Will the bad news change my plan travel to Mexico?

If you rely on your government for advice on where to travel.....then there you go.. Go out! explore and do things that will make your friends heads spin. You will love it and they will envy your bravery to dance life....period. Or stay home and be just like them, old and boring.

I see that USA is not too far from Mexico on the list. I wonder if it means peace / war or peacefull place? Canada ranks 8, so when it comes to going somewhere esle.... we see danger all over the world.

We do not need guns to protect ourself, not alowed to anyway. I think Mexican are not alowed to carry guns either? No guns in the hand or normal citizen means to me that I am safer. I should not be as afraid as in the US to get killed if someone just think I am a treat. No laws like "stand your ground" or "you are on my property I can kill you". Having a gun might makes someone think he is safer, but knowing everyone has the right to have a gun is a bit frightening, you have to be the best shooter of the two!! Or someone might just take your gun and kill you with it...

I see the Baja in red in Mexico! I have been to the norht of the Baja and, beside Tijuana, never felt unconfortable and I walked alone in the streets of Ensenada or Rosarito at night.

It is all politics and media. That goes for every country in the world.

After reading the article referenced above I went to this website . . .

http://static.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index . . .

Where they have a world map showing more peaceful and less peaceful places. You can click through that and then you can go to the US Index and the Mexico Index to find the hotspot states in those countries. There are no simple answers to any of this.

This has nothing to do with Mexico other than the fact that Mexico is not on this list. Some of these countries are obvious while some may come as a surprise.


MOST DANGEROUS VACATION DESTINATIONS

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tips/most-dangerous-vacation-destinations/ss-BBujoNL?li=BBnbfcL

Traveling is often referred to as the only thing you can buy that makes you richer. But it comes with a lot of risks. From dangerous airports to roads and theme parks, vacation destinations boast thrilling adventure opportunities but hide precarious personal safety conditions. While Syria, Iraq and South Sudan are the world’s most unsafe countries in 2016, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI), they are not tourism hot spots. The following list is based on travel alerts and warnings issued by the U.S. Department of State and the UK Foreign Office, as well as the GPI.

VENEZUELA
MALI
KENYA
NICARAGUA
TURKEY
PHILIPPINES
COLOMBIA
HONDURAS
EGYPT
INDIA
NORTH KOREA
BANGLADESH
ETHIOPIA
ALGERIA
SOUTH AFRICA
BRAZIL

Just returned from Puerto Vallarta (we flew) lovely town/city and we felt perfectly safe driving and touring. The border cities are really scary, but the tour will drive through with an escort as quickly as possible. We've done it before without a problem. As for non-refundable, you might look into TravelGuard or similar trip insurance which will provide vacation insurance for non-refundable expenses and travel medical coverage. We took the Tracks Copper Canyon tour when you could get on the flatcars. An experience of a lifetime, had a great time, not a single problem.

Most of the violence happens in small rural towns with names that are tong - twisters, and certain areas of cities, remember that the media blow everything out of proportion, I am currently living in Mexico City, is it danegerous, yes!
The same as living in Chicago or Los Angeles or New York or Montreal, or Paris or London.

Go ahead and book your trip, the bad guys are not interested in you, unless you are interested in the product that they deal in, caravans are safe.

navegator

Most of the cartel crime has to do with the different gangs killing each other for power and control. The teacher strikes last a day or two and as far as we know were only around Oaxaca. The kidnapping we have heard about has to do with people who are known being kidnapped for brief periods for relatively small amounts of money. We have heard of passenger vehicles (Jeeps and pickups) being stolen but no one got hurt. The car thieves go after flashy vehicles but have no clue what to do with an RV. The number of cars stolen in the US is astronomical if you look up crime statistics in the US.

There is no doubt that Mexico (or any foreign country) is a different experience and requires some research and some adapting. But don't listen to the xenophobes who visit this forum to stir up trouble and expose their own fears trying to pass their fears on to others. You do need to be aware of problem areas and take normal precautions. We have never joined a caravan or traveled in any kind of group. But being with an experienced caravan guide can be a good introduction to Mexico. Hopefully you will be with a good group and have a good leader. Keep doing research as you are doing here and learn as much ahead of time about the country and the people - get maps and GPS and study the roads you will be taking so you are familiar to some extent. Keep asking questions here. Don't be one of those who relies totally on the caravan company or the leader being interested in educating you about the experience. Some caravan companies seem to want their clients to remain in the dark so they will be repeat customers and not chance going it alone in the future. Though we have not done it we do know that the caravan experience can be very enjoyable if you are in a good group with a good leader. We love Mexico!!

I was mostly worried about crime rise. I guess drug gangs deal with their own **** and have no time for normal citizen. Of course, the same goes in USA with robery and murder if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. But does the crime rise affect the normal citizen in Mexico?

I was camping in Homestead Florida last winter near the air strip. Yesterday I was talking to a guy and he said, HO Homestead is apparantly a dangerous place! Hum, I said, maybe, I don't know, I really did not feel anything scary in the area, but I do not walk alone at night either.

There was a few nights they had things stolen in the campground, like bicycle and stuff left outside. Still, this did not even spark any frightening for me, I locked the door and slept like a baby.

jmtandem wrote:
Quit watching the news. Go and enjoy yourself. After you get a couple hundred miles south of the border the country is nice.

I think I will, I suscribed to Mexico news, allways one or two bad news. The Puerto VAlarta news is much better.