A topic which bothers me for quite a while is the felt security in a city or at night. This came up, as I always felt very safe in my hometown in Germany. Did never have problems near the train station or anywhere. And I did ride the bike very often at night for some time or came back from the larger cities by train.

Somehow, others heard a lot about robberies, gang fights and people who were beaten up at night or threatened with a knife. All in their nearest field of friends or from friends of friends.

I somehow found that unbelievable, as I never made such experiences or saw something like this - though I am not that often going out at night in the last few years.

It is weird, how these two realities can still coexist and be true at the same time. From there on I had the feeling that I am taking things too easy and care too less - but in general I always feel very safe in Germany, even when on my own.

I also often went out at night in the fields and forest with my dog when I was younger. When my path crossed with someone else’s path out at night, everything went well too, so I generelly assume people to be nice as also written about in this post.

Taking care at night is different for women - women are told much more often to take care and not go home alone (meant in general).

São Paulo

There are a lot of stories about São Paulo being very unsafe. I stayed there for 3 days.

People who have been there say that you have to watch out when going around in São Paulo and that you should be in the hotel at night.

The trip suggestions from the conference host said to not take your phone at obvious places and take care.

I bought am bottle of ice tea in a chinese store and the guy at the counter said something i did not understand, so he wanted to make sure that i know - he typed it into google translate something which was translated to “watch out for thieves” - I nodded, said “obrigado” and thought “well, somehow it does not feel that unsafe at all - more like spain or italy generally”.

I had a very nice day and went to eat something with another German guy I have met in São Paulo. Afterwards, when it already was dark - like 19:30, we said goodbye, he got into an Uber and our paths splitted. I had to walk a kilometer to the next train station which gave me enough time to think about the day and a few things.

While walking, I found myself being much more nervous about other people, much more aware of things happening around me and felt a little weird in general. I walked around other people in larger arcs than usual. I walked faster than usual. I looked back a few times.

While doing so, I saw a girl behind me. I somehow took a wrong turn so she went like 20 Meters before me. I saw that she was looking back every now and then herself. I hope I did not make her think that I am a threat or something - since I was walking behind her for a while. So I walked slower. I made it to the station.

The metro stations are quite safe in general, as I read somewhere. I made it home safely :)

Final words

I did not really feel unsafe in this situation, especially, as nothing actually happened. This situation made me understand much more how it feels to be out in the dark for other people.

I think that it is quite impressive, how your feeling can be influenced/changed by a few sayings from different people. It again made me much more aware how safety is much more a feeling than a rational risk calculation (eventually). I do not know which level of alertness or level of anxiety is actually needed/useful to have in these situations.

I really hope, that everyone is able to find that useful level and does not miss out anything. On the other hand, I hope that people who feel very safe in places to accompany others who don’t so that everyone arrives home with a feeling of being safe the whole way.