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Tips for staying safe while traveling overseas

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ, Associated Press
Published: July 3, 2016, 6:30am

NEW YORK — This week’s terrorist attack at Istanbul’s main airport may make many travelers jittery as they prepare for an overseas summer getaway. And who can blame them?

Travel experts advise vacationers not to lose sleep over the highly-publicized tragedies and to look at the larger, statistical picture. Be more concerned, they say, with more-common vacation hazards, like failing to put on sunscreen to avoid skin cancer.

“My advice is to stay calm and play the odds,” says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. “The odds of becoming a victim of terrorism while traveling abroad are less than being injured or killed at home, by any number of possible hazards: driving a car, smoking, a non-terrorist gunshot or being swept away by a tornado.”

Take practical precautions, such as avoiding large protests or crowds that might lead to violence or becoming a target.

Start by signing up for the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which provides registered travelers with information from the local embassy about safety conditions in the country. It also helps the embassy contact you in an emergency — whether it’s terrorism or a natural disaster.

Learn more about the program at step.state.gov/step.

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