Most common risks travellers will ever face are loss of belongings, petty crime, road traffic incidents and diarrhoea. Serious safety threats are unlikely to occur, in particular if you are aware of the risks and plan your trip carefully.

Good planning is indeed the key to safety when traveling.

Firstly, check whether your destination of choice is safe in terms of crime and violence, social unrest, political situation and infrastructure.

www.travel-advisory.info provides up to date information about dangers in all world countries. You can also consult travel security websites from several countries.

Secondly, verify whether the setting and activities that you are planning are suitable for the age of your children. This is a crucial point that is often overlooked by parents resulting in poor or dangerous travel experiences. Each one of us is somehow aware that going to a location known for high social unrest might not be safe for the family. Yet very few will research which tourist activities in their destination are appropriate for young kids. For example, if you are planning to go on a safari in Africa, you should be aware of the dangers your children will be exposed to. A child can become easy prey to predators out in the wilderness. And even if you are in a protected lodge and take extreme care, it’s not possible to completely avoid animal encounters. After all, the savannah is not a zoo and animals move around freely. In one of my trips to Botswana I learned the sad story of a boy taken by a baboon while camping with his parents in a nature park.

Once you have researched about the place, you should mentally prepare for the possibility that serious events will happen, even if unlikely, by thinking through and learning how to respond to them. Avoidance is best but there are a few key rules of reaction for any incident you may face.

Stay calm

Whatever happens, staying calm is the most important thing you can do. It allows you to assess the situation rationally and make wise decisions. It also allows your instincts to work. Instincts can be life saviours as parts of our brain unconsciously interpret signs and, by giving us an uncomfortable feeling, show us that something is wrong. You can practice staying calm under stress by imagining stressful situations and breathing in and out slowly as you visualize how to deal with the situation.

Be a survivor

Nothing is worth being seriously injured or killed. If there is a direct threat to your life, don’t resist; if there isn’t, get to safety quickly or hide in case you cannot escape. As soon as it is safe to do so without exposing yourself to more danger, move to a safe location such as a bank, an office building, a hotel. It should have public access, not be empty or isolated and have a high level of security.

Assess the situation

Take a minute to properly assess the situation, don’t rush into acting. How serious is it? Think about what can be done to handle the situation in chunks and steps. Don’t try to handle everything at once. Consider the impact of your reaction. Is it likely to trigger other undesirable outcomes? Are there other threats that you are not reflecting on? If you evaluate the situation from the most objective standpoint possible, you are more likely to respond to it effectively and successfully.

In the scenario of a missing child, which is the darkest nightmare of all for a parent, as distressing as it might be, take the following approach:

Stay calm but act quickly – acting swiftly is crucial in locating a missing child. Don’t question yourself about how such thing could happen. Act!

Search the immediate area – begin by looking around you and surrounding areas. Where do you remember seeing your child for the last time? Usually, kids don’t go too far away from where you are. It may be that your child found something interesting or started playing with other kids and moved away. Think about what could have attracted or distracted your child? Could he/she go to the toilet alone?

Ask other people – describe your child to other people and ask them whether they have seen him/her. Inform about the age, hair colour, clothes wearing and any distinctive feature that may help identify the child. This is typically as far as you would normally go to find missing children.

Contact the authorities – if after searching for some time you still cannot locate your kid, contact the authorities and security, if existing, in the area where your child went missing. Provide a recent photo, a physical description, name, age, height, and other pertinent information. Explain the circumstances in which the child disappeared.

Keep a record of the events – document the timeline of events leading up to the child’s disappearance, including any relevant details about the last known whereabouts, activities and individuals you were in contact with or were nearby.