Anywhere But Mexico—A Discussion on Travel Safety

What would your response be to someone who said, “Oh, I don’t want to travel to the United States. There are too many terrorists there.”? Probably something along the lines of: “The stories you hear on the news aren’t indicative of the rest of the country!” Right?

I can’t count how many times I’ve had this conversation with potential clients:

“Do you have any destinations in mind?” “Not really, we’re open to anywhere but no Mexico—it’s not safe.”

I get it, the media can make Mexico seem like a scary place full of drug cartels and criminals. But just like the United States, what you see in the news is a small piece of what’s really going on. Over 6 million tourists visited Cancun in 2019 alone (pre-pandemic), but if they wrote a news story about every successful trip taken to Cancun, those shows & articles would get boring pretty quick!

Like I tell my husband about air travel: remind yourself of how many flights are taking off and landing safely every year (roughly 42 million commercial flights alone) compared to the couple of stories you hear about a malfunction. That, my friends, is called an outlier.

Can I guarantee you absolutely nothing bad will happen when you travel? Of course not. There is always an inherent risk to travel—that’s what makes it exciting. But I also can’t guarantee your safety anywhere anymore—not at church, not at the mall, not at a school, not at a grocery store. There were almost 800 homicides in Chicago last year alone, but you probably don’t think twice about visiting the Windy City for a weekend.

So what should you do to better ensure your safety when traveling?

Don’t venture out of the tourist zones at night, especially alone, ESPECIALLY intoxicated. Wandering around in the dark somewhere you’re unfamiliar with is not something I would recommend anywhere. The endless flow of alcohol at all-inclusives is a great time until its not. Even in Cincinnati, there are places you probably wouldn’t want to be caught drunk & alone. Drink responsibly, stay with your group, avoid dark alleys or unfamiliar short cuts—just like you would in Chicago, LA, New York, or anywhere!

Don’t buy drugs in foreign countries. You’d think this would be a no brainer, and yet this is the cause of much of the trouble you hear about in the news.

Buy travel insurance. This is not a scam, y’all, and I’m not just selling you this to increase my commission. I might make a whole $5 off of your insurance plan purchase. Your regular insurance plans at home will most likely NOT cover you if you get hurt or sick abroad. But it doesn’t only cover your health; it covers your belongings, emergency evacuation, trip delay or cancellation, and more (just be sure to read each plan thoroughly as the coverages and amounts vary from plan to plan).

Accidents do happen and some people are just unlucky, but for the most part if you stay aware & use common sense, you might actually find yourself falling in love with a place like Mexico and all it has to offer! Afterall… look at the color of that water!