The Best Ways to Stay Safe While Traveling

What are the best ways to stay safe while traveling? Experts recommend staying home if possible, but if you need to travel this summer, we’ve produced a guide together with an ex-NATO director—our Head of Safety, Johann Jones⁠—to help you stay safe. After spending years working for the U.S. Government and NATO in Afghanistan and Iraq advising senior personnel on risk factors and scenarios, Johann is an expert in safety, security, emergency incident management, crisis management and risk mitigation. 

Together with our emergency response team, Johann ensures Tourlane travelers are safe on every step of their journey. He constantly monitors and assesses risk factors in each Tourlane destination to ensure travelers have up-to-date information on safety before they depart, and have support during their trip. 

Here Are the Top Travel Safety Tips From Veteran Safety Expert Johann:

Choose a road trip and consider hiring your own RV. This is the safest way to travel right now. Avoid any kinds of group travel.

Consider hiring your own private tour guide instead of joining larger group tours. This helps to reduce contact with other people.

For your accommodation, choose to stay in a vacation rental, lodge, or small boutique hotel. This will help you to avoid crowds and buffets.

Opt for a vacation in the great outdoors and in other areas of low population density. National parks are lower risk compared to cities.

Choose a destination with good weather, and maximize time spent outdoors. Good weather makes it easier to eat outside, which is safer.

Using contactless payment is the safest, most hygienic form of payment. Look for taxis that accept contactless and avoid using cash.

While traveling, avoid spending time in lines at all costs. This is a good reason to avoid airports and flying, as they typically involve you waiting in multiple lines.

If you need to fly, choose more expensive direct flights over one-stop itineraries. This reduces contact with others, queueing, and time spent in airports.

Choose an airline that has direct flights and a free middle seat policy. Check the airlines’ websites for their latest updates on this topic.

The best seat to reserve in advance is a window seat as far away from the restrooms as possible. Check aircraft online seat maps for more info.