“You travel alone?” they ask.

I hesitate, sizing each one up before slowly nodding my head in confirmation.

“Yes,” I murmur.

“Oh, you not scared? So brave!” they exclaim.

It’s a common conversation that I have with the locals on my travels.  It seems that every friendly soul who strikes up a conversation with me will ask if I’m alone and finds it admirable that I am alone.  I guess that’s fair enough – I’ve yet to see another girl traveling alone.  We really are few and far between, especially in Asia.  But to me, this type of travel is not so abnormal, so it’s just vacationing as usual.

Sometimes I want to ask these people, “Should I be scared?”  After all, that’s what they’re implying.  Nevertheless, I am not scared and see no real reason to be.  Most people ignore me and those who do talk to me are just curious about where I came from.  They’re all nice enough, though I still keep my guard up.  There are those moments when someone walks by too close for comfort and I find myself clutching my purse a little tighter to my chest, but generally I’m not worried.

I’m always careful not to flaunt my wallet or other valuables (most of which I didn’t even bring in the first place).  I carry as little as I can, typically just a small purse and a water bottle.  I keep my eye out for suspicious movements and never walk too close to other people or the road.  I keep my money, cards, and ID in at least two places so I’ll still have half if the others go missing.  I maintain a neutral expression on my face so nobody thinks of me as threatening or too vulnerable.

So, through a combination of precautionary steps and general street smarts (not to mention locals who usually aren’t a threat), I haven’t run into any problems yet, nor do I anticipate on it.