I just got back from travel for work. I am a producer that takes small film crews on location to do documentary programs. Often, we stay on the 1st floor of the hotel because it is easier and faster for the crew to load in and load out.
When I first started travelling I was taught a hotel room check in ritual that I follow to this day.
Set down all your bags before you open the hotel room door.
Open the door all the way and wait for any sign that things are out of order.
Feel inside the door to turn on a lightswitch.
Prop the door open with your luggage.
Carefully look at the room you can see and look for anything out of order.
Look in or open the bathroom door and turn on the light -- look for anything unusual.
Open all the closets and look under the beds.
Walk to the window/balcony and make sure the window/door is locked - especially if you're on the first floor.
Make sure that every member of the group you're travelling with has your room number.
Does anyone else have some thoughts on this or other travel saftey ideas?
Dana
Travel Saftey
Moderator: Available
-
lori macleod-doyle
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: lr.sackville n.s. canada
Travel Saftey
I travel occasionally for business. When I do I always request a room above the first floor. It can be a pain with baggage and such but I always feel safer on an upper floor when travelling alone. Also,I usually give a callers list to the front desk so that I don't get unwanted or unknown callers. You never know who has seen your luggage tags or has overheard your name when checking in. As a female travelling alone,you can never be too careful.
Lori M-D
Lori M-D
-
Drew Doolin
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Thu Sep 17, 1998 6:01 am
- Location: Washington DC
Travel Saftey
Good security topic for anyone, women or men. Having just come from a personal security assignment, we always tried to have our protectee on the 1st floor. Several reasons; if power goes out- no elevator issues, (i.e. stuck in the elevator) easier exit in case of fire/smoke (no stairs to contend with in the dark/smoke); control of the entrances/exits to the building itself; generally more activity on the first floor (lobby, etc) which can be a positive thing for persons traveling alone without a security detail). A negative to the first floor can be vehicle access/parking outside your window (i.e. car bombs). As far as personal behavior in hotels, I like Dana's routine once at her suite. Keep the door locked/latched at all times, use the "peep hole"; if you are traveling with someone, have any male members of your group/and or other members (safety in numbers) meet you at your room if you plan to go out together. Being escorted to and from your room is better than "meet me in the lobby". Vary your routine if you are there for a few days. Give as little information as possible when booking/checking in. Use a first initial only, or book it as "Mr" or "Mr.& Mrs". Just some thoughts...
Travel Saftey
I don't think the routine is necessarily bad, although I think surprising a bad guy in your hotel closet isn't going to improve your outcome unless you're prepared to deal with the attack the BG is planning, and I suppose that means surveying your room with a weapon drawn.
However I think that while this level of caution is again, not dangerous, I do think it's out of proportion to the likely dangers of travel. If anyone is interested in doing the research, a comparison between the number of people killed or injured while operating motor vehicles or flying and the number assaulted in their hotel rooms (or falling victim to a motel car bomb) would be illustrative.
If safety effort were proportional to actual risk, I think we'd spend more time reseaching the safety records of the airline we were using, renting and buying cars with everything from side impact airbags and reinforced doors to road temperature monitors for icy conditions, making sure we had top notch tires and driving at the speed limit unless the local speed customs suggest a higher rate of travel.
When safety efforts are out of proportion to the real risks (and here I'm making the ASSUMPTION that travel itself is more dangerous than hotel renting) it's typically because of particular fears. People deliberately avoid airlines at times because they're afraid of crashing from the sky when statistically they're safer in planes than cars. That's just the way humans are made... but I think objective data has to be incorporated into our planning. Otherwise, we'd see people preparing more for the threat of stranger rape (because it's more dramatic and captures the imagination more readily) than the more common partner rape, and here, a distorted perception of risk would actually be increasing REAL risk, which would be a shame.
However I think that while this level of caution is again, not dangerous, I do think it's out of proportion to the likely dangers of travel. If anyone is interested in doing the research, a comparison between the number of people killed or injured while operating motor vehicles or flying and the number assaulted in their hotel rooms (or falling victim to a motel car bomb) would be illustrative.
If safety effort were proportional to actual risk, I think we'd spend more time reseaching the safety records of the airline we were using, renting and buying cars with everything from side impact airbags and reinforced doors to road temperature monitors for icy conditions, making sure we had top notch tires and driving at the speed limit unless the local speed customs suggest a higher rate of travel.
When safety efforts are out of proportion to the real risks (and here I'm making the ASSUMPTION that travel itself is more dangerous than hotel renting) it's typically because of particular fears. People deliberately avoid airlines at times because they're afraid of crashing from the sky when statistically they're safer in planes than cars. That's just the way humans are made... but I think objective data has to be incorporated into our planning. Otherwise, we'd see people preparing more for the threat of stranger rape (because it's more dramatic and captures the imagination more readily) than the more common partner rape, and here, a distorted perception of risk would actually be increasing REAL risk, which would be a shame.
Travel Saftey
True. But the risk goes up in proportion to plane trips and miles flown. I think Dana travels a lot as an attractive woman alone and so she is correct in thinking strategically.
Okay let’s come up with a scenario, unlikely but certainly possible:
Woman is asleep, she has taken care of safety checks, but suddenly something goes “bump” in the night jolting her awake.
A few thoughts: does she have handy a weapon of any substance that she can legally travel with ?
So she sees an intruder foraging through her luggage. What to do?
Rape might be next. Does she have a position of cover and dominance she can roll to preparatory to engagement?
How about a planned escape route from the room?
How are you dressed? Do you feel comfortable jumping out of bed to confront a threat half naked?
Will the power of Uechi work when naked?
Do you give the intruder an early warning to meet the standard of “reasonable man”?
What would you say to warn?
How do you stop your heart from racing?
Do you think you can move being completely silent in the dark?
Or, you wake up to someone leaning over your bed,reaching down with one hand to choke you. Before you can react, he has both hands around your throat, squeezing. Now what?
How did it get to this point?
------------------
Van Canna
[This message has been edited by Van Canna (edited August 20, 2002).]
Okay let’s come up with a scenario, unlikely but certainly possible:
Woman is asleep, she has taken care of safety checks, but suddenly something goes “bump” in the night jolting her awake.
A few thoughts: does she have handy a weapon of any substance that she can legally travel with ?
So she sees an intruder foraging through her luggage. What to do?
Rape might be next. Does she have a position of cover and dominance she can roll to preparatory to engagement?
How about a planned escape route from the room?
How are you dressed? Do you feel comfortable jumping out of bed to confront a threat half naked?
Will the power of Uechi work when naked?
Do you give the intruder an early warning to meet the standard of “reasonable man”?
What would you say to warn?
How do you stop your heart from racing?
Do you think you can move being completely silent in the dark?
Or, you wake up to someone leaning over your bed,reaching down with one hand to choke you. Before you can react, he has both hands around your throat, squeezing. Now what?
How did it get to this point?
------------------
Van Canna
[This message has been edited by Van Canna (edited August 20, 2002).]
-
Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Travel Saftey
I will not take away from Ian's proper call to consider the statistical risk. I myself give people a hard time for shunning travel in a plane while driving in rush hour traffic every day. We often behave in a fashion that isn't purely rational.
On the other hand... It's different if you are female. Even as a male, I'd a lot rather die in a car accident than be the victim of rape. At least behind the wheel, the death would likely be quick and I HAD CONTROL OF MY DESTINY. Many factors come into play here.
On to Van's anecdote...and considering Ian is a graduate of U.Va.'s undergraduate and medical schools. May I offer an interesting anecdote?
Mr. Jefferson's original Academical Village was all about getting students and faculty to live in proximity to each other. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
The plan was implemented by having faculty housing (the various pavilions) built in-between every half dozen or so student rooms, thus creating a living environment that encouraged interaction.
Map
The string of pavilion/student living quarters was to be built indefinitely south from the centerpiece Rotunda, but the concept ended upon the building of Cabel Hall at the other end of "the lawn."
While the original academical village was built in the early 1800s (while viewed from Jefferson's mountaintop Montecello home), all the rooms still exist today. These days it is considered an honor to live in one of the lawn (inner part of the rectangle) or range (outer part of the rectangle) rooms. My sister was one such person, having performed many political functions in the University that brought her favorable attention. She was rewarded with a room on "the range."
So what was it like living in these rooms? Understand that the academical village is considered an architectural masterpiece, and modernizing it beyond the basic structure would be blasphemous. Yes...there is electricity in the rooms, but students must don a bathrobe and step outside to go take a shower in a central location. It's an honor, after all...
But the rooms have FIREPLACES... a major "partner" magnet for a studly 4th year student. And of course one is at the center of attention in the university, for better or for worse.
Living on a lawn or range room also meant living on the first floor. The front doors had mail slots in them. Tourists visiting the lawn would routinely push the slot open to peer into the rooms.
Students quickly learn to put a sheet over the mail slot.
And then there are those windows...built in the early 1800s. These windows face an alley that goes behind the lawn and range rooms, that is meticulously landscaped with trees and boxwoods and flowering plants. How nice. How...easy for a prowler to check out who is in the rooms.
One night while my sister was asleep in her rooms (in the 1970s), complete with beercan-sized rollers to tame her waist-long Irish red hair, she was awakened by...a kiss. She opened her eyes, and saw there was a man in bed beside her.
What would you have done???
My sister scanned the premises, and saw that the gentleman had entered through the window. My sister (again, complete with oversized rollers and absent makeup that makes a redhead have...eyebrows and eyelashes) asked the "gentleman" in a firm voice what he was doing there. "I just want to lie down here beside you." <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
My sister was lucky.
What saved her? Attitude!
Oh and by the way, it can happen. Rape is a common crime on university campuses. The female students are a concentrated pocket of victims, and many walk around totally clueless. On the date rape end of things, first year females go to frat parties, get blind drunk, and wake up...having their virginity taken from them. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>...So all you girls from Mary Wash.
and RMWC,
never let a Cavalier
an inch above your knees.
He'll fill you full of liquor,
he'll fill you full of beer.
And soon you'll be the mother of
a bastard Cavalier
Oh I think we need another drink,
I think we need another drink,
I think we need another drink
for the glory of the U V A.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
And then there are all those targets for the predators that come from miles around. Women walk around alone at night - clueless - all the time. Women don't take precautions. It only takes one screw-up.
Prevention is a mindset. You are right to think as you do, Dana.
- Bill
On the other hand... It's different if you are female. Even as a male, I'd a lot rather die in a car accident than be the victim of rape. At least behind the wheel, the death would likely be quick and I HAD CONTROL OF MY DESTINY. Many factors come into play here.
On to Van's anecdote...and considering Ian is a graduate of U.Va.'s undergraduate and medical schools. May I offer an interesting anecdote?
Mr. Jefferson's original Academical Village was all about getting students and faculty to live in proximity to each other. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
Grounds TourFor Thomas Jefferson, learning was an integral part of life. The "academical village" is based on the assumption that the life of the mind is a pursuit for all participants in the University, that learning is a lifelong and shared process, and that interaction between scholars and students enlivens the pursuit of knowledge.
The plan was implemented by having faculty housing (the various pavilions) built in-between every half dozen or so student rooms, thus creating a living environment that encouraged interaction.
Map
The string of pavilion/student living quarters was to be built indefinitely south from the centerpiece Rotunda, but the concept ended upon the building of Cabel Hall at the other end of "the lawn."
While the original academical village was built in the early 1800s (while viewed from Jefferson's mountaintop Montecello home), all the rooms still exist today. These days it is considered an honor to live in one of the lawn (inner part of the rectangle) or range (outer part of the rectangle) rooms. My sister was one such person, having performed many political functions in the University that brought her favorable attention. She was rewarded with a room on "the range."
So what was it like living in these rooms? Understand that the academical village is considered an architectural masterpiece, and modernizing it beyond the basic structure would be blasphemous. Yes...there is electricity in the rooms, but students must don a bathrobe and step outside to go take a shower in a central location. It's an honor, after all...
But the rooms have FIREPLACES... a major "partner" magnet for a studly 4th year student. And of course one is at the center of attention in the university, for better or for worse.
Living on a lawn or range room also meant living on the first floor. The front doors had mail slots in them. Tourists visiting the lawn would routinely push the slot open to peer into the rooms.
Students quickly learn to put a sheet over the mail slot.And then there are those windows...built in the early 1800s. These windows face an alley that goes behind the lawn and range rooms, that is meticulously landscaped with trees and boxwoods and flowering plants. How nice. How...easy for a prowler to check out who is in the rooms.
One night while my sister was asleep in her rooms (in the 1970s), complete with beercan-sized rollers to tame her waist-long Irish red hair, she was awakened by...a kiss. She opened her eyes, and saw there was a man in bed beside her.
What would you have done???
My sister scanned the premises, and saw that the gentleman had entered through the window. My sister (again, complete with oversized rollers and absent makeup that makes a redhead have...eyebrows and eyelashes) asked the "gentleman" in a firm voice what he was doing there. "I just want to lie down here beside you." <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
After thinking for a second...he did. He not only stepped out the window, but he reached back in to put the plants back on the radiator before he shut the window.Buddy, you'd better get out of here RIGHT NOW while you have the chance.
My sister was lucky.
What saved her? Attitude!
Oh and by the way, it can happen. Rape is a common crime on university campuses. The female students are a concentrated pocket of victims, and many walk around totally clueless. On the date rape end of things, first year females go to frat parties, get blind drunk, and wake up...having their virginity taken from them. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>...So all you girls from Mary Wash.
and RMWC,
never let a Cavalier
an inch above your knees.
He'll fill you full of liquor,
he'll fill you full of beer.
And soon you'll be the mother of
a bastard Cavalier
Oh I think we need another drink,
I think we need another drink,
I think we need another drink
for the glory of the U V A.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
And then there are all those targets for the predators that come from miles around. Women walk around alone at night - clueless - all the time. Women don't take precautions. It only takes one screw-up.
Prevention is a mindset. You are right to think as you do, Dana.
- Bill
Travel Saftey
In one of the rape cases I investigated, a man came up the fire escape in the Boston Back Bay area and entered the woman's bedroom through a window with a defective lock.
On her night table the woman had a photo of she and her boyfriend holding hands.
She awakened at the sound of the rapist masturbating over her while gazing at the photo.
You are the woman.What would you do?
Bill, your sister must be an angel. Can you post a picture of her hair?
------------------
Van Canna
[This message has been edited by Van Canna (edited August 20, 2002).]
On her night table the woman had a photo of she and her boyfriend holding hands.
She awakened at the sound of the rapist masturbating over her while gazing at the photo.
You are the woman.What would you do?
Bill, your sister must be an angel. Can you post a picture of her hair?
------------------
Van Canna
[This message has been edited by Van Canna (edited August 20, 2002).]
-
Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Travel Saftey
How good are you at photo editing???
For your benefit, I will send you (via e-mail) one photo of the 6 sisters (2 blonds, 4 redheads) in 1974 in Hampton, VA, and another (5 out of the 6 sisters plus that very sister's daughter) last Thanksgiving at Princeton, NJ. In both photos, that particular sister is on the very right.
Yep, I be proud!
- Bill
For your benefit, I will send you (via e-mail) one photo of the 6 sisters (2 blonds, 4 redheads) in 1974 in Hampton, VA, and another (5 out of the 6 sisters plus that very sister's daughter) last Thanksgiving at Princeton, NJ. In both photos, that particular sister is on the very right.
Yep, I be proud!
- Bill
Travel Saftey
First, it's probably a good idea to discuss any scenarios in a general way. I know it wasn't the intent, but individuals might be a little squeamish if the world wide web was asked to picture them naked and about to be sexually assaulted.
Second, re: the Lawn, I'm glad Bill's sister was as assertive as she was. There was a more recent attack in one of the rooms there a few years back where the person snuck in attempting a rape and actually had an orgasm making his way to the bed, apparently leaving some evidence behind after she awoke and he fled. I don't know if he was ever caught. At least in virginia it's easier for people to arm themselves than it is up here in Boston.
"On the other hand... It's different if you are female. Even as a male, I'd a lot rather die in a car accident than be the victim of rape. At least behind the wheel, the death would likely be quick and I HAD CONTROL OF MY DESTINY."
Not sure about much of this... there are more concerns a female may have traveling (or staying home--a risk of travel attack may go up with more travel but just in proportion to the risk of travel related accidents which remain far more common) because she's at greater risk of attack or at least is more likely to be sexually assaulted... but part of this is distortion of true risk and that ought to be corrected-- just as women should be reminded they're NOT more likely to die of breast cancer than a heart attack, or even among the cancers, lung cancer... despite the common fear driven perception that breast cancer is so common and deadly. Even though the fear is understandable.
As a male, I'd much rather be raped than die in a car accident... after a rape, afterall, one might have treatable problems (emotional, or correctable such as a treatable STD, or god forbid an endurable HIV infection) or might be unharmed. Dead on the other hand is dead. If I were brutalized and given herpes, HIV and two hepatitis viruses all at once, I'd still rather be alive than dead. If death were better we'd see all rape victims committing suicide. Some may but the majority don't, esp considering the fact rape is so underreported.
As far as dying quickly in a car crash, the worst suffering I've ever seen anyone go through was post-mva (many rape survivors are quite well compensated). 20 yr old guy pinned in the car as his drunk driving bud walks away unharmed... car burns... he has 3rd through 5th degree burns of everything below the nipples, has both legs amputated, goes through scraping off of his eschars daily in a burn tank, and then when he has a colostomy to keep him from soiling his wounds, he screams in pain and retches all night until 8 feet of bowel spill onto his abdomen... helping debride / do cadaveric skin grafting to this guy's seared genitals was about as lightheaded as I ever got in med school. For others the paralysis or brain damage and bedsores and operative complications are also lifelong... MVA's ****** ferociously.
Lastly any moron can drift over the double yellow and take you out before you can react, but in some situations, rape risk can be reduced or rapists outrun or outgunned or resisted hand to hand. Control of destiny varies from 0-100% for both.
Not that I don't see Bill's point that rape can ****** immeasurably, but, I think that saying it's worse than death tends to make the experience worse than it needs to be for those who must actually face it. It's like the media hiding away assault victims and fostering the impression that shame is in order, instead of promoting the survivors as victors over adversity. Rape carries a disproportionate reputation of psychic harm compared with other traumas which while frequently as awful aren't as heavily stigmatized.
Second, re: the Lawn, I'm glad Bill's sister was as assertive as she was. There was a more recent attack in one of the rooms there a few years back where the person snuck in attempting a rape and actually had an orgasm making his way to the bed, apparently leaving some evidence behind after she awoke and he fled. I don't know if he was ever caught. At least in virginia it's easier for people to arm themselves than it is up here in Boston.
"On the other hand... It's different if you are female. Even as a male, I'd a lot rather die in a car accident than be the victim of rape. At least behind the wheel, the death would likely be quick and I HAD CONTROL OF MY DESTINY."
Not sure about much of this... there are more concerns a female may have traveling (or staying home--a risk of travel attack may go up with more travel but just in proportion to the risk of travel related accidents which remain far more common) because she's at greater risk of attack or at least is more likely to be sexually assaulted... but part of this is distortion of true risk and that ought to be corrected-- just as women should be reminded they're NOT more likely to die of breast cancer than a heart attack, or even among the cancers, lung cancer... despite the common fear driven perception that breast cancer is so common and deadly. Even though the fear is understandable.
As a male, I'd much rather be raped than die in a car accident... after a rape, afterall, one might have treatable problems (emotional, or correctable such as a treatable STD, or god forbid an endurable HIV infection) or might be unharmed. Dead on the other hand is dead. If I were brutalized and given herpes, HIV and two hepatitis viruses all at once, I'd still rather be alive than dead. If death were better we'd see all rape victims committing suicide. Some may but the majority don't, esp considering the fact rape is so underreported.
As far as dying quickly in a car crash, the worst suffering I've ever seen anyone go through was post-mva (many rape survivors are quite well compensated). 20 yr old guy pinned in the car as his drunk driving bud walks away unharmed... car burns... he has 3rd through 5th degree burns of everything below the nipples, has both legs amputated, goes through scraping off of his eschars daily in a burn tank, and then when he has a colostomy to keep him from soiling his wounds, he screams in pain and retches all night until 8 feet of bowel spill onto his abdomen... helping debride / do cadaveric skin grafting to this guy's seared genitals was about as lightheaded as I ever got in med school. For others the paralysis or brain damage and bedsores and operative complications are also lifelong... MVA's ****** ferociously.
Lastly any moron can drift over the double yellow and take you out before you can react, but in some situations, rape risk can be reduced or rapists outrun or outgunned or resisted hand to hand. Control of destiny varies from 0-100% for both.
Not that I don't see Bill's point that rape can ****** immeasurably, but, I think that saying it's worse than death tends to make the experience worse than it needs to be for those who must actually face it. It's like the media hiding away assault victims and fostering the impression that shame is in order, instead of promoting the survivors as victors over adversity. Rape carries a disproportionate reputation of psychic harm compared with other traumas which while frequently as awful aren't as heavily stigmatized.
-
Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Travel Saftey
Your points are well taken, Ian.
Travel Saftey
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
------------------
Van Canna
It was in a general way but some people might just be too mentally feeble to get the point so I will make an adjustment.First, it's probably a good idea to discuss any scenarios in a general way. I know it wasn't the intent, but individuals might be a little squeamish if the world wide web was asked to picture them naked and about to be sexually assaulted.
------------------
Van Canna
Travel Saftey
Bill,
Just got the photo of your sister with the hair. What a knockout!
I will try to edit then post.
------------------
Van Canna
Just got the photo of your sister with the hair. What a knockout!
I will try to edit then post.
------------------
Van Canna
Travel Saftey
Yup, she is a Gaelic knockout.
Scottish and Irish, right?
------------------
Van Canna
Travel Saftey
I think the whole point of these discussions has always been and is to become mentally aware of potential risks by vivid imaging [placing yourself in the middle of the scenario] deal with it and then place it in the proper compartment without obsessing over it.
The stats don’t help a real victim of crime although it is okay to discuss them.
I recommend the book “Strong on defense” __ great on reality visualization. Lt Strong suggests reading the paper and immerse oneself personally in the crime reported to practice avoidance and escape.
You must see yourself being the victim of the crime to create an effective blueprint for evasion/survival.
Uncomfortable but critical in the eyes of crime experts.
The stats don’t help a real victim of crime although it is okay to discuss them.
I recommend the book “Strong on defense” __ great on reality visualization. Lt Strong suggests reading the paper and immerse oneself personally in the crime reported to practice avoidance and escape.
You must see yourself being the victim of the crime to create an effective blueprint for evasion/survival.
Uncomfortable but critical in the eyes of crime experts.
Travel Saftey
"REX" Barking Dog Alarm $79.95 Retail The super watchdog that "sees" through walls, never sleeps & sounds like a furious German Shepherd to intruders. You can choose any location indoors where you want to detect movement such as hidden behind the front door. When "Rex" detects movement, he begins to emit the fearful barking sounds of a large unhappy, attack dog. The closer the intruder gets, the louder and more frequent the barking gets. As the intruder backs off, the barking lessens in intensity and frequency.
http://www.dynamarkusa.com/frame/ecom/commerce.cgi?product=secure
Good item to take with you as you travel.
Set it up behind the hotel room door.
http://www.dynamarkusa.com/frame/ecom/commerce.cgi?product=secure
Good item to take with you as you travel.
Set it up behind the hotel room door.
