Travel Wise: How to Be Safe, Savvy and Secure Abroad

241 Pages·2008·0.62 MB·English

by  Ray S. Leki

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PRAISE FOR TRAVEL WISE
“Travel Wise: How to Be Safe, Savvy and Secure Abroad is a most
valuable reference book for the experienced as well as the novice
sojourner. As an international business professional who has trav-
eled the world for the last 40 years I find author Ray Leki’s book to
be right on point. It is comprehensive, readable and informative,
even for the experienced traveler. His personal and professional
experiences come across in a clear and useful manner.”
—William R. Sheridan,
Vice President-International
Human Resource Services,
National Foreign Trade Council
“Safe, savvy and secure traveling is essential in today’s world. Ray
Leki draws on his 20 years of international travel experience to
show corporate and government employees, as well as the casual
traveler, how to assess and mitigate threats and operate success-
fully in our new and sometimes dangerous cross-cultural world.
With humor, insights and hundreds of real-life examples drawn
from his own experience, Leki shows us how to cross borders and
safely navigate the world. Essential reading for anyone who carries
a passport.”
—Laurette Bennhold-Samaan, Sr.
Manager Global Mobility, Accenture Ltd
“Combining traditional security awareness, cross-cultural, and in-
terpersonal skills with proven emotional intelligence concepts; Ray
Leki’s Travel WiseModel offers an innovative and relevant primer
for 21st century Globe Trotters! Travel Wise is a must-read for
novice and seasoned travelers alike.”
—David J. Benson,
Senior Diplomatic Security Special Agent (Retired),
Former Director of the Diplomatic Security
Training Center
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“Travel Wise has a wealth of wisdom and information that will
serve experts and novices alike. I use this material in my research,
intercultural training programs and graduate courses. I recom-
mend it to all, and thank Ray for doing a great service to the inter-
cultural community.”
—Professor Dharm P. S. Bhawuk,
Shidler College of Business,
University of Hawai‘i, Manoa
“Travel Wiseprovides a holistic, frank and intelligent approach to
safe travel and raises the bar for preparation and competency for
personal safety and security. No matter your level of travel expert-
ise, Ray Leki presents information to make smart, thoughtful and
well-informed decisions.”
—Nancy R. Lockwood, MA, SPHR, GPHR,
Senior HR professional, researcher and author
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TRAVEL
WISE
x
How to Be Safe, Savvy
and Secure Abroad
Ray S. Leki
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First published by Intercultural Press, a division of Nicholas Brealey Publishing,
in 2008.
Intercultural Press,
a division of Nicholas Brealey Publishing Nicholas Brealey Publishing
20 Park Plaza, Suite 1115A 3-5 Spafield Street, Clerkenwell
Boston, MA 02116, USA London, EC1R 4QB, UK
Tel: + 617-523-3801 Tel: [phone]
Fax: + 617-523-3708 Fax: [phone]
www.interculturalpress.com www.nicholasbrealey.com
© 2008 by Ray S. Leki
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
The views and opinions expressed in this book do not necessarily reflect the
views or opinions of the U.S. Department of State.
Printed in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 978-1-931930-36-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leki, Ray S.
Travel wise : how to be safe, savvy and secure abroad / Ray S. Leki.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Travel. I. Title.
G155.A1L432 2008
613.6'8—dc22
2008011947
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To all those who empower global peace and understanding through
venturing out beyond their homes to succeed in strange lands;
andto all those who fret over, protect, guide, inspire, and
lead them on the way toward international and
intercultural understanding.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book wouldn’t exist without the interest and creative vision of
Intercultural Press Publisher Trish O’Hare. Her guidance, extraor-
dinary skill, and patience in dealing with a fledgling author are
what we all deserve though almost none of us gets. I thank her for
her friendship, trust, encouragement, and dynamite feedback. All
of the good people at Nicholas Brealey Publishing and Intercul-
tural Press manifest her qualities and commitment to excellence
and I thank them.
The original idea for this book came from a project that I
started with my friend, former boss at the State Department’s
Overseas Briefing Center, and Peace Corps sister Lee Lacy. Our
efforts to co-author this book in the early ’90s as the reality of a
global age spread like wildfire were sabotaged by overwhelming
professional and family commitments in both of our lives. Our
shared vision of helping people stay safe while getting the job done
internationally lives on through this book.
Other friends and colleagues played invaluable roles in getting
author, idea, pen, paper, and publisher together. They include
long-time esteemed collaborators and professional colleagues
Judee Blohm, intercultural beacon Gary Weaver of American Uni-
versity, friends and colleagues at the Foreign Service Institute, and
many students and Peace Corps Volunteers who urged the book
into being. My good friend DPS Bhawuk, who provided invaluable
help in independently field testing the Travel Wise survey with
his international business graduate students at the University of
Hawaii shows me again what the wonderful Nepali concept of a
meet saThimeans. My amazing sister Ilona, who can teach rocks to
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TRAVEL WISE
write and proofreads with amazing insight, wit, and laser-like clar-
ity, shares the credit along with my editors for turning my manu-
script into something far more readable, with less frequent wild
fluctuations in tense, voice, and grammar. I thank them. Ambas-
sador Prudence “Pru” Bushnell is an extraordinary friend and
American hero whose name and story I wish were part of every
household in the land. She has taught us more about courage and
empathetic leadership by her example than can ever possibly be
gleaned from the mountains of books with the word “leadership”
in their titles. Her Foreword is a gift that I cherish and hope whets
the reader’s appetite for the book she will one day write on her ex-
traordinary voyage through her life.
In particular, I’d like to thank three amazing, brilliant, gor-
geous women who provided invaluable advice through sharing
their personal experiences and strategies for success while traveling
the globe: Angela Witte, Theresa Caragol, and LeAnne Cummings.
There are too many colleagues who shared ideas or encourage-
ment over the past three decades for me to remember and ac-
knowledge them all, but I must mention inimitable WWII flyboy
and POW Claude Watkins, security pro Ed Lee, and my close
friend and Cold War superspy Marino “Dorsey” Endrizzi, who
with humor, wit, courage, and unflappable poise served his coun-
try with humility and an amazing moral compass.
Finally, I am surrounded by love and support on the home
front: my high school girlfriend-turned life partner Cindy Blan-
chard Leki, and our daughters Janine and Jasmin, who gave me the
time, space, and reason to focus on this book. They are destined to
live truly global lives. Girls, if you wind up writing a sequel, prom-
ise me you won’t call it: Daughter of Travel Wise.
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Prudence Bushnell, Former U.S. Ambassador to
Kenya and Guatemala xvii
Introduction: A New Way to Look at Travel Safety 1
Learning to Speak the Same Language 2
My Background 3
Where to Start? 7
What’s in This Book 8
1 The Travel Wise Model 11
Working through the Decision Process 12
Keeping Things in Perspective 15
Developing Travel Skills and Competencies 16
Introducing the Travel Wise Model 18
Combining the Model with Security Perspectives 19
Considering the Model from a Corporation’s
Viewpoint 22
Considering the Model from
a Sojourner’s Viewpoint 24
Before You Pack Your Bags 26
2 The Travel Wise Personal Inventory 27
Part I: Personal and Interpersonal Skills 28
Personal Characteristics 28
Physical Characteristics 29
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