Travel Smart

Once I began researching travel information prior to my trip to Buenos Aires, I learned that it is a dangerous city in relation to cities that I have traveled to, such as Melbourne, Sydney, London, Puerto Vallarta, Vancouver, Washington D.C., etc. For example, every guide book and online travel site that I read warned about dishonest taxi drivers. Only hail radio taxis with plastic light boxes off the street, the guides warned - not street taxis. (Radio taxis are supposedly regulated and safer while the others are not.) Sometimes, if you hand taxi drivers a bill, they'll give you less change than you're entitled to because they'll say that you handed them a smaller bill than you actually did. Or they'll give you counterfeit money back as change. Other times, they'll take you the long way in order you charge you a higher fare. The latter happened to me and my travel partners more than once. (We were late to the airport because we left during 6pm peak rush hour and our taxi driver took us to the northwest when we should have been going southwest of the city. He also disabled the meter one minute after starting our ride, so we could not see the fare.) This brings up the issue of being travel-savvy and having common sense. When traveling to any city for the first time, it's common sense to study a map in order to become acquainted with the layout and the streets. Tell the taxi driver the exact address or intersection of where you want to go - don't just say the name of a neighborhood. If you act like you don't know where you're going in Buenos Aires, then you'll get taken for a ride, literally! Who wants to get lost or taken advantage of in a large, foreign, dangerous city? Certainly not me.

In addition to reading about the unsafe taxis, I learned that pickpockets are prevalent around the touristy Calle Florida shopping area. Every travel guide that I read suggested not wearing logo-emblazoned handbags, flashy jewelry, or expensive accessories. So I left my Dior sunglasses at home and brought my $8 Wayfarer knockoffs. In these situations, it's wise to carry your bag tightly under your arm in the front of your body, as I did when I went to the very crowded Portobello Road Market in London. Even the saleswoman at Silvia Y Mario, a tourist leather store, warned my friend about how to carry her bag in the front and not to wear flashy jewelry. My friend's response was to laugh, as she probably wasn't aware of how much she looked like a target for pickpocketers with her conspicuous D&G logo bag and diamond earrings. Luckily, the worst thing that happened to us was that we looked like American tourists and spent a few extra dollars on cab rides.