What I am telling my little sister about traveling in Europe this year or what I wish I had known on my first solo trip

I made a lot of mistakes on my first trip abroad alone. I got terribly sunburned. I forgot things at the place I was staying. I over-packed. 

Europe has changed a lot in the last few decades but particularly with the influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the East over the last few years. This has huge ramifications for single women traveling abroad. 

Here are my top tips for any single gal:

• Wear sunscreen as normal - I did not realise this but it is possible to get sunburned in Scotland and other European countries but YES it is.
• Take usual prescriptions - a lot of people's trips have been ruined by forgetting their prescriptions. I knew someone to come to the UK who was allergic to something, and spent the whole trip sneezing and with watery eyes. 
• Wear head scarves - not like Muslims, like elegant French ladies or Audrey Hepburn 
  
• The drinking age is 18 rather than 21 in some European countries - always question why a dude is buying you a drink, what he wants, etc. 
• Not everyone in a pub is deeply suspect and it might be okay to trade email addresses with someone (I wish I had for my husband instead of making him run searches on my name for two months on Facebook)
• Wear a security pouch with most of your money and personal identification info on you - it's always worth keeping your change in a separate jacket pocket so it's easy to pull out when you are getting on the bus
• If you have to catch a late night train or bus by yourself, try to spend the dead time in a well-lit Internet cafe or see if your b and b or hostel will let you wait in the common room till it's time to go. 
• Try to set up door-to-door transport if you can afford it and if you would have to walk more than five minutes by yourself in semi-dark or dark streets - i.e. order a taxi
• If you do feel under threat, go beserk and scream and make a fuss
• I wouldn't judge anyone who decided to wear a fake wedding ring but I don't think that will protect you from the real baddies
• When in doubt, travel to Scotland, which is much safer than most of Europe
• Take care when using atm machines - I would say don't use them at all if you can help it
• Take student id - it may get you discounts on tickets
• Fly in and out of airports with regular flights to your destination - that way if you get delayed, it will be hours not a whole day that you have to wait around - I once planned a 5 day trip to Scotland but got delayed in Memphis for 24 hours, so I effectively lost 20% of my trip
• Take a backpack instead of roller suitcase - something that has happened several times to me is on small connecting flights they force everyone with carry on luggage like wheelie cases to 'gate check' at the last minute. They say there is no space in the overhead compartments. If you have a backpack then you can promise to keep it on your lap or under the seat in front and thus avoid your luggage being taken. Often the delay of unloading 'gate checked ' bags is the difference between making your connecting flight or not. If you check a massive suitcase like I did, I guarantee you will not wear or use the majority of what you pack and you'll have to haul it around with you like a millstone round your neck. You can't just nip out for a long weekend to Prague if you feel so moved when you have a ton of stuff. It's much better to run out of something and 'have' to buy a scarf or some memento in Europe, rather than bring everything you think you could possibly use.
• Pack light - clothes you love, can sleep in, etc
• Learn to hand-wash clothes in a sink and hang on a radiator or rail to dry. It's easier than trying to find a laundromat on a whip-round tour. It means you can also pack lighter. On a road trip in France once, I brought only two or three outfits for each person and just washed anything that got messy in the sink every night. Some b&bs have heated towel rails - these seem to have been a fad about twenty years ago - and those dry your clothes super fast! You can also ask if your host has an airing cupboard, which is a closet where the boiler lives and hence is warmer.
• Research the destination before you go - I always draw my own map even if it's not exactly to scale, and fill the backside of it with taxi numbers, American consulate numbers, and credit card cancellation numbers.
• Check in with family regularly - the best thing my professor made us do on our trip abroad was to blog. I think we had to blog every day but I can't quite remember if it was 4 times a week or what. It helped me remember my trip better and I also have a reference to meeting my husband before I knew it was him. He found the blog reference with his excellent stalking skills which I am very grateful for or we would never have seen each other after that pub. 
• Find grocery store - this can save you a lot of money. In the UK, it is 10 to 20 times more expensive to eat out than to eat at home. A bowl of lentil soup which I could make for under 20 p will go for 5 quid. I could make a Mexican feast for 8 people for 10 pounds but the shops will sell one measly plate of enchiladas for 12.50. I could go on but basically just find a grocery store. Or bring zip lock bags full of coffee and other essentials.
• Wear dark sunglasses to avoid the problem of making eye contact and smiling at Mediterranean men and them seeing this as invitation 
  
• Never go out at night without a group, preferably including two muscular young guys. If you are wondering why google the Cologne and Hamberg attacks, where girls were systematically separated from other girls or even boyfriends to be sexually assaulted or raped by gangs of immigrant men. Most days of the year this won't happen but it is better to be safe than sorry.
• Never go out with something low cut, open-backed or showing thighs-down if you can help it. Unlike Christians who take responsibility for lustful feelings and whom Jesus told to pluck out the other eye if it leads to sin, Muslim men get angry at immodesty and then use the anger to attack the girl and often molest her. Talk about blaming the victim. If they like how you look and think they can get away with harassing you, they will. A lot of the Syrian 'children' brought to safety are now out-of-control 19-year-olds without parents in a foreign country. Think about it.

It is a wonderful opportunity to get to travel. Just be sure to be prepared and wise if you are a single girl traveling alone!