Travel to Mexico – It’s Safe I Swear!
The day before I went on my trip to Loreto, Mexico to visit Villa Del Palmar, my mother said to me, “You know 45 people died in Mexico yesterday.”
That quote right there, is a perfect example of the irrational fear many Americans have and why they don’t want to travel to Mexico. Nevermind that I had just spent a year and a half living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is actually a fairly dangerous place. Forget about the fact that I had been to Guadalajara years before, which is a much bigger and thus riskier city to visit. My mother heard about 45 deaths, which means the entire country of Mexico is dangerous.
Does anyone else think that sounds just a tad illogical?
First of all, my mother had no other information about these deaths. They could have died of pneumonia for all I know. Even if they did die due to foul play, is 45 really such a staggering number for an entire country? I should note that I live in St. Louis, Missouri, which ranked #1 in murders in 2010 and 2011, and only dropped to #3 this year. I’m pretty sure 45 people die in St. Louis every day and it’s probably not of pneumonia.
Drinking Horchata by a fountain in Guadalajara. Oooh so scary!
The press makes people crazy
The press in the US is constantly portraying Mexico in a negative light and making it sound like a place crazy people go to get shot in a drug war. Yes, there are drug wars in certain parts of Mexico, and I wouldn’t recommend taking a stroll on known drug turf. But honestly, do any of you want to take a walk down a dark alley in Detroit? Or hang out in Queens after midnight wearing some fancy clothes? Anyone up for a drive in your BMW in East St. Louis? I didn’t think so. Every country has sketchy cities. That doesn’t make the whole country a threat to your safety.
The press coverage of Mexico in the US focuses on isolated negative occurrences and they usually get stretched way out of proportion. Let’s take the swine flu scare back in 2009. Everyone was absolutely losing their shit over the freaking flu. Newsflash people: the flu happens every year, and people die of it all of the time. The press shoved huge, scary numbers in our faces, but they never put it into context. Sure, a lot of people died of the swine flu, but most of them were babies and elderly people – the same people that die of the regular old flu.
I went to Guadalajara in 2009. Everyone thought I was out of my mind. I was urged to wear a surgical mask everywhere I went. You know what? No one with the flu was wandering through the streets, coughing on people. The sick people stayed at home, just like they do in the US. The worst thing that happened to me was my unexpected allergic reaction to a bee sting. The Mexicans I discussed the flu with mostly shared my view and thought the panic was over the top and a little funny. I even saw a shirt that said “Sobreviví H1N1” (I Survived H1N1)
How come the newspapers never run photos like this? Headline: MEXICO CONTINUES TO BE BEAUTIFUL!
Mexico is safe. You should go
I freaking adore Mexico. If I could spend several months of the year there, I’d be thrilled. Yes, in some busier cities I have to guard my belongings and keep my eye out for scams, but that is true of basically any big city. The small inconvenience of keeping my purse in my lap instead of on the back of my chair does not overrule the delicious tacos, the incredibly friendly people, the lively music, or gorgeous landscapes. Mexico is a massive country full of towering mountains, stunning desserts, and incredible beaches. If you are going to let some negative press keep you from a country so rich in culture, beauty and to-die-for tacos, you’re crazy. Take a look at some of Mexico’s awesomeness:
The beach on Isla Coronado
Chowing down on a molcajate (lava bowl) in Guadalajara
Sea lions near Isla Coronado
A historic church in San Ignacio.
I’m not even a very good photographer, but Mexico kind of speaks for itself once you see it. Visit Mexico. Seriously.
You look so happy in these photos! You look 16 haha (jaja). I feel so bad for my friends who live in Mexico and are dealing with some of the scary things going on there. But Mexico is an enormous country. There are so many wonderful trips to take there — safely.
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All the photos with me in them are form my Guadalajara trip, so I had turned 22 just a few weeks earlier. My baby cheeks keep me looking young (hopefully forever!) haha.
St. Louis, Missouri was which ranked #1 in murders? I had no idea!!
But I totally agree with you on this — Americans are so scared to travel to Mexico, but it’s not an unsafe country. Just don’t go to the neighborhoods that are known to be dangerous… but that’s no different from NY or LA! Fear keeps us in our bubble, and that’s not a good thing.
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Not this year, we were #3! Actually it is a list of cities ranked highest for crime in general, with murders being a heavy focus. It’s mostly due to the Metro Eats Area, East St. Louis.
I think you are very right about the bubble, and Americans need to break free of it!
Well said! The press should write posts like this one. It’s more accurate. But then we wouldn’t have Mexico all to ourselves anymore.
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Haha yeah, all those people who visit Florida year after year can just stay out of OUR Mexico!
I travel from my home in Tucson to various spots in Mexico all the time, all in Sonora. I go to Rocky Point, Kino Bay and San Carlos, just outside of Guaymus. I have never had a problem I feel perfectly safe everywhere I go. We all know what areas to stay out of. If you don’t go, with 14 peso’s to the dollar, you are missing out.
I have never been to any of those places, but I hope to do a lot more traveling in Mexico. I don’t think it’s very hard to avoid dangerous places, even locals will help you with that. And yes, the exchange rate is wonderful!
While we were in Loreto, a bunch of people were shot at the food court in a mall in Toronto. This never happens in Toronto so it made the news but it just goes to show you that no place is 100% safe.
If this happened in Mexico people would be outraged but I don’t even think it made the news outside Canada.
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Really? That’s crazy! You’re right though, if it happened in Mexico it would be all over the news here.
One of the things I hate the most about the US is the culture of fear the media has helped create. You get one headline meant to scare the hell out of you and then very few facts to explain.
Will you see me hanging out in any Mexican border towns? No. But Mexico is a pretty damn big country, and I hope to see a lot more of it.
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Yeah, I have a friend who is from Juarez who says even he hates going there to visit family because it scares the shit out of him. However, he still tells people to visit OTHER cities in his home country.
If you’ll permit me a couple of links here….
This mirrors my own take on the subject. I’ve been living in Cancun for two years now (almost; in September), and I’ve written several times on the subject of safety here, such as Modern Mexico – The Real Story and Cancun, Mexico – Beyond The Hotel Zone.
What most people don’t know, and haven’t educated themselves on because all the Western media does is pump information to their brain about how dangerous the country of Mexico is….is the fact that, as a whole, the country of Mexico is SAFER THAN the United States on the same per 100,000 murder/violent crime scale that the U.S. government uses to determine if a place is dangerous. The only exception to the rule is the city of Juarez, but just as much as Washington D.C. with its murder rate of 31.4 out of 100,000 doesn’t define safety levels for the United States as a whole, Juarez is just a single city and is NOT the definition of Mexico.
I live in Cancun, for example, which has a 2 in 100,000 murder rate. Nothing ever happens here. Mexico City is a 9 in 100,000….the same as Denver, Colorado and New York City.
Mexico is NOT a dangerous place…it’s just the propaganda of the U.S. media that would have you believe it’s so, because they don’t want you going abroad and spending your dollars…they want you back home, chained to the clock, spending your dollars on U.S. soil. It’s propaganda 101
Great post!
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted..Comment on Cancun, Mexico – Beyond The Hotel Zone by T.W. Anderson
Thanks for the extra info! I didn’t know the exact numbers, those just serve as further proof! I’ll have to take a look at your site, I’ve had a lot of friends visit Cancun outside of the touristy areas and tell me they loved it!
It’s a great place; I initially only came here for 3 months but fell in love with it and have used it as a base of operations for what will be 2 years in September. My visa is good till the end of the year and right now I plan on registering one of my companies here in 2013 and working on getting full-on residency as an immigrant over the next couple of years in between other projects. Secondary passports FTW!
I also have a “Live Like a Local” immersion travel guide for the city that goes beyond what most people can find on Google…which plazas have the discount movie theaters (and which days are 2×1 tickets), which restaurants have discounts on which nights, where to find the best apartments (based on personal recommendations/places I’ve lived), market and negotiation tips, discount days for pharmacies and supermarkets and beyond….I live like a rockstar here and my total cost of living including entertainment rarely rises above $650 a month…just one more reason I love it so much
Cancun’s a great place….and so much more than just the Hotel Zone and all-inclusive clubs most people think of. And it’s a great place to use as a hub for exploring the Mayan culture/civilization/ruins. And it’s unbelievably safe
The government protects this cash cow like none other, so *nothing* ever happens here. And it’s totally bohemian, which is great for a tequila-and-mota guy like myself =P
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted..Comment on Cancun, Mexico – Beyond The Hotel Zone by T.W. Anderson
This reminds me on Thailand in 2010 when they went into Civil War. My mother was freaking out – but I only found out the news from here what was happening and I lived in Bangkok! But the “danger zone” was so far away from me – I only found out the situation via media too! Things constantly get blown out of proportion – I was going about my regular Bangkok life without realizing anything had changed until the television told me so – and I didn’t believe them – Bangkok was too peaceful for it to be in the midst of a civil war!
Exactly! My mother also freaked out when I went to Argentina to live because my aunt told her people get kidnapped there. She was thinking of the Guerra Sucia that happened in the 1980s. Also, tourists didn’t get kidnapped, it was well-informed intellectuals or activists Argentines. I was fine!
Yes, yes, yes! This is true not only of Mexico but of so many other countries. You have no idea how many times people have said “oh, you can’t travel there – there’s lots of drugs/people get murdered/etc” because of some random story they heard six months ago. As someone above mentioned, when you compare the deaths per 100,000 to the rates in some American cities, these “dangerous” countries are safer than the places we live.
Of course there are certain parts of every country that are considered dangerous. That’s why you research things before you go, pay attention, and don’t wander into dark alleys at 3am.
Yeah, it happens all the time. When I visited Argentina for the first time n 2006, an aunt told my mom “people get kidnapped there!” She was clearly confused and thinking of the Dirty War which happened in the 1980s and also the kidnappings were focused on Argentine natives who were intellectuals in opposition with the government, not tourists. Seriously outdated and exaggerated fear!