New research suggests Brits are more likely to take risks when they are on holiday, or put themselves in potentially dangerous situation that they wouldn’t do when they are at home. An online voucher code website found that 44% of people in their study had put themselves in danger on holiday, behaving differently than they would at home. They also found people were not as careful with their personal belongings as perhaps they should be and that they were more likely to trust strangers as well when away.

The study which was carried out by My Voucher Codes found how differently people behaved on holiday, compared to at home. They asked over 2,500 Brits aged over 18, who had taken a holiday abroad in the last 5 years, “What have you done whilst on holiday, that you wouldn’t normally do at home?” They found the most common responses back were: ’trusting strangers’, closely followed by; ‘not looking after personal belongings’. The results can be seen below.

• Drinking too much to the point of blackout – 18%
• Drink driving – 6%
• Taking drugs – 12%
• Unprotected sex with a one night stand – 23%
• Not looking after personal health – 28%
• Not looking after personal belongings – 34%
• Trusting strangers – 43%

Most people admitted to trusting strangers more on holiday than they did at home, which could be potentially dangerous in foreign countries, for men and women. Also not looking after their personal belongings seem to be a common response as well, thinking about what you have on you on a daily basis whilst on holiday this is worrying. Your phone (which costs a couple of hundred pounds), your camera again which costs a couple of hundred pounds and then the contents of your wallet including bank cards and travel money and even passport if you’re carrying it with you. You can claim for this on your insurance but still can be a hassle to replace.

Not looking after personal health is also worrying, whilst many claims can be refused by insurance companies if your drunk, and you find yourself in hospital can be costly and most certainly will ruin your holiday. Following on from this as well is people admitting to unprotected sex with a one night stand, this come see you coming back from holiday with more than just a tan, you could have a STD or even ladies end up pregnant.

Judging by the stories we are subjected to over the summer months with people getting drunk in Ibiza, Magaluf and Kos known party hotspots drinking until you black out and taking drugs is also a risky behaviour people admit to taking part in on holiday. As mentioned anything which lands you in hospital or worse when drunk will see insurance companies not covering you so it’s shocking that people get themselves in this kind of trouble.

To find out what was the worst thing that had actually happened to people on holiday, My Voucher Codes also asked: “Have any of the following happened to you or family members whilst on holiday under the influence of alcohol?” They found that most people had come away from their holiday with serious sun burn, which may seem not that bad considering but it can be very painful and put you at a higher risk of skin cancer, which we would say wasn’t worth it.

The full results:

• Injuring themselves – 25%
• Getting seriously sun burnt – 41%
• Walking home alone at night – 34%
• Starting fights – 13%
• Losing important items including passports, money and phone – 33%
• Contracting a STD from a one night stand – 8%

It’s obviously great to let loose on holiday relax and have a good time, but you really shouldn’t put yourself in these kinds of dangerous situations. Your health and life are at risk and you could lose thousands in costs if your insurance company invalidates your claim, so please be careful this summer.