Followed while on a walk in my apartment complex

I live in a quiet little apartment complex and I’ve been on a ton of walks by myself while living here for the past year and a half. I’ve never had any issues. But today while I was finishing my walk after work, I had just walked out from behind a wall that hid me from the street, I turned slightly and realized there was a man behind me. I had looked back not too long before and no one had been there. I think he might have gotten out of a car I’d noticed parking a bit after I walked by. The thing about this guy though, was that I didn’t hear him walk up behind me at all. I saw him and immediately made to cross the street to a couple who were getting out of their car. I made eye contact with the woman and she looked at me and the guy. I walked behind another car and stopped to see where the guy who had followed me was. He had come up from behind the wall and was jogging back up the ride in the other direction. There was absolutely no reason for him to walk down the sidewalk behind the wall and then jog back the other way in the middle of the road. Before that, I thought maybe I was imagining things. But what really terrifies me is that I didn’t hear him walk up behind me. I wasn’t wearing headphones and I was paying attention to my surroundings. I feel lucky that couple was there and that he didn’t see what apartment I went in to. But I don’t know what to do moving forward and now I’m scared. I want to go on walks because I work from home and I need to get out, but I’m scared to go out by myself. And I will be traveling for work soon and I’m worried about being alone then. The danger feels a lot more real. What can I do to protect myself while I go on walks/is there a place I could go to walk that might be safer (which, I should be able to safely walk in my own neighborhood but still…). And what can I do when I travel to keep myself safe, especially when I’m out and about (traveling by plane, so there are some restrictions on what I can bring).

Submitted February 06, 2024 at 07:19PM by OkPersonality8927 https://ift.tt/eSgBrpu