IS MEXICO SAFE!!???
Image credit to http://howsafeismexico.com/compare_mexico_us_cities.html
"Is Mexico safe?" is a question I am surprised to still be asked here and there. It is a question that I feel qualified to address, having spent 9+ years living, traveling and working in Mexico. However, before responding, I would like to pose some questions to you, my dear readers: What is SAFE? Is your city SAFE? Is your home SAFE? Is your car SAFE?
According to the National Safety Council, more than 80 percent of home accidents occur in the bathroom and safety experts consider the family bathroom to be the "most dangerous room in the house." Is your bathroom SAFE?
Safety is a man-made concept that is subjective at best.
What about statistics? Is saying that 80% of household accidents happen in the bathroom, the same as saying that bathrooms, in general, are not safe?
Safety, in relation to lifestyle or travel, is a way of being. Before you ask if Mexico is safe, ask yourself if you practice safety in your daily life.
Is Mexico safe? The answer depends largely upon you.
There are areas of Mexico, especially along the US boarder, that have suffered violence due to organized crime, they are not areas generally frequented by tourists. There are areas of Mexico that have higher crime rates and there are parts of Mexico that have yet to suffer crimes more serious than stolen bicycles.
This image is borrowed from http://www.puntamita.com/howsafeismexico/
In the almost 10 years I have lived and travel through Mexico, I have not been mugged or raped, my car has not been stolen and my home has not been broken into. I have traveled to Mexico City, camped on the beaches of the Riviera Maya, I have crossed the Mexico, Belize border in a car, taken public transportation alone across the country, I have done volunteer work with displaced children in Tijuana, and I have lived in some neighborhoods that could be considered sketchy at best.
I have, also, always tried my best to lead a safe lifestyle. I do not go to bars alone, or get drunk enough to be easy prey, I am always aware of my surroundings, I do not wear flashy jewelry or flaunt money, I am always polite to the people around me, I do not have shady acquaintances, do drugs or get involved with people who do. I am sure to lock doors and windows and I do not choose to live anywhere that does not have adequate security.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2010/03/crime_rate.png
These are just a few of the safety practices I learned living in the heartland of the United States where, I know people that were mugged, robbed, beaten, raped and even murdered. Yet, I still do not think of the United States as UNSAFE. There are specific areas and neighborhoods I would choose to avoid, even in my home state of Minnesota and there are people I would choose to not associate with regardless of my whereabouts.
I do feel safe. I feel that in many ways I have more personal freedoms living here in the Riviera Maya, Mexico and I have only found the people here to be warm and friendly and the community supportive. I have had more dinners delivered to me by neighbors, more birthday hugs and gifts, and more help and assistance in general from the community here, than any of the many places I lived in the US before settling in Mexico. Is Mexico safe, I don't know, but it sure is a great place to live.