6. Safety. As a general rule, pensions, homestays, bed and breakfasts, and hostels are more “women friendly” than hotels or motels. If that is all that’s available, abide by the following: use only a first initial when checking in. Request a room that is not on the main floor. Take the elevator instead of the stairs. And never leave your key where someone can see your room number.
7. What To Wear. Conforming to local gender roles/social customs can be a challenge sometimes. While foreign women might be forgiven or excused for pushing the limits of local dress codes, it is simply disrespectful to wear tank tops and shorts in conservative or religious societies. Also beware that many cultures take fashion seriously: my mud brown corduroys and hiking boots made me look and feel like an androgynous pauper in Eastern Europe, and my ripped jeans were crudely inappropriate. Flip through magazines and rent contemporary movies from your destination and pack accordingly.
8. Staying healthy. Parasites just love to hitch hike. Keep them away by avoiding the following, especially in the developing world: salads and other raw vegetables, unpasteurized products like milk and yogurt, iced drinks, cold meat and cheese platters in Soviet-era hotels (where it’s probably been sitting out for hours, if not days), and shell fish. When choosing a restaurant, check out the bathroom first: if the Board of Health would condemn it, the same probably goes for the kitchen. Give your body time to adjust to local spices before hitting the street stalls, and only patron the busiest ones when you do. If you wind up somewhere even remotely sketchy, go vegetarian—or at the very least, avoid chicken and fish, as it goes bad fast. If you do get sick, drink Sprite and monitor your stool. If it turns yellow, bloody, or has pus in it, get to a doctor—fast.
9. Tears Work. While I hate to recommend that women rely on their perceived fragility or weakness to get by, there really is something about a lonesome foreign woman crying that magically opens the doors, wallets, and hearts of the people of this planet. It is how I got all of my stolen documents replaced one miserable day in Turkey in record time, without penalty or rush fees. It is how my friend Daphne evaded costly traffic violations across Africa and literally stopped a departing airplane in Angola.
