This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.
23.11.2023 - 17:57 / insider.com
This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Chloe Jade, an influencer who has been documenting her travels around the world on Instagram . It has been edited for length and clarity.
I am an American content influencer with a dream of traveling the world.
I'm well on my way and have visited more than 80 countries already. I do most of my traveling on my own but often have friends and family who come along with me to certain parts of the world.
My travels, which I document on my Instagram channel, have been amazing so far, and I love meeting new people and experiencing new cultures.
Yet, there have been a few places where I have felt unsafe as a female traveler. Here are some of them:
There are so many amazing places to visit in Thailand, but Pattaya — largely known as the country's sex capital — was definitely my least favorite.
I just felt like a lot of the foreign men that go there have only one thing in mind, and it's very specific. So, being there as a woman just made me feel very uncomfortable.
Honestly, I've generally always felt really safe in Asia, so this was a surprise for me. While the rest of Thailand is beautiful, I would just avoid Pattaya.
Belgrade in Serbia was probably the most unsafe I've ever felt traveling, but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I'm American.
When locals found out I was from the US, they would become very hostile. This happened to me so much that I stopped saying I was American because I realized that it was the inciting factor.
Once, I was in the back of a taxi, and the driver was telling me how much he hated America. He was not letting it go, and as a lone woman in the back of a car, that was a little scary — especially if somebody was showing no signs of lightheartedness.
It is crazy to me that I felt so unsafe in Belgrade, considering that I had just been traveling through the Balkans and never had any issues.
I think it also has to do with the war right now in Ukraine because one of the men said he had to defend his Russian family. So, I think that there's just a lot of hostility going on there politically at the moment.
When I visited Paris, I had a scary experience with a local man who pressured me into getting a drink with him. When I went to my hostel that night, I had cold sweats and felt unwell.
To this day, I feel like I was drugged. I think I am lucky that I got away from the man.
The reason I've put Paris on my list is because I think it is too romanticized in the movies, especially for an American audience.
Like other megacities in the world, Paris comes with its dangers, and I urge women to stay alert and vigilant if they're ever alone.
I loved my time in Morroco, and I highly recommend people to visit it.
Although I
This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.
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