International Securi-what? (how I ended up carrying a knife across the globe)

My eyes widened as I approached the security scan. I began looking around, fidgeting, uncertain of what to do next. Anyone closely watching would say I was acting suspicious...

They would be right.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had a knife in my bag.

Under normal circumstances, it would pose no threat. I would check my 70L backpack at the check-in counter and wish it farewell, knife and all. But unlike previous flights, I had determined to travel with carry-on only, now that I was free of heavy camping gear and winter layers. My 10kg 70L backpack was about to go through a scanner at Newark International Airport, one of NYC's main embarkation points, with a knife inside.

Under normal circumstances, realizing I had left a small weapon in my bag, I would open the side pocket and toss it in the trash before anyone could notice what it is.

But this was my dad's knife. After he passed away, my mum cleared nearly all of his belongings out of the house. I found the knife in his drawer when I came home about a year later. It was a smooth, stainless steel flip knife. The blade itself was no more than 3 inches. I had had it with me through all of my travels to Central and South America and India. I kept it in the side pocket of my daypack or stuffed into the pockets of my jackets, or shorts, depending on the location. I only ever used it to cut ropes, ties, or food, but I recall more than one occasion walking alone at night, running my fingers over it. It made me feel safer. I let the metal flash in the street lights when I was being catcalled on a dark dirt road in Peru. I had no idea how to use the thing, but I wagered no one would mess with a chic holding a blade. She doesn't exactly read as an easy target.

I wasn't about to toss my only keepsake and comfort blanket in the trash. Standing there watching passengers remove their belts and sweaters, I recalled one time that I flew from NYC to London with a Swiss Army knife in my backpack. I had gone on a hike a few weeks prior and completely forgot it was there. When I arrived in London, and gentleman by the name of Muhammed (yes I remembered his name), kindly asked me if I was carrying a knife. Shocked and a little scared, my 22 year old self answered "Of course not!", but there it was, casually lying at the bottom of an exterior pocket of my college backpack. And that was the end of the famous Swiss Army knife (mentioned in a previous post).

But I made it all the way to London, hadn't I? I mused. In the worst case, they'd find it and throw it out. I took the knife out of the side pocket quickly and tossed it in my wallet thinking it might go unnoticed amongst the metal coins and wallet lock. I nervously waited for my backpack to pass through the scanner.

It did. I exhaled a shaky breath. Sometimes my place of birth would lead to questioning and probing. Pair that with smuggling a weapon and I could find myself in a deeply uncomfortable situation.

Nevertheless I took this risk repeatedly. I went through the following airports with a knife in my carry-on. You'll notice that all of the countries are on high alert due to recent terror attacks and have taken extreme measures to improve their security efforts in the last years:

Newark International, New Jersey, USA

Charles De Gaulle, Paris, France

Milan Bergamo, Milan, Italy,

Sabiha Gokcen, Istanbul, Turkey

I'll also add that I went through a mandatory pre-boarding check in Turkey before departing to Tel Aviv, Israel.

I realize it's risky to write this all out. I'd like to clarify that in no point during my travels did I actually intend to use the knife, I was just reluctant to part ways with it. After successfully passing through one security check, I thought it would be sort of interesting to test out how effective these international security measures actually are.

Unfortunately, my research stops here. My next journey involves travel through the United Arab Emirates, which, as an Israeli national, makes me a little nervous as it is.

If anyone in Tel Aviv would like to hold on to a little knife, contact me :)

#travel #security #backpacking #safety #solofemaletraveller