Travel Tales Women Alone The #MeToo of Travel

Travel Tales: Michael&apos;s Own Top 25 Travel Tales: Michael&apos;s Own Best 150 Travel Tales: Women Alone — The #MeToo of Travel! The Road to Strange: Travel Tales of the Paranormal and Beyond The Road to Strange: UFOs, Aliens, and High Strangeness Watch for more at www.michaelbrein.com.

You wouldn&apos;t believe the incredible strories people have told me about their travels.

According to Wikipedia: The #MeToo (or Me Too) movement is a relatively new phenomenon created to refer to a growing presence and voice of many women who are finally coming forward as having been prior silent victims of the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse among women, particularly in the entertainment industry and other workplaces. Increasing vocal public revelations by women, many who are relatively famous, who have heretofore been silent victims of such behaviors, are becoming the new rallying cry — indeed, the new norm — that is encouraging more and more women to come forward with their own accounts of similar sexual abuses. The evident widespread occurrence of such sexual misconduct is coming more and more into the public eye by the growing admissions by many women, including many public figures and stars, that they too have been victims. And this makes it easier, indeed, for more and more women to come forward, themselves, with their own personal accounts of sexual harassment and assaults, due to the growing momentum of public awareness of the extent and magnitude of such sexual abuses.

As this book Travel Tales: Women Alone amply demonstrates, there is indeed the equivalent prevalence of sexual harassment and assault within the context of domestic and foreign travel as well. Indeed, we are hearing more and more about it as a result of the growing #MeToo phenomenon emerging in the United States and spreading worldwide. Undoubtedly, sexual harassment and assault have also been rampant among women travelers probably since time immemorial. Moving forward, women will have more opportunity to give vent to and air out in the open, the demeaning and disgusting sexual abuses that many have suffered and continue to suffer in their travels today. While many women travelers have come forward in this book to tell about their own harrowing sexual harassment and assault experiences, the voices of many more women sadly still remain as of yet unheard. For it has been the unfortunate norm in society, particularly in the past, essentially to remain silent. Women have been accustomed to bearing the brunt and suffering silently with such degrading behaviors, simply because they did not believe that much of anything would or could likely come of it. But now, it seems that times are finally a changing. Not only are women speaking out — rather, they are SHOUTING out, “Me Too!” — because doing so now makes a difference! Sadly, though, the sexual assaults and abuses we have heard of recently in the context of travel merely represent more the tip of a vast social iceberg. It has been one of the purposes of this book to begin to make the sufferings of women travelers better known. And, hopefully, by doing so, the world can now become a better and safer place for all travelers, especially for women

Now, the momentum is growing; women travelers are shouting out “Me Too!” — and the world is finally listening and paying more attention. And change is beginning to take place, at least, initially, because more people not only are listening now, but they are also speaking out!

Travel Tip #7: Do Not Be Over-Confident!

Be careful of over-confidence in both yourself and others! ‘Quantum,’ unpredictable, or chance events do pop up or occur from time to time that even experts may find difficult to deal with. It’s too easy to become over-confident that ‘I can deal with this’ or ‘I can handle this’ (or anything) that comes my way or crosses my path, or ‘I’m not afraid of anything!’ All too often, unforeseen dangers pop up and happen to people who become ever-so-slightly less observant or prepared to deal with, simply because they become too complacent or careless due to over-confidence.

Well, interestingly, she certainly wasn’t inclined to use him as a route to escape or anything like that, and apparently didn’t have an impulse to escape anymore at that time. You know, I don’t know, but I think that if she had wanted to escape, I’m sure he would have helped her out, but apparently, she didn’t want to anymore. So, because this was a direct contact, you know, I kind of think it’s probably a fairly reliable story.

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, 1986. I was once “felt up” on a United Airlines flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles. I was seated in the window seat and two men were in the center and aisle seats of my row. I don’t remember being traumatized by it. I just remember waking up and realizing what was happening and stood up in my window seat. Although not possible to stand up fully straight, I faced outward towards the aisle, pushed the call button and just waited for the flight attendant to appear. I never spoke to the man in the seat next to me or even looked at him but just stood waiting. When the flight attendant came by, I told her what had happened; everyone was looking at me; it was the middle of the night, and I spoke in a loud voice. They reseated me in first class, moved the guy to the window from the center seat, and that was it.  I did not complain to the airline; they handled the situation effectively and efficiently. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing. [Michael] In retrospect, how do you feel about it all? I did not feel violated, only angry that someone would try something like that. Yes, I did want everyone around me to know what this person had done; that’s why I spoke loud enough for everyone around me to hear.

Travel Tales: Women Alone —The #MeToo of Travel

I have had young women relating to me, “Yes, I should have known better; I should have seen the signs.”  The stories in this book emphasize how women alone have gotten themselves into dangerous situations in the first place, how they coped and sometimes managed to escape and survive, and what they might have done differently in retrospect if they had to re-experience these harassments and assaults all over again. Every effort is made to uncover the clues and cues to dangerous situations and to provide, where feasible, possible ways to avoid these scary and horrific experiences in the first place. Finally, a series of “Travel Tips” are offered throughout this book in support of experiencing travel in the most safe and secure manner possible. And to those brave and courageous women who have forged their paths in travel and endured the suffering of sexual harassment and assault to bring to you useful knowledge and valuable information that can help you to avoid that which they have had to suffer through, we say, “Thank you” for shouting out to the world in your own special ways, “Me Too!”

Please know that some stories in the True Travel Tales series may be graphic, unpleasant, and disturbing. This book is aimed towards a mature adult audience. Yet, some material ought to be communicated in a clear and responsible manner to younger and relatively inexperienced travelers who could benefit by knowing how to travel more safely and securely. No story in the series is meant to depict any country, people, race, culture or religion in a negative light. Good and bad things can and do happen anywhere and to anyone. Finally, some stories may appear in other books depending on the countries and subject matter covered.

Note: The author, Michael Brein, makes comments and asks questions frequently throughout the stories in this book.

New Delhi, India, 1970. I was in my early 20s and I was walking along a main street in New Delhi. I had just turned right onto another main street and was about to make another right down an alleyway. Just as I was turning into the pathway, a black car suddenly pulled right up in front of me, screeching to a sudden halt — they were obviously going too fast. I heard two doors swing open and these two men jumped out of the car. I could see that they were both staring at me with the intent of grabbing me. So, I started running. [Michael] What clued you in on that? Their very intense staring, their very anxious staring. They focused their complete attention on ME. It was the abruptness of what they did, after screeching their brakes to a sudden stop. They had very rough, nasty looks on their faces. [Michael] What did you do? I ran. I had, in fact, just come from the Himalayas, from literally running up and down mountains, so I was in great shape at the time. They started chasing me down this pathway, and I was running

to my hotel. They were right in back of me, but as soon as I hit the doors of the hotel they backed right off and ran off. [Michael] Did anybody see them? Nobody saw them. It was amazing that nobody saw them. I didn’t scream. I was going to start screaming if they had followed me into the hotel, however. But no matter, they backed off. [Michael] What do you think was going on? Well, they definitely wanted to take me for the slave market. That was high stakes in the 1970s. There were all kinds of stories of white women being kidnapped in India. [Michael] In INDIA? Oh, yeah. In India, all right! All across Asia, in fact, from Turkey to India. That’s what we were hearing — stories of women being kidnapped. We heard from other travelers, mostly Europeans. We heard from them to be very careful traveling alone, especially as a woman. I heard stories in Europe even before I went to India. Funny, I was not even intending to go to India, but it so happened that I ended up going there. I heard all along that we had to be very careful and to watch out where you are going and watch out who you talk to. They could sell you for a lot of money, actually. You’re a valuable commodity to them. (Laughs) They sell you, and you can get raped and killed. All kinds of wonderful things! [Michael] Did these guys look like they had done this before? The ones that were after me? Oh yeah, they sure did. They looked like they had done this MANY times before; it was their very high intention of grabbing me. It was all very scary. [Michael] Were you wary of leaving the hotel after that? No. I went out again. But I was leaving India in a few days, so I was ready to leave. I was going back to the Himalayas.

These are the true travel tales of solo women travelers being sexually harassed and assaulted in their travels around the world and what some of them were able to do about it! They are shouting “Me Too!” to you through these pages!  No human being should be subjected to the despicable, disgusting and degrading behaviors that these women have had to put up with at the hands of men who should be relegated to the dregs of humanity! For my True Travel Tales series, I have interviewed nearly 2,000 world travelers. And I have weaved the best of their 10,000 fantastic travel tales into a psychology of travel as revealed by these very telling stories. These are travelers I’ve met on airplanes, trains, buses, ships, tours, safaris, and in hotels, campgrounds, cafes, and pubs. These courageous travelers have shared often their most personal and private travel experiences, some good and wonderful and others horrific and life-threatening, which I, in turn, share with you now through this series in general and this book in particular. Travel Tales: Women Alone is Volume 3 of the True Travel Tales series and deals with safety and security of the woman solo traveler. It’s about how to travel safely throughout the world.

Unfortunately, travel today finds us in a world of growing terror threats, the imposition of severe and strict cultural and religious restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms, as well as decreasing tolerance for cultural and religious differences and diversity around the world. For women traveling alone, having to deal with sexual hassles and assaults is daunting in the least. For women alone, travel mostly is exciting and relatively safe, but for many women, traveling in some countries, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East, can often be traumatic and downright dangerous. I have tales of women constantly being bothered and harassed. And, sad to say, some women have even disappeared from marketplaces, never to be seen again. To be a woman and to travel alone in such forbidding and foreboding places is not for the faint of heart. Many young women are naively unaware and must be exceedingly careful in their interactions with men overseas. Just because men are well-dressed and speak your language does not necessarily mean that they can be trusted. Every woman traveling abroad needs to know about and prepare herself for dealing with such things. Again, while travel is mostly adventurous, exciting and safe, it can also be foreboding and downright dangerous at times, and one must be prudent.  Forgive me for pulling no punches: but, if I were you, I’d think very carefully about traveling to some parts of the world as a woman ALONE! Women have shared hundreds of travel stories with me about how they have had to fend off — yes, even fight off at times — the unwanted advances of men, ranging from verbal harassment, unwanted touching, exposure, and, yes, even rape and disappearance.

Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 1968-1969. I had a friend, Ron Laney, who went on a quest looking for a Persian rug in Iran, Turkey and North Africa. At that time, it was before the Shah of Iran was deposed, so seeking out such a rug then was quite the achievement. He went all over North Africa, including a fair amount of time searching for a rug in Morocco. He went into the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and was traveling with some Bedouins. Oddly enough, he came across a young, pretty white American woman who was in her early 20s who spoke English. She was traveling with the Bedouins, and he was trying to find out why she was there, why she was traveling with them. At first she was hesitant to say anything at all, but anyway, over time, the story emerged that she had been kidnapped in Europe a few years earlier, and that probably would have been, I would guess, in 1965-1966, something like that. She had been in Europe and had been brought to Morocco in North Africa. Apparently, she was sold to a white slave trader, because, you know, she was young and white and cute — the whole bit. And because she had blonde hair and blue eyes, she had been a target for the white slavery trade.

She had been kidnapped and taken to and sold to some Bedouins, who then took her south into the desert and kept her there for some period of time, maybe a couple of years. After a time, she had gotten involved with them and started to learn their language. Apparently, she was no longer inclined to run away, and I guess, she had apparently transferred her allegiance to them in some way and was not inclined anymore to run away. Yeah, she was American, kidnapped in Europe, but I’m not sure where she was kidnapped. So, by the time he met them, she was already well implanted into their culture and was no longer really a true captive anymore. She was a captive in spirit by that time more than anything else, and apparently, he had asked her why she didn’t try to escape or why she didn’t run away. She said that since she’d been there for so long, by then they were now her people, and so, she was inclined to stay. He didn’t question her any further on that issue, and he traveled with her for some time. In their conversations, he also inquired, whether, to her knowledge, this had happened elsewhere. Her response was that it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, at least at that time. So, that’s the story, as I know it. Whether she’s still there now about 20 years later is anybody’s guess. I think the important thing that stuck in my mind about all this was that she had originally been kidnapped and taken somewhere by force, but by the time Ron had met her she was no longer really staying there under duress any longer. She’d been absorbed into the culture in a way that she wasn’t inclined to leave on her own. I think that was the important point that I caught.

He put up no resistance. He was around 40, was not drinking, and I never spoke to him.   I, at that time, had never heard of this happening. I do not have a particular take on the flight attendant, however. She was very businesslike and professional, did not accuse him, and did not expect me to remain in that seat. When we landed in LA the pilot made an announcement, something like, “Please remain in your seats; there has been an incident on the flight, and LAPD will be boarding the flight to remove a passenger.”   After I had been reseated, the flight attendant gave me paper and pen and asked me to write out a statement and give my contact phone number. I was later contacted by a California district attorney who asked if I wanted to file charges. I did not. United Airlines had acted appropriately; the perpetrator had been exposed and life went on.

Travel Tip #4: Have an Exit Strategy!

Always have an exit strategy — a way out! Avoid getting yourself into a situation in the first place that you cannot get out of if you have to. Not always easy to do. Probably the single most frequent cause of people getting into trouble is where and when your options are reduced to the point where ‘there is nothing you can do,’ i.e., your options or choices go to zero! You may become a victim when you allow yourself to have too few escape options. The best example of this is people hitchhiking: getting into a stranger’s car or truck at night by yourself or into a third-world taxicab where your escape options are too few or non-existent. Maintain some degrees of freedom. Hold in reserve some kind of an escape valve. Sadly, a good deal of dangerous situations discussed in this book were for women travelers who wound up having NO or few degrees of freedom, that is, they got ‘boxed in’ into inescapable situations in vehicles or with strangers and with few, if any, ways out.

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