Rio's Bad Rap

Travel blogs and friends alike gave me a slew of warnings about going to Rio de Janeiro. The city is certainly not as safe as many traditional vacation spots in the US or Europe, but it's certainly a place worth seeing and with proper precautions I think most travelers can have an exciting and fulfilling vacations to the city. I wanted to come out and write about some of the safety steps I took because tourism has been low there lately, even with the World Cup fast approaching, and people deserve to know which warnings are real and which are exaggerated.

I took precautionary steps that were not the "normal" steps most people would take for Europe. I didn't wear any jewelry (though many locals did) and I didn't carry more money than I needed for the day. I carried a decoy wallet with a couple expired credit cards in it in case I was in a situation where I was forced to hand it over, and I purchased a cheap decoy watch in case I had to hand something over when I wasn't carrying a purse. I didn't end up needing to use the decoys but I'm glad that I carried them. I also carried extra money and credit cards in an inside pocket and researched how the locals would dress in Rio to make sure I didn't stand out as a tourist. It's also important to get good directions before heading to any new destination and to be careful to not pull out a map in public or look overtly confused. I was careful not to speak English in public. I didn't pull out my camera unless I was in a secure area and didn't pull out my phone in public, though a lot of locals were comfortable doing that.

Locals gave good advice on how late it would be safe to stay out and it's always helpful to look to the locals to see what they think is safe. If I saw other young women on the street carrying purses and walking their yorkies, I felt pretty comfortable. It's also good to pay attention to whether or not locals are pulling their wallets out in public. I didn't learn this until I arrived, but a large portion of thefts in Rio are committed by males under the age of 18. That gives you a good idea of who to be wary of. There were some neighborhoods, like Lapa, where the samba clubs are, that I researched and chose to avoid because I was traveling alone. I may have made a different decision if I had someone to accompany me.

I can't say any one of these things played a hand in making this a smooth trip, some of this depends on good luck. I know there are some people who had a bad experience in Rio despite taking precautions, but I'm convinced that many of the horror stories came from people who made textbook tourist mistakes. Rio isn't a war zone. Don't let the additional safety precautions stop you from visiting a spectacular city!

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