Would this freak you out?

[Nectarineorapricot]

Hi- I live semi rurally although there aren’t many places to go running as there’s a lot of fields and private property etc. there’s a really large wooded/Forrest area that I go to walk my dog or to go for a run in or sometimes walk through as you can cut through it to get to the nearest shops/bus stop etc. It’s huge and is a mix of fields, a huge kids play park, forrest/woods, a big lake and river throughout it and lots and lots of trees and woodland paths. I always stick to main routes in it but it’s so big that you could easily go through it without meeting anyone, but then other times you meet lots of dog walkers etc. im 24 and have been going there regularly for years now since moving to the area. Im not usually scared or worried but I’ve noticed recently I feel really unsettled going there, I can’t put my finger on why but I feel as if I’m being watched. I usually run/walk with airpods in but they were out of battery once and I was sure I heard someone behind me. I dont what I heard exactly, but I heard something and I know there was someone there. Although there’s sometimes teenagers drinking etc so it could be just that, or maybe someone walking through the trees etc but there was 100% someone there. I kept walking but I heard someone there again about 10 minutes later and I stopped to look but there was nobody. It happened again another time. This, combined with the feeling watched has just freaked me out so much but I don’t know if it’s just in my head and I’m being silly about nothing and I should just ignore it

I could avoid just going there but it’s the only proper way to cut through to the shops/station etc and it’s the only decent place to go for a walk/run/dog walk etc and it seems silly to give it up just for a ‘feeling’ but at the same time I don’t know if it’s in my head and im freaking myself out or not!

Just wondering has anyone got any advice, or experience in something similar? ☺️

Listen to that feeling. "The Gift of Fear" (a book I keep meaning to read). Have a look into those personal safety apps you can get. There's one that looks really good that tracks your location, speed and movements, asks if you're ok if you stop for a while or if you speed up rapidly, etc., and you set up what you want it to do in case of emergency. Wish I could remember what it's called!! I'll come back and give the name if I remember it.

What kind of dog do you have? I'd be going out with my dog from now on, and no earphones.

I’d be spooked but doubt anyone would attack me with my GS and Staffie. However I wouldn’t have air pods in. For running I tend to put one earphone in, (I know it’s not the best sound experience) or use bone conducting ones. That way I can hear what’s going on around me but obviously not as much as no music - but that sucks imo.

@SpidersAreShitheads totally agree with what you've said.

Up until about 10 years ago, I just complied with the usual advice to 'stay safe' without thinking anything about it; notifying people when I left/arrived anywhere, kept an alarm on me if i was out late, sticking to busy main roads whilst running etc etc, but now I am absolutely raging that I and every other bloody woman have had to have this fed to us, parrot fashion since we were born!! I've done it to my own DD! It's a bloody outrage that I and every other woman have to adhere to this mantra and I'm sick of it.

And you have a VERY misogynistic 'friend'!

I was in an area I don’t often go to a month ago (Brent Cross). Boyfriend lives not far and dropped me at shopping centre and I didn’t take my car as the AA had to come and replace a battery. He went home to check this was all ok and I stayed shopping and told him I’d get the tube back.

When crossing the road and I think near an under/over pass bridge just under it I saw a man with pants down who I thought was just weeing, however when I looked it looked as if he’d been wanking and I hurried off quickly as he turned to look at me!

I then got to the tube station and for some reason there were no tubes so I got a bus to boyfriend’s house. At the bus stop a man kept on looking at md and then when I got on the bus sat next to me and tried to talk to me and touch me. I screamed at him to get off me pervert and he did and moved. This was all on a Sunday. Told boyfriend and he said this has happened a lot there recently and they sometimes target eg young Jewish teenage girls (or other culture/religion) there. But because in the past it’s a fairly Jewish area (from what I could see it is) and the shopping centre is safe for them to hang out he thinks this is why some men hang around there.

He told me next time to alert police re the flasher which I’m going to try to do.

I had EarPods in too. But no dog!

Oh and recently I was walking a short cut from my way to see a friend. I do like a walk sometimes rather than taking a car!

I walked somewhere I’ve walked before, a wooded area behind a main road and near a park. A young man came up to me and started chatting and then complimenting me. Luckily I listened to my gut kept the convo short and left quickly afterwards and won’t walk there again.

Another friend of mine moved about a year ago from a south east London suburb and she has a big dog and partly because she felt unsafe walking him on the nearby common which also has a wooded area.

This.

A friend of mine used to date an army staff sergeant. I remember him giving me safety advice and telling me that even he (a big, burly bloke that you do not want to meet in a dark alley) would only wear headphones on one side when out and about and that there were circumstances where he would take that out too. His attitude is was avoiding a fight is better than winning it. And with his build and military training I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t lose a fight.

Dogs won’t put off a potential threat, especially as many dogs that are walked without a muzzle are friendly enough with strangers.

I am the same age and would avoid that area for the time being in case someone has noted your routine. I would inform friends/family about what’s happening. Always keep people updated on your plans for the day. I know my friends/family would call me if I felt unsafe, or would accompany me or collect me. There’s apps you can get that automatically share your location or call the police in one click. Also be open to taking photos and recording if you think something is off.

I’ve dealt with a man following me before. I took photos, I got support from random people nearby, I called the police, I went into public places to try and get rid of him. But if you’re essentially in the middle of nowhere you might have to rely on self defence alone. Which is why I wouldn’t feel comfortable continuing to walk there alone.

Not all people are going to cause you harm but I’ve definitely caught the attention of random weird men when just walking to the train station. They noted my routine and would follow me in their cars and shout things at me. I’ve never spoken to them before so they were just spurred on by my
presence, which is shit