Entering a competition overseas, whether it’s a running race, bike race or some other outdoorsy event, is an exciting yet nerve-wracking venture. You might worry about your performance on the day, whether you’ll get to the event on time and how you’ll navigate a new country when traveling to and from the competition.
Whatever your concerns, taking precautions when traveling to a new area is pretty sensible, and it’s something even seasoned travelers do, especially now we’re bombarded with so much worrying news.
Luckily, there are steps you can take to ensure both yourself and your possessions arrive safely. Here are some tips to help you minimize the risks when competing abroad.
Research Your Location Before Departing
One of the joys of traveling abroad is researching the destination and planning what you’ll do when you get there. However, doing your research before you travel is not just advisable; it’s essential if you’re to stay safe in another country. You need to know if there’s any violence or unrest in the place you’re visiting, as well as what vaccinations you need and whether you can access health care once you’re there.
Reading up on the location of the event will also give you a feel for the local culture: are there any guidelines about what to wear, for example, or what possessions you should carry around? What are the transport systems like? All of these things are important to know when visiting somewhere new.
Leave Your Valuables At Home
If you’re traveling to a sport or music competition, consider leaving any valuable equipment at home. You can invest in some lightweight, portable alternatives that will do their job just as well.
It may be expensive to shell out for new kit, but if you’re going to be competing at regular events, then this investment will be worthwhile. Plus, if anything ever happens to your equipment when you’re traveling, at least you’ll still have your stunt scooter, mountain bike, photography gear or favorite guitar waiting for you back home.
Invest in Smaller or Lighter Alternatives
Travel guitars and other instruments are easy to find on the Internet, as are lightweight sporting essentials. Therefore, if you’re traveling from A to B but are worried about the wellbeing of your equipment, finding measures to ensure your instrument or sporting gear arrives safely is simpler than you may think. For guitars, find a small and more durable make.
If you have a freestyle scooter, for example, then Affinity Scooters (found at skates.co.uk) produce the world’s lightest and strongest scooters parts, especially bars, making your scooter more compact and easier to transport.
Again, if you have a BMX bike to take with you, find lighter bars and take your bike apart before putting it (safely) into a duffel bag.
Keep Your Belongings Close
It may not be possible to keep your possessions on you all the time, but you should to ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep them safe. Get a padlock for your suitcase, store all your valuables in one pocket, so it’s easy to see if something is missing and keep anything that isn’t immediately replaceable (like your health insurance documents, ID, passport and travel money) on you at all times.
The truth is, our belongings are never 100 percent safe when we travel, despite how well we look after them – just the same as we can never guarantee that an accident won’t happen or we won’t get injured. Still, it’s important to take all possible safety measures and make sure you know the area you’re traveling to, as well as who to call in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.