My first guess is that the other person went into a random encounter while traveling across the tile that I was in.
How did this person find me?
What are the chances of it happening next time?
And what are some pre-cautionary measures to take when gathering resources?
This isn't too common of an occurrence, really. It all depends on where you hang out. Some areas have more players than others. If you're near southern towns, NCR in particular, you'll see this happen a lot more. Also, towns like San Fran and Boneyard have more higher level, better geared players, because of the vendors I believe.
So is it safer to travel in the northern regions?
Travle - yes, visit town - no.There are less thiefs north (only in VC), but if you see a player there do the Han Solo.
Everytime I go to northern towns (mostly Modoc/Klamath/Den) no one is there. And by no one I mean really no one. AFK-ed sometimes almost 1-2 hours with no one entering there. Wonder what I do wrong.