What To Do If A Revolution Spoils Your Trip by Paul Eisenberg on Fox News. Featuring Philip Farina of Farina and Associates, Ltd. as Travel Security Expert

1. What to Do if a Revolution Spoils Your Trip - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/13/revolution-spoils-trip/print
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By Paul Eisenberg
Published March 13, 2011 | FoxNews.com
On February 18th, engineer Scott Wallace
landed at a pipeline terminal complex about
75 miles south of Benghazi in eastern Libya,
where he and three colleagues were getting
an unvarnished look at the environmental
practices of the country’s oil industry. Just
the day before, opponents of Libyan leader
Muammar al-Gaddafi had staged protests in
several cities, including Benghazi, as part of
a “day of rage” against Col. Gaddafi and his
regime.
Wallace wrote in a journal entry he made on
the 18th that “it is hard for me to believe ADVERTISEMENT
[that] four days ago I was in Amsterdam. It is
far from today's reality of being trapped in a work camp in a sandstorm, in a country with riots.”
Two days later the conflict between the Gaddafi regime and its opponents had escalated to the
point where air travel between the work camp and Tripoli had been severed, and the next day,
the 21st, Wallace would write, “It looks [like] I will be here for the duration of the revolution as it
appears there is no way to leave the country. If I can make it to Europe, I will work out some
alternate travel plans, but I may be here a week or more. There is really no way to tell."
Wallace would end up beating his estimate. On the 24th he and his colleagues got a ride to
Benghazi, boarded the Turkish Navy ship Iskerendun, and on the 28th reached the Turkish port
city of Marmaris. From there Wallace got to Dalaman, flew to Istanbul, and the next day made it
back to Amsterdam.
While stranded in eastern Libya, one issue that preoccupied Wallace and his colleagues was
communication. “The whole regime was very effective in shutting down cell phone access,
Internet coverage, and data services,” Wallace told me, noting that he has been in many
overseas destinations “where connectivity was limited, but when you have a government that is
actively trying to block you,” as the Gaddafi regime was doing from Tripoli, “sending a message
becomes a cat and mouse game.”
Indeed, figuring out how to communicate when traditional channels fail, knowing who to call if
tensions escalate, and taking decisive actions on the ground should be part of your plan if you’re
caught in the middle of a revolution.
Know how to reach people and be reached during a crisis.
Since sending a Short Message Service (SMS) or text message doesn’t require a lot of time or
bandwidth in the way a voice message does, Wallace explained, he and his colleagues stranded
in eastern Libya found that trying to text was the way to go as there was “always enough of a
breakdown in the [regime’s] spam filters,” and while the text “might be delayed by six to twelve
hours, it still got through.” Timing was part of their strategy, too. “We were getting up at three in
the morning and pushing ‘send, send, send’ hoping that someone in Tripoli was asleep and [the
text] would sneak through.”
During an uprising or a natural disaster, texting may be your best bet, concurs Michelle
Bernier-Toth, managing director, Office of Overseas Citizen Services, Bureau of Consular
Affairs, U.S. Department of State. During the recent earthquake in Chile, “we found that the
Internet service was simply overwhelmed,” she says, “and we had a lot of study aboard kids and
parents who were able to reach [each other] through SMS, and we are encouraging people to try
that."
California-based law student Erika Huebschman was in Tel Aviv during a summer abroad program
in 2006 when the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel escalated, with Hezbollah rockets landing
in some cases within 40 kilometers of city. While some of Huebschman’s fellow students left the
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2. What to Do if a Revolution Spoils Your Trip - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/13/revolution-spoils-trip/print
program early, she was among the majority who remained until August. Phone communication
was undependable during her stay, but Internet access was not a problem. She cites an instance
where a friend back home “was trying to call the cell phone I rented, and the hotel, and tried to
call the law school and didn’t have any success,” but then the friend went to Myspace, “started
an account and sent a friend request,” which Huebschman accepted.
If you’re at home worried about your overseas traveler and a phone call or text isn’t forthcoming,
one strategy is to “follow the money,” says Mike Bowers, senior director of health and safety at
People to People Ambassador Programs, urging parents with kids overseas to “make sure you
have online access to bank and credit card accounts they'll be using. Not only can you monitor
their spending and budget, but this will give you some clues as to their whereabouts and
activities.” Bernier-Toth adds that if family back home can track a traveler’s credit card info, that
will in turn help the State Department track the person down, noting that “we have had a number
of situations where that was the step that has allowed us to find someone that it would have
taken us longer to find.”
Know what resources are available on the ground
If you’re heading to volatile parts of the world, register with the U.S. Department of State’s Smart
Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which lets State track your intended whereabouts
overseas and enables them to send you travel alerts and advisories, which includes evacuation
information. Also make time to register with your embassy when you reach your destination,
says travel security expert Philip Farina, noting that registering “could make the difference
between your having to stay [in a dangerous situation] and your getting out.” And if tensions
escalate quickly, don’t be shy about appealing to any available hotel, even if you’re not staying
there, Farina says, as “they may be able to provide you with some level of protection and get
into communication with your embassy or other organizations.”
Also “touch base with your airline if you are uncomfortable” remaining in your destination, says
Bernier-Toth, and ask the airline beforehand if it has a plan or “system in place if conflict
escalates,” Farina says. In the case of bombings in your destination, for instance, the airline
should at least be able to tell you that “you have between this time and this time to get to the
airport for an evacuation,” he says.
If you’d rather leave evacuation logistics to a tour company, those affiliated with the U.S Tour
Operators Association have a good track record for mobilizing on behalf of tourists abroad. The
association reports that when demonstrations broke out in Egypt in the beginning of February,
their member companies were able to provide such services as rerouting travelers “to other
countries when U.S. flights were cancelled or unavailable” and “moving guests on Nile cruises
and those in the center of Cairo to hotels near Cairo airport to facilitate their departure as flights
became available.”
Know what precautions to take on the ground
While in Tel Aviv, Huebschman and her fellow law school students were told to go to the nearest
bomb shelter if air raid sirens went off and were advised to avoid outdoor markets and public
transportation, seen as potential terror attack targets. And as Huebschman spent more time in
the city – she also returned the following summer – she found she had “definitely developed a
sense of heightened alertness” about her surroundings as she strolled various neighborhoods.
And if you’re walking around, have a few simple items on you, Farina says. “I don’t go on a trip
anywhere without a flashlight,” adding that it doesn’t have to be a huge one. “If there’s no
electricity in your hotel or city you may need a flashlight desperately.” Also bring a map and a
compass, he says, because “if you just need to get away from the violence you will have a very
easy way to determine which way to go.”
If the situation in your destination has deteriorated to the point where it’s absolutely time for you
to leave, Farina says, “cash is king,” particularly if an uprising has taken banks, ATMs, and credit
card usage off line. Even having as little as $200 on you can make a big difference, he says,
noting that if you’re caught in the middle of a protest, the disruption is usually “not about you
being a tourist, it is about something else. In some cases tourists can be harmed, in others not,
[but] it stands to reason you may need to buy yourself through checkpoints, through
neighborhoods, or through a particular zone,” and he says be sure to separate whatever cash
you have on you into separate pockets so whomever you’re appealing to won’t see you pulling
out your entire bankroll at once.
Lastly, if you have to run, trust your instincts about how. Two days before eventually leaving for
Benghazi and catching the ship to Turkey, Wallace notes in his diary that he and his colleagues
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3. What to Do if a Revolution Spoils Your Trip - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/13/revolution-spoils-trip/print
“were offered the option of flying on the private oil company plane to another oil field and then a
9 to 24-hour bus trip to Tripoli. Since nobody could guarantee our safety, and we would pass
multiple security checkpoints, some regular Army, some Gaddafi mercenaries, some People's
Revolution, and some old-fashioned bandits, we decided that it would be unlikely we would pass
through to Tripoli without being taken hostage, especially with American passports.”
Wallace’s boat ride to Turkey aboard the Iskerendun was not a pleasure cruise. He wrote that
“about 750 people were seasick as soon as we left port [at Benghazi], so there is vomit all over
the floor and almost none of the toilets are functioning.” That said, Wallace told me that the
decision to take the long way to Turkey “was really about [time] versus uncertainty. I can get on
a ship and sail to Turkey. It may not be fun, it may not be easy, but I’ll be alive.”
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