Planning a trip? Medex, which sells travel health insurance, also offers advice on how to stay safe. A few of the ideas in their latest email are so clever we had to pass them on.

Pack a rubber door stop (available at any hardware store). Locks and deadbolts can be forced open, but it’s almost impossible to open a door jammed with a rubber stop.

Wear a wedding ring (even if you’re not married.) Women are less likely to be hassled if a trouble-maker thinks a husband may be just around the corner.

Bring along boxer shorts if you’re a woman traveling alone. Boxers? If someone you don’t know knocks on the door, don’t open it first. Instead, turn on the shower, shut the bathroom door, and toss the boxer shorts on the floor. The person at your door, seeing the boxers and hearing the shower, will assume there’s a man in the bathroom. (Who else would leave a pair of boxers tossed on the floor, right?)

For information about travelers’ insurance, check out Medex.

Tags: safety, tourism, traveling