Personal security

10 travel safety tips you can learn from the CIA

Mathew Bradley spent more than 14 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, and now this former CIA agent is the Regional Security Director, Americas, for International SOS (a medical and travel security assistance company). I spoke to him via email to ask his top travel safety tips, both at home and abroad.

What travel safety tips does the CIA give to its employees?

1. Maintain a low profile. CIA employees don’t want to draw attention to themselves.

2. Research your destination before you go. Part of keeping a low profile is knowing the local customs and blending in. Act like you have been there before.

3. Plan your ground transportation and hotel arrangements in advance. We never leave home without contact details for every stage of our itinerary.

4. Stay aware of your surroundings. [Do] the research to know what fits in the location where you are.

What should tourists do in case of an emergency while traveling?

1. Have a plan before you go out. Know where you will meet if separated from your group following a terrorist attack, violent protest or other incident.


2. Make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you should be back. They should know who to call if you don’t check in...