It's getting warm out, the time of year many go traveling.

For a long time, Europe has been a favorite travel destination for Americans, but on May 1st, the State Department issued a Travel Alert to all Americans traveling in Europe to be on the look out for possible terrorism "with little or no warning."

While that's concerning, you may have booked this trip for months or even years in advance. So what do you do? Do what top level protection and security professionals have been doing for years and bring your LADDER.

LADDER is an acronym for:

• Logistics
• Advanced Work
• Distance
• Deter
• Evacuation
• Response

Security professionals from body guards to the Secret Service use this system to prepare themselves and their client's itineraries. It helps ensure they have everything that they need and they know where they are going; this gives the security professional the best possible chance of identifying, avoiding, deterring or defending against a threat.

In this newsletter I'll cover one of the LADDER aspects: Advanced Work. You can learn about the rest in Sealed Mindset Training's DVD series: Avoid-Deter-Defend. On top of getting the LADDER class, you'll get the entire SMT Situational Awareness System and the Defensive Flashlight training. This DVD series is an incredible value at only $47 dollars, so click here to order one today!

But now let's get into A - Advanced Work.

Advanced Work is intelligence gathering. You want to know everything you can about where you are going, before you go, to give yourself the best chance to identify areas of concern and avoid threats or conflict.

Let's look at Location, which is just one aspect of this intelligence gathering. Here are a few of the questions you might ask yourself:

• Where are you going? What roads or highways are nearby? How will you get in or get out? Is there only one way in and out or are there others? What is your mode of transportation? What kinds of events have happened in this location? Is it considered "safe" by the locals or are there crime/terrorism issues you should be aware of?
• Where are the nearest hospitals? Police departments? US Consulates or US Military Bases?
• If something were to happen on your trip and you needed to escape a particular location or even a country, how would you do so? Where would you go? How would you communicate to your family that you were either ok, or that you needed help?

By thinking about your trip with just a bit more of a security mind, you will give yourself a lot of peace that you've done everything you could to make sure that the trip is a fun and safe one.

Read the State Department Travel Alert here, or buy Avoid-Deter-Defend for in-depth instruction on Situational Awareness and the LADDER system.