Photo: Ed Yourdon
This is not an attempt at fear mongering, just a simple reminder to be careful.
As a Canadian living in Melbourne, the recent death of Canadian backpacker Cain Aguiar hit a little too close to home. The rising level of violence in this city, both in frequency and severity, is cause for concern.
It seems standard now to open the Monday newspaper only to read about a big brawl, bottling, or stabbing leading to hospitalized victims and worse, as in this case, ending in death. Last week Cain, while drinking by himself at a local pub, was attacked by three men, allegedly because he was talking to a woman known by the three accused.
As Cain lay in a hospital bed on life support, his sister set up a Facebook group for others to join and offer their support and well wishes. Unfortunately, the group theme had to be changed from “hope” to “rest in peace” when the family made the impossibly difficult decision to turn off the life support.
Remember, you’re not at home
While this sort of thing can easily happen at home too, it’s safe to say that we are more vulnerable on the road. We don’t really know the area we are in, we don’t know the culture, and we let our guard down a little. After all, we are supposed to be relaxed, having a good time and trying new things.
The case of Australian Britt Lapthorne, who was found murdered in Croatia late last year, serves as an example where “toning it down” would probably have led to much different results. Partying it up and getting out of hand is one thing at home, but abroad it’s a whole different ball of wax, where we stand out and can be more easily taken advantage of.
When you’re in a foreign country, be aware of your surroundings and err on the side of caution. We’re not invincible.
Safe travels everyone.
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5 Comments... join the discussion!
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All great points.Will have to keep this fresh in my mind. A friend of mine got mugged while leaving a club in Vietnam. Him and his friend had had far too much to drink and decided to take a shortcut home down a dark street. They were followed and attacked. At home you would think nothing of it but you stand out too much when abroad…I have been told to never get as drunk as you would at home no matter how safe you think it may be!
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Good advice. In the heat of the moment it is always good to take a step back and re-asses situations. Having lived for over a year in Guatemala, I sometimes notice myself getting far to complacent. Doing things I would have considered too dangerous my first couple months here.
The longer you spend in a place, the higher the chance you’ll fall into that.
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Good Points, well made.
No matter were you are, at home or abroad there are people who want to take advantage of you. What happened to Christy’s friends can happen to you at anytime.
Don’t panic, bad people are a minority every where. But do keep a sense of situational awareness; a sense of where you are and what is going on around you. Where is the nearest main road, hospital, landmarks? That sort of thing.
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I just love reading these articles here.. the only this which stops me is my graduation this november.
I’m off as soon as possible and join you guys. I hope I meet you all somewhere.
Take care and enjoy it!!– a jealous person.
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