Planning Your Journey

Good personal safety can begin before you leave.

Planning a journey does not mean expecting something to go wrong. It simply means knowing enough about your route and your options that you can make a different decision if circumstances change.

The aim is not to plan every possible problem.

It is to avoid having only one option.

Know your route

Before travelling somewhere unfamiliar, take a few minutes to look at your journey.

Consider:

• how you are getting there

• how you are getting home

• where you need to change transport

• how long the journey should take

• whether your route changes later in the day

• alternative routes if your original plan changes

A route that feels appropriate during the day may feel very different late at night.

Think about the environment

Look beyond the quickest route.

Consider what the journey might actually be like.

For example:

• Is the route well lit?

• Will other people be around?

• Are there staffed stations or transport hubs?

• Are there open shops, cafés or hotels along the way?

• Does the route take you through isolated areas?

• Are there places where you could get help?

The shortest route is not always the route you will feel most comfortable taking.

Know where you could go

We often plan journeys around one question:

Where am I going?

Personal safety adds another:

Where could I go?

If something changed during your journey, where could you move to?

This might be:

• a shop

• a café or restaurant

• a hotel

• a petrol station

• a staffed railway or bus station

• a security desk

• another busy public place

You may never need any of them.

Knowing they are there simply gives you more options.

Don’t just know where you’re going. Know where you could go.

Plan your journey home

Getting somewhere is only half of the journey.

If you are going out for the evening, think about how you intend to get home before you arrive.

Consider:

• the last train or bus

• where you will arrange a taxi

• whether you are travelling with someone

• what you will do if your original transport is cancelled

• whether you have enough battery and money for an alternative

Plans change.

Having a backup can prevent you from having to make a rushed decision later.

Tell someone when appropriate

For some journeys, particularly when travelling alone or somewhere unfamiliar, you may choose to tell someone:

• where you are going

• who you are meeting

• roughly when you expect to arrive

• when you expect to return

You might also agree to send a message when you arrive.

This does not need to become a complicated system.

It is simply another option available to you.

If the plan changes, reassess

Imagine you planned to walk from a railway station to your accommodation.

When you arrive, it is later than expected. The area is quiet and the route looks very different from what you expected.

You do not have to continue with the original plan simply because you made it earlier.

Stop and reassess.

Could you:

• take a different route?

• use public transport?

• arrange a taxi?

• wait somewhere staffed or busy?

• contact somebody?

Changing your plan when the circumstances change is good decision-making.

Avoid advertising unnecessary information

Be thoughtful about who needs to know your plans.

Publicly sharing that you are away from home, travelling alone or exactly where you are staying may reveal more information than you intended.

Location sharing can be useful, but consider who you are sharing information with and why.

We will look at this in more detail later in the manual.

NOTICE → THINK → ACT

Planning does not stop once your journey begins.

NOTICE

Does the journey match what I expected?

Has anything changed?

THINK

Am I still comfortable with the plan?

What alternatives do I have?

Where could I go if I needed to change it?

ACT

Continue if appropriate.

Change route.

Change transport.

Move towards somewhere safer.

Contact someone if necessary.

A good plan should help you make decisions, not trap you into following it.

Know where you’re going, but also know where you could go.