Tourist get taken advantage of everywhere, whether you go to New Orleans and get scammed by the famous trick of “I know where you got your shoes” or get pickpocketed in a Venice Italy. While traveling around Europe my family have been victims of people pickpocketing us. My parents always were aware of their surrounds and prepared for such occasions. People tried to steal from us numerous times. My mom got her wallet stolen which only had her American driver's license and a few Swiss Francs. My dad almost got his camera stole. The camera was on my dad’s belt and somehow the man got the case and camera off his belt but dropped it. My dad noticed the camera dropped but thought it was the man’s camera so tried to give it back to him but ended up running away. Little did that man know he could have really stole our camera since my dad didn’t notice it was ours until my brother said it looked familiar.

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Scams are highly possible in Europe too. A man tried to scam me when I was about 6 or 7. Usually on the streets you will see people trying to sell their treasures to you. I was walking past this man trying to sell this play doh looking monster. He processed to follow me, talk to me, and shove the play doh thing in my face. He wanted to show me how fun of a toy it was and get my mom to buy it for me. We of course didn’t buy it as I’m sure it was overpriced for some play doh formed into a monster.

 

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Speaking or being able to understand the language is a very important factor in traveling. Getting directions or even ordering some food can be a very challenging task. Usually there was someone that could speak a little English, expect this one time. My brother really wanted chicken, so my dad read the menu and mistaken frog legs for chicken. When the waiter brought out the frog legs my dad somehow convinced my brother it was chicken, so he took a bite out of it, but instantly knew it wasn’t chicken. My brother refused to eat it and ordered something different. Being able to read a menu would have avoided this predicament.

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Tourists need to be cautious and prepared for any situations to occur. Especially traveling outside of the country, you need to be prepared with what scams and situations that you might be put into. Some things that might help is studying the language, having a travel wallet that goes around your waist, and keeping an eye on your surroundings.