State Department Travel Alerts

I received an email today asking about my views on traveling to Mexico.  I wrote the following post on another blog last February.  I copy it here while noting the following changes:

• There are currently no travel alerts listed for Mexico... even so, we won't be going.  We still believe it to be very unsafe. Although I used to vacation in Mexico every year, we wouldn't dream of going now.
• Even without a current "Alert" there is an ongoing warning in effect that you can view here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_4755.html

*****

When considering travel outside of the country, the State Department has a site for travel alerts. These warnings are controversial among Vandwellers. There are many arguments such as:

• The crime here is just as bad as it is there.
• That country has a crime alert for traveling to this country.
• I've been there and nothing happened to me.
• Nothing ever happens to the masses that go there every day.

I am not a crime analyst, nor do I want to spend my time trying to be one. I could gather statistics, compare data, and try to make an informed decision...I don't want to. I don't know if I'll most likely be safe in a given area... and unless you're a crime analyst with all of the available data and the understanding to interpret current risks and trends, you don't either.

But hey, there's good news... that is what the State Department does! They have analysts that are responsible for delivering safety information (alerts) to the general public. If you'd like to inform yourself of any current alerts in countries you may be thinking of traveling to, here is one place you'll find such information:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1766.html

At the time of this post, there is a State Department alert for seven countries (including Mexico). 

Besides posting the link, I just wanted to say that it only takes once: one carjacking, one kidnapping, one beheading. Only one guy with a gun and you could be stranded in Mexico without your rig.  In the case of a Vandweller, without ... well, everything.  Now, everything you own is gone and you can't get back into this country because they have your passport. Where do you stay?  What do you do for money?  This just happened to someone from one of my internet groups, so I can tell you that in his case it will take two weeks for him to get a passport. He's lucky they let him live.

This post isn't meant to create fear, rather the opposite: this post is meant to create thought.