Personal security

10 ultimate travel safety tips from a former CIA officer

The thing is, like with most horrible things we don’t like to think about, we tend to assume the incidents that make up these tales can’t happen to us. But they can, and they do.

So for piece of mind, we went straight to the CIA, well, former CIA, for some sound, spy-worthy safety protocol to have ready for our next adventure.

While we were worried, at first, that these measures seemed like they could be evoking fear and paranoia, or at the least, distracting from the holiday experience, former CIA officer Jason Hanson was quick to retort by saying, “when I do this stuff, it gives me peace of mind and I don’t worry about anything. I do it as second nature”.

Sure, not all of us have undergone espionage training (or anything close to it), but it’s kind of comforting to know that these are all precautions that Hanson himself puts into play when he hits the road. Most of these tips are for travel abroad — even in westernised areas (did you know that Barcelona has one of the highest pickpocketing rates in the world?) - and some are just all-round, wherever-you-go tips.