Traveling abroad this year? A travel industry expert shares crucial safety tips.
For some, it's felt like a long, cold winter. So maybe you want to get away somewhere warm and far away. While booking can be as easy as one click, safely getting through the vacation is imperative, especially when it's an international trip.
Mandy Litterini owns the Litterini Travel agency, and she said she's worked in the travel industry for a decade, so she knows jumping into spring break season takes preparation.
"I have over 60 passport stamps in the past three years," Litterini said. "You name it in the Caribbean, Grenada, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic."
Now, with a University of Pittsburgh student missing in the Dominican Republic, many are wondering how to keep themselves as safe as possible traveling anywhere internationally.
Litterini said she travels all the time on her own.
"People ask me if I'm afraid, they say, 'Aren't you afraid to travel alone?' Really, I'm not. I find that walking around Downtown Pittsburgh is probably more dangerous sometimes than some of these resorts. The security is high, you have a lot of tourists around. A lot of the resorts are in safe areas."
Even at a resort, Litterini suggests a few best practices for anybody traveling this spring break.
"I think it always comes down to common sense. Not leaving your resort late at night, staying with a buddy, watch how much alcohol you're consuming because we become unaware of our surroundings and loosen up when too much alcohol is consumed," Litterini said.
Keeping your wits about you while traveling matters in the states and places with travel advisories. The current advisory for the Dominican Republic recommends exercising "increased precautions."
"What I like to remind our clients is that the U.S. is on heightened security levels for a lot of other countries to come here," said Litterini.
Litterini knows from experience advisories often go unnoticed until something happens, but when in doubt, reach out to a travel agent about your next overseas trip.
"I would not be afraid to go to any of these places in the Caribbean. I feel just as safe traveling there alone. I would bring my children. My livelihood depends on travel, so I certainly wouldn't recommend going anywhere that I didn't feel was safe," said Litterini.
