Re: Security/crime in Curitiba/Brazil
Hi Ondrej
On 2019/05/07 16:36, Ondrej Novy wrote:
> DebConf 17, Canada, rank 6
> DebConf 18, Taiwan, rank 34
> DebConf 19, Brazil, rank 106
> DebConf 20, Israel, rank 146
Coming from a country that ranks 125 (too bad DC16 didn't fit in the
pattern above) and having traveled in just about 20 different countries,
I would say:
* Blend in and don't look too much like a tourist, this includes
things like:
- Don't wear a giant camera around your neck all the time
- Don't have a wallet hanging half-way out of your pocket
stuffed with money (you think this would be obvious, but
I've seen lots of this in Paris in an area which is known
for pick-pockets)
- Wear casual clothes, it will be a mild winter, pack some clothes
with long sleeves
* Take care of your stuff
- If you have an older laptop that you can get by with, it might be
better to travel with that
- Never leave your things unattended, if you need to leave a room,
ask someone to keep an eye on it for you, if there is no one there,
rather pack up and take your stuff with you.
Some slightly less obvious stuff but very important:
* Make some preperations
- When traveling locally, be more or less sure where you want to go
to. Even if you have a local sim, network coverage might be spotty,
download off-line maps so that you can always figure out which way
'back home' is. Store the location of your accomodation on your
phone.
- If you can, get a local sim, imho it's nearly always worth every
cent if your home sim doesn't let you roam (or is really expensive)
- Install Uber. You might not like them, there's probably many good
reasons for that, but being able to press a button on your phone
and a car will show up in ~2 minutes is a great safety net that
can be useful for a wide array of emergencies.
* Even when you play it safe, be prepared for minor bad things:
- Don't carry all your cards with you, if your wallet does get
lost/stolen, lose just one credit card instead of a credit card,
debit card, drivers license, library card, etc.
- Keep the minimal amount of cash with you, this is relatively easy
these days anyway.
- Leave your passport in a safe where you stay, also keep a copy in
your laptop bag just in case something goes wrong and you need to
explain to your embassy.
- Store the emergency numbers listed on the DebConf site on your
phone, along with some numbers from Debian friends. For worst-case
type of things, store your embassy's number too. Also your credit
card cancellation number.
- Print out your international medical insurance details and keep it
in your wallet, you want to minimize any time doubting how you'll
pay for a medical emergency if it should happen. (not sure how
the hospital system works in Brazil, but always best to play it
safe)
* Be careful who you trust:
- There are scammers everywhere. In Hungary some of the people got
lured into a restaurant and everything was just fine. When they got
back home, they realised that they got charged 1000's of dollars on
their credit cards. It looked fine when they signed it because of
currency conversion, but they were clearly targetted for this. If
any offer or deal looks to good to be true, consider just walking
away especially if you're alone.
* If you want to drink, do it in a safe place, don't get drunk and
disorientated in public.
* Don't start fights.
Also, pockets that zip up are great! If you have those, pack them!
And also, don't panic and pack your towel.
-Jonathan
--
⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀ Jonathan Carter (highvoltage) <jcc>
⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian Developer - https://wiki.debian.org/highvoltage
⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋ https://debian.org | https://jonathancarter.org
⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Safe is a relative construct" -Spock
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