travel and safety

No, this isn’t a post about homeland security or TSA agents giving me the wand (although that always seems to happen when I travel, strangely enough). It is about two different online services that I’m curious about.

The first site is Tango Diva. It is a travel site for women, by women, and about women’s issues in traveling alone. The about page states

Teresa took to the friendly skies to find some solace and inner peace, and this time alone. She hit London, Paris, and New York on a whirlwind summer tour, but with no guidebook for the solo gal available, she had to overcome the treacherous travels she encountered all by herself.

This got me to thinking…are there really treacherous travels in London, Paris, and New York? Especially for a single woman? I haven’t been to Paris but I lived in London and I traveled that city on my own for almost all of the time I was there. I never felt unsafe or that anything was remotely treacherous.

I’m heading to NYC in July (by way of Boston and Troy, NY). While I have a cousin there, I will be driving in on my own, depositing my car at JFK, and then doing a lot of things on my own while my cousin works. Out of any city that I’ve ever visited, NYC is probably the only one that carries a little fear for me…and mostly it’s because of what I’ve read or heard on TV. My friends and family have said that because I’ve traveled so much, I will be fine. I know how to act, how to check out my surroundings, etc. But…do I need a web site for women about traveling alone? Would it be wise to be a part of a community of solo female travelers? Have any of you or the women in your life ever used that site?

The second site is Clipperz. It’s an online password / secret storage manager. I thought this might be a good idea for several reasons, not the least that I have so many passwords and they aren’t totally secure right now. I know, I know — I should have them much more secure than they are. And I should know better (well, I do).

I’ve read up on this and other online password management systems quite a bit. This one was reviewed in Lifehacker and it sounds promising. It sounds like there are quite a few safeguards to protect me and my secrets.

Has anyone used this one? What kinds of concerns or questions would you have about it?