.  These are basically industrial Velcro designed to slow a person down, so they don’t go shooting off the end of the slide.  A woman in a dress or flimsy pants will quickly regret her wardrobe choices when she hits them. This piece of advice has resonated in my traveler’s brain before every flight I’ve taken since I saw Amaral’s presentation.

Luggage Tips

One aspect of travel that affects all voyagers whether it is a plane trip, a cruise or a road trip is luggage.  Here again Amaral’s tips are full of insight. He tries never to check bags.  Having spent two weeks overseas with only one carry-on suitcase, I can attest that it is truly possible. In fact, it is the only way I fly now.

Luggage safety
A carry-on suitcase paired with a cross-body bag is the only way to go!

He prefers “soft-sided bags because they are easier to stow if you need to squash them, however a hard case may provide a seat in a crowded boarding area if you need it.”

  • Tag your bags, inside and outside, with your business address and phone number. Don’t advertise that you are not home by using your home address on the luggage tag.  This works for airplane, cruise and road trip travel.
  • Mark your bag so you can identify it easily, if you have to check it.
  • Consider shipping heavy items or bags ahead of you to your destination.
  • A carry-on bag should measure 9”X14”X22” or less to fit into the overheard bins.
  • Create a packing list, review your bag and be familiar with the contents.  Keep a copy of your itinerary in the bag in case of loss.
  • Follow your bags through all security points and don’t let them out of your sight.
  • Use overhead stowage across the aisle so your bags are in view at all times.
  • At the hotel, use the bellman. Luggage in the “care, custody and control” of the hotel causes the hotel to be liable for your property if something happens to it.

Lastly, Amaral says the three things he never travels without are: “Extra chargers and cords, a small flashlight to carry on me in case power is lost on the aircraft or in the hotel or if I drop something in the rental car and an essentials kit with disinfecting wipes and spray, extra masks, wet wipes, aspirin, batteries, reading material, and snacks.”

Watch your luggage
A traveler wisely watches her luggage every moment, even when while it is checked by TSA.

Financial Security

Whether traveling domestically or internationally, there are plenty of actions travelers can take to protect their assets from fraud or robbery.  In the 21st Century, if it didn’t happen on social media, then it didn’t happen.  Even so, Amaral strongly recommends not advertising your travel plans on social media.  My husband and I have used this strategy for years.  When we were taking traditional vacations, we sometimes chose to post photos and information about our trip after we were already home.  We didn’t do this while traveling.  Our current situation is an exception because we are living HomeFree.  There is no empty address for criminals to tamper with in our absence.

(Side note: not focusing on social media posts during your vacation also allows you to stay in the moment and to savor that.)

  • Inform your bank’s fraud protection team where you plan to travel in advance of your trip.
  • Make sure you have 2 forms of identification to match your ticket.
  • Always carry your passport, even for domestic travel. Check the expiration date is at least 6 months in the future. Read about what happened to Mrs. HomeFree when she didn’t abide by this advice.
  • Make copies of the contents of your wallet and the passport picture page. Keep a copy of your passport picture page in your luggage.  Keep additional copies of both at home.

My husband and I recently learned of our credit union’s debit card locking service. We both have the credit union’s app on our phones.  From this app, we can lock our debit card so that no purchases can be made with it.  It can be instantly unlocked the same way when we are ready to use it.  In addition, we have a VPN service (virtual private network) that we use on both our laptops and both our phones.  This protects us when we use public wifi.

As for that audience participation activity with the airline life vest?  I can guarantee that everyone in that room started focusing on the flight attendants’ safety briefing from that day forward.

Part two of my travel safety advice will focus on health and wellness.  Stay tuned for that.