You don’t get to my age without learning to trust your gut instincts. These instincts have faired me well on my many solo journeys over the years. Life experience has given me the skills to keep myself Safe. It’s a sure bet that you won’t find me getting drunk or out too late by myself in a strange place.

However, coming from Australia, which is a relatively safe country, sometimes it is hard to comprehend that in other countries this is not always the case; particularly as a solo female traveller.  It’s easy to forget that in other countries people carry guns or that petty crime and scams are rampant when you rarely experience it at home.

During my travels I have seen some weird and wonderful things, and have been known to start having a chat to the odd pimp or homeless person (or anyone really). On one occasion in Los Angeles, a policeman told me, that instead of waiting for the bus it was probably best that I caught a taxi. On another occasion while living for a while in Portland Oregon, I was approached from behind while walking from the corner store, and tapped on the shoulder, (yes a little scary) only to be told by the man that did this that he just wanted to tell me how beautiful I was. Oh and of course then there are the stories of the cheeky Frenchmen in Marseille, I talked about in my previous blog (). Not once on these occasions had my gut instinct told me that I was in any real danger. That was until I visited New York.

Generally speaking New York is a safe place to visit and like anywhere else as long as you don’t make it too obvious that you not a local and stay a distance from groups of tourists, you can pretty much see the city for it’s beauty and atmosphere. I loved New York from the minute I got there.

One night however, I was out and about trying to find a place to get some dinner. I had left it a little late to decide to eat, so made up my mind that I would just go to the local fast food restaurant to get something quick and easy to eat. I decided to eat in and do some people watching (it’s always great to see how people from other countries live their daily lives).

As I sat eating my burger, I noticed that this fast food restaurant must have been the local hangout for drug dealers. Yes there were definitely some shady deals going on pretty close by me. I look pretty harmless so the people doing this weren’t taking much notice of me. I however, was getting that gut feeling that something was up and knew that it wasn’t just the burger making me feel that way. And boy was I right.

I finished off my meal thinking to myself, “I won’t be eating one of them ever again” and started to head for the door. At that moment a man who had been sitting at a table nearby, ran past me and out the door. As I reached the sidewalk, I could see the man running across the road, gun in hand. The next minute, I heard the sound of the gun being fired and watched as another man fell to the pavement. I very nearly wet myself and was frozen in fear for what seemed like a lifetime. There was panic everywhere and before I knew it once again a policeman, was telling me to get out of there, even though I was letting him know that I had witnessed the shooting. A nice couple came to my rescue and walked me back to my hotel.

Not only was this the scariest thing that has ever happened to me on my travels, it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, and a stark reminder to listen to those gut feelings. They are nature’s way of keeping you safe.

Remember to listen to your gut and always be aware of what’s happening around you when you venture out into the world.  I would travel to New York again in a heart beat.

Keep Safe!

@Julie Beckers