Travelling is more than just a matter of what you pack.
Every day, people go travelling by themselves to countries that they’ve never been to. What happens when you travel alone and what are the dangers that come with it? Dylan Churchwell has experienced some of those pitfalls.
Q: I know you went traveling to Thailand alone. I was curious to know if anything dangerous happened while you were there?
A: I went to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, and then finishing back in Thailand. I met some people at the hostel I was staying in and we went out for a buddy’s birthday one night. We definitely had to hit the ATMs a couple of times. We came back to our hostel and for some reason I wanted to check my banking online, and all of my money in my chequing account was gone.
Q: What steps did you take after you realized someone had robbed you?
A: I called TD bank and they thought I just withdrew it all, when really the same ATM I was going too all night, was taking out double the amount of money I withdrew every time. So I had nothing left, I had to cut my trip short and head home.
Q: So this happened towards the end of your trip. Did anything else scare you from traveling alone again?
A: Yeah, a few buddies and I were leaving the bar one night, heading back to our hostel, and a local Thai man held up a bag of opium and a bag of weed… so I say, “No, no, no.” He kept bugging us, so we all just bought some weed so he would leave us alone. As soon as he walks away after selling it to us, police sirens go off and we get stopped by them. The dealer and the police were working together, so by this time we either had to pay the police officer off or be taken to god knows where.. so we offered him 300 baht and he accepted.
Q: Would you ever go traveling to a developing country again?
A: Yes, of course. I would just take better precautions and not go to an ATM to withdraw cash. Definitely taught me a very valuable lesson.
