« Contest Giveaway - Win a LUSH Mother’s Day Box | Main | These Are SO Not the World’s Worst Tourist Traps »
Mexico Travel Warning
By MudslideMama | April 30, 2008
The Traveling Mamas really enjoy vacations in Mexico; I know that for me, the Yucatan Peninsula is just heaven. I loved seeing the Mayan ruins like Tulum and Chichen Itza near Cancun. Cancun has many child-friendly all-inclusive resorts with resort day camps for kids - in case the little ones aren’t up for a day trip to see those pyramids. MountainMama loved her travels in the Riviera Maya, too. But Mexico’s a big, diverse country, and not all of it is so trip-worthy.
The US State Department has just put out an extended travel alert for Mexico. Specifically, border areas in the country are considered too dangerous to visit, what with scary increases in gang violence and drug trafficking. These Mexican border states include Chihuahua City, Juarez, and Tijuana. According to the State Department, dozens of US citizens were actually kidnapped or murdered in Tijuana last year. Yikes.
And wait, there’s more: The New York Times reports (April 29, 2008 ) that besides the enormous threat of kidnappings that are practically a business model in Mexico City, FAKE kidnapping rates are skyrocketing too. These so-called “virtual kidnappings” sound horrifying; one US citizen living in Mexico received a call from a young women purporting to be her daughter, and other parents get calls with the sounds of little children crying out for them (these are not their kids, in fact, but just imagine the panic). There’s no sign that US tourists are being targeted in and of themselves, but with very few arrests so far, the problem will only continue.
Fancy luxury resort hotels in and around popular tourist destinations have heightened security, of course,
and there’s almost no chance of gang members barging into the Ritz-Carton in Cancun. On the flip side, staying in an all-inclusive and not venturing outside of the hotel property doesn’t give travelers any real sense of the culture and history of the host country – you could be anywhere balmy if you don’t leave the resort grounds.
This is a tough issue. The travel and tourism industry definitely helps boost local and state economies of otherwise poor countries, and the experience of a family vacation somewhere outside of our own neighborhood (and mental safety zone) is mind-expanding. However, as with practically any family, us mamas’ and papas’ priorities are the health and safety of our children. Without travel package deals, the cost of many inclusive resorts is out of reach for a lot of us, too. Is the answer to simply take our family vacations in the safest parts of the world? Or is the answer to travel to faraway lands, but refuse to venture out of the safety of hotel grounds? What do you think?
Topics: Destinations, Family Travel, Luxury Travel, The Cookie Jar, Travel News |
April 30th, 2008 at
Ooooh. Good question, MudslideMama. I hadn’t heard of these warnings. Prior to hearing this, I think I would have driven across the border to Tijuana with the kids if I were in the San Diego area. Now, I don’t know. When we visit the all-inclusives in Mexico, we typically do take public transportation into town — sometimes venturing off the beaten path to get authentic Mexican food or see how locals live. We’ll continue to do that.
April 30th, 2008 at
That is a great question. Although I live near the border we haven’t crossed it since having kids. After reading this, you can bet we won’t be taking any trips across the border soon.
May 1st, 2008 at
After the tragic death of my 22 year old son last year in Cancun, I have developed a website that will show you that even staying inside an all inclusive resort in Cancun does not ensure your safety. Please check out http://www.mexicovacationawareness.com and read Nolan’s story along with many other stories about tragedies that happened “inside” resorts in Mexico.
May 6th, 2008 at
Smantha…
It would be great help if I could get some clarity on the real issues…
May 23rd, 2008 at
[...] other generally illegal acts in our neighbor to the south? TravelingMamas posted earlier about the US State Department’s travel advisory against taking vacations in certain parts of Mexico. At that point, two suggestions was to stay in [...]