Travel Detective Blog: Why I Travel to Mexico

Thank you Mr. Greenberg for your article about Mexico. My sister and I have visited Merida,Mexico twice since April 2011. We had a wonderful time and no problems as shown on TV and in the media.

We travel to No. Baja on a regular basis. NEVER have we had any experience other than a fun, friendly and safe one. The Mexican people are always warm and friendly and very family oriented. It pains me to hear all that is being reported and broadly misrepresented about the people, the culture and safety. I always tell my friends, if there were a murder in Chicago, would you travel to Kansas City? Of course they would. As the writer mentions, there are places right here in the good ol’ USA that I would not visit – some of the areas are in my own city. Thank you to Peter Greenberg for so clearly expressing the truth about Mexico. More visitors need to speak out. I try, but unfortunately I’m drowned out by all the negative news. Also, the USA is complicit in the crimes that are happening in MX. We buy the drugs, we provide the guns and we launder the cartel’s money – how can we only blame the Mexican people for what is happening?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

I’ve lived in Cancun for almost a decade, working in social media and trying to counter the media attacks on this beautiful country. This is the most reasonable, sane and intelligent article I have read on the subject of travel in Mexico. Thank you Peter Greenberg! 

Excellent article, well said and all true!

As a travel agent, I agree with your article.  The public needs to know that one can go to Mexico and return with nothing but great memories.  To date, Mexico tourist areas is stll the highest requested destinations for weddings,honeymoons, anniversary trips and just plain vacations!  I love the area and everyone in my office has visited Mexico in the last 6 months and are here to talk about it!

Diana

Fantastic!  Thank you Peter Greenberg.  I have said much of what you write here myself over the years.  
We have been traveling in Mexico since 1983 ~ and are currently living on Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo.  We have traveled by bus, driven, flown, taken ferries and have been all over Mexico.  In all of our many trips we have never been robbed, molested or felt in danger in any way.  Mexico is a huge country – a small part of which has problems.  The majority is safe, beautiful and incredibly welcoming.  I wish more people could understand that.

Amen to that!!! I have been a travel agent in Australia for 12 years and I am very fortunate to have opportunities to travel around the world for work. Without a doubt, Mexico is one of THE best destinations I have ever been to. Peter is right though, when you suggest it to clients, they always put up those questions. Luckily I have managed to push through it and I am now one of the highest sellers for Mexico. Destination awareness is kicking here in Oz about Mexico and I notice every year when I go back to Mexico, that I meet more and more Aussies there. It’s great to chat with them and see how much they love it. Makes my job worth while!

My husband and I travel to Cabo San Lucas at least once a year, sometimes twice. The worst thing that has happened to us was having two local police leaning on our car after returning from a sunset cruise and informing us that we were parked in a “No Parking” zone (which we were, after two other locals told us it was OK to park there). After a brief conversation, we were allowed to go on our way. My husband golfs while we are there and I have absolutely no fear In going downtown to shop by myself. These are the nicest people, we have come to know some by name and consider them friends. We look forward to seeing them whenever we are there. I urge anyone to visit Cabo, you will experience one of you best vacations ever!

Bravo, bravo, bravo Peter.  Another wonderful article about why our adopted country is safe, beautiful and worth exploring.  We’ve owned a small hotel here for the past 7 years and have never felt threatened.  To the contrary, every day is a new adventure, and we’ve never regretted the move here.  Thanks so much for this blog!

Congratulations Peter! Maybe someone will finally listen! My husband and I have lived in Mexico since 2004 and I feel safer here than anywhere else in the world! The people here are beautiful, no snow to shovel, only sunshine, blue skies, friends, fun, affordable living.  We can be as active as we wish, playing golf, fishing, contributing time and efforts to local chairities, giving back to the country in which we are guests. While we are only 250 miles from the AZ border, we have traveled all over Mexico and constantly appreciate how really safe and secure we are. Now, if we go to Phoenix, I am scared to death!

We live in Mexico 5 months out of the year(no snow) and have done so for ten years.  I am convinced there is a conspiracy by the Federal Government to keep US $$ in the United States. The State Department put out these asine warnings, the “Homeland Security” people stop you before you into Mexico to ask how much cash and negotiable securities you have on you, and now the IRS has yet another form to fill out if you own property in Mexico.  IF you’re in the drug business then Mexico is a dangerous place.  If you are an American Tourist, you’re much safer than in Washington DC., and the people are much more helpful and friendly.

My husband and spend anywhere from three months to 6 months in beautiful Mazatlan, Mexico each winter.  We´ve been coming since 1997.  The Mexicans we meet have been unfailingly friendly and helpful.  We can hardly wait to return each year.  We feel much safer here than in most large U.S. cities.

Thanks for your sensible article.  The warm and friendly Mexicans have been maligned without reason.

We have lived in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico 6months out of the year for 16 years, and never felt  threatened in any way by the Mexican people; we feel safer here than in any American city !   Rolf & Helga

Thank you Peter Greenberg…..you have nailed it correctly and truthfully. May the USA media sources read your article and then go back to their homework and get it right 100%, not 40% like most them do! My partner and I live in Playa del Carmen; moving here 4.5 years ago with no regrets. Prior to our move we enjoyed at least 12 years of yearly (and sometimes several times a year) vacations in Mexico. We have always felt safer here than in many of the cities in the USA.  

I have traveled Mexico, for over forty years, hunted, and fished, without any trouble. I always ask permission to hunt quail, and never was refused. met more new people and made friends every where, I stopped.  You can’t find that reception in the USA,. Just be prepared, always cary a first aid kit and water, whether traveling or hunting, also wear a smile on your face. Dale David, Nashville, Indiana 

Great article and thanks so much for writing it! I just returned from a wonderful 12 day trip to Chiapas and travel to Oaxaca at least once per year. I have never felt safer than I do when I am in those two states (I live in CT). Viva Mexico!

The worst is that it is not the people who actually travel who embrace the word fear.  It is the people who don’t travel but insist on pushing their fear on others.   This also applies to living in anything less than an upper middle class neighborhood or, gasp, doing almost anything by yourself, including going out for a walk in, you guessed it, less than an upper middle class neighborhood. 

I have been coming to Mexico for twelve years now.  The last four since my husband passed away by myself.  I have never felt that I had anything to fear.  I do use common sense.  I am careful where I go and what hours I travel.  I never travel down after dark.  

I couldn’t state it any better myself. I’ve also given up on speaking out because I’m just tired of trying to counter the “holier than thou,” “USA number one” jingoism of many Americans.

Peter,
I was with you completely (as I write this from San Carlos, Sonora), until page two, where you brought up gun stores on the border. As many people know, the guns in Mexico either come in from the southern border, or are stolen from the Mexican military.

Peter,
I was with you completely (as I write this from San Carlos, Sonora), until page two, where you brought up gun stores on the border. As many people know, the guns in Mexico either come in from the southern Mexican  border, China, or are stolen from the Mexican military. I am guessing you have never bought a gun or stepped foot in a gun store.
My guess you opine from what you may have read in the newspapers or from a few government statements (oh yea the news reports about Mexican violence is overblown, but the reports of guns over the border are spot on…hmmm.). Try to buy a gun from a store in AZ, CA, or TX and see what background check you have to go through. Nobody is coming across the border; buying a boatload of weapons and running them back. (I guess one exception is the US government… google “gun-walker”).
Regards from Sonora,
 
Ron

Thank you Peter so much for your wonderful article.  It is exactly how my husbaand and I feel about Mexico.  We have encountered nothing but warmth and kindness while living here in Mazatlan for the last 5 months.  We feel perfectly safe and are saddened by the impression the U.S. has of this country. I can’t even get my own family to come and exoerience what we have.  The Mexican people have been nothing but welcoming, even with all the negative talk about their country.  I don’t know that I would be able to be as gracious if it were the other way around.  This has been the experience of a lifetime and we intend to continue to come back every year and stay long term,  for as long as we can.

I have been living in Mexico in Los Cabos for 15 years and never ever have ever had one instance of a safety issue. I have to be more careful when I travel back to the USA and Canada. That is where I have more chance of being a victim of crime. 

Thanks Peter;  you certainly have stated it correctly.  You could have added much more and should write a follow up article with all the great reasons to travel here and to even live here.  We own four properties here and will not ever quit coming here.  It does get tiring to hear all the admonitions to not go.  *sigh*

Thank you. My husband and I are coming up on ten years living in Mexico. I feel safer here than I felt in Texas.

Peter,
We have a winter  home in Mexico and both drive our own vehicles down. I have never had any contact with anything negative, nor has my husband. We travel freely, eat everywhere but we practice the same common sense I use while traveling in the states. 

I have spent 4,then 5, then 6 months a year in San Miguel de Allende for the past 5 years and I have never had any problems.  I have visited Copper Canyon in Chihuahua to Mérida in the Yucatan.  Never any problems, and many very polite and pleasant Mexicans. Of course there are drug related problems, of course the justice system is being reformed, but Mexico is progressing:  progression not perfection!

So refreshing to read an unbiased, positive perspective on Mexico.  I have lived and travelled in Mexico for more than 25 years and literally have never left threatened.  Mexico is full of warm, kind, friendly, generous people.  I hope more people come and experience it for themselves.

I have been traveling and leading tours to Mexico for 4, almost 5 years, and have never encountered anything negative.  In December, I spent three weeks traveling across Southern Mexico by bus, mostly on night buses, and had a great time!  Something I wouldn’t do in the US as a woman traveling alone.

Thank you Peter!  For those of use who sell Mexico, we feel like a drop of water has been dripping on our foreheads for the last 2 years.  You’re tired and we’re exhausted. If it was any other product or service we were selling, most rational people would have given up a long time ago.  But, it is our conviction, passion, belief in the power and importance of this destination and our relationship with its people that keeps us going. 

This is for Ron in San Carlos,  Sonora.  I would add to Peter’s comments that Americans are also naive and gullible as far as accepting the media that is fed to us.

 It’s cool,  it is those people that are judgmental that we want to exclude from travel anywhere outside of the country hence the name the Ugly American.  

my children and I have gone to Mazatlan MX at least once a year since 2007 and have never had any problems. I see more stories of shootings and crime when i get back to oklahoma than I see or hear about when I am in Mexico!  Also, my parents have spent every winter in mexico for the last 12+ years and have not had any problems and they are there for 6 months at a time!

Ive lived and traveled throughout many parts of Mexico and continue to cross the infamous northern border on a regular basis and never had a problem. I’m not totally naive about some of the terrible things going on in Mexico but people have to understand its a small sliver of the population committing violent crimes, mostly upon themselves, and danger exists in all regions of the world, including the U.S. The drug cartels get a lot of media coverage but it hasnt deterred Mexico from growing as a country. It’s GDP has grown at an impressive rate in the last 7 years and I plan on permanently living in Mexico someday in the near future. Great article!

Ive lived and traveled throughout many parts of Mexico and continue to cross the infamous northern border on a regular basis and never had a problem. I’m not totally naive about some of the terrible things going on in Mexico but people have to understand its a small sliver of the population committing violent crimes, mostly upon themselves, and danger exists in all regions of the world, including the U.S. The drug cartels get a lot of media coverage but it hasnt deterred Mexico from growing as a country. It’s GDP has grown at an impressive rate in the last 7 years and I plan on permanently living in Mexico someday in the near future. Great article!

Hi Peter

I moved here from NYC 16 years ago.  I live south of Playa del Carmen.  I don´t always lock my doors, I never worry about crime.  You right so correct about geografically challenged Americans…..It´s like we live in Atlanta and the problems are in Washington State!  And I love Hillary but I don´t like to see Mexico and Chad on the same advisory list.  When they put Jamaica on it , it was because they were after a big drug lord in KINGSTON and they put the whole bloody island on a warning.  And people wonder why I left the states……………………….

I realize I am a bit late in responding to your wonderful article, but I must thank you from the bottom of my heart.  This sums up my feelings when I am told to “watch out” when traveling to Mexico.
Watch out for what? great people? great weather? great service? affordable, memorable experiences?
Mexico is a beautiful country full of generous, kind and hardworking people.  I love it there and will continue to spend my vacation dollars there..year after year!

My husband and I love the Yucatan, have been there several times.  We have always felt safe anywhere we go.  

My husband and I love the Yucatan, have been there several times.  We have always felt safe anywhere we go.  

We hope your advice gets the attention of TV,
newspaper and magazine editors, and
They spread the good news. We have been going to
Mexico for twenty years from Europe and the
States. Our children and grandchildren visit us
And love Mexico, it’s culture and it’s people as we
Do. We believe visiting a foreign country is like
Visiting a friend’s home: mind your manners, be
Polite, and speak the language. If you are
Struggling with the last thing, be pleasant and smile.
That is international.

thank you – you are so very right. We have a home in Tulum Mexico, and i never feel more at peace. thank ou for speaking out! 

I´m 59 years old Finnish woman, who have traveled three times in México. In the first time I was ther for my postgraduate studies to the Virgin of Guadalupe, I stayd in Ciudad de México…and I was alone and already over fifties…
It was easy althought my spanish is bad. Only the noise of the big city was difficult for me. Two years later I travel to Oaxaca, alone again…I fall love the city..but my work is in arts and cultures. So it is easy to understand…sapotec, mextecas…Francisco Toledo..human rights. The third time I was In Merida…I don´t yet know…why…but I loved it, its people, its kindness…rich in cultures and at same time the common people are very poor. But something was very fascinated.
Never I haven´t seen anything bad..or  nobody has threaten me. So i say, it is safe to travel in México perhaps the nothern cities, Ciudad de Juárez are not…and they are not. But it is not same as México…México is safe for turist but perhaps it is not safe for poor mexican.

Drug dealers just kill drug dealers not tourist and in small points of mexican borders not in beaches its so safe Mexico has a lot of things to do in every plan you want and if you compare with infraestructure and colonial style so cheap compare with other countries..

Why travel to Mexico (it being a given that driving is no longer an option, what with the cartels machine-gunning carloads of NUNS at times) when by just flying over it to Costa Rica or Panama you get safe destinations where tourists are valued rather than ‘harvested’?? Flying into the kidnap capital of the world, or one of those spring break drunkfest destinations?? No thanks. That’s a flyover country in my book.

My wife and I have been traveling to Mexico for about 25 years. The only trouble we’ve ever had is with some T.S.A. people in U.S. airports.

First of all it is quicker and easier to fly to Mexico.  Tourists are not harvested…I believe your history is wrong re: Nuns to say nothing of out of date…..

Who cares if you can drive here or not…..if you like to drive…vacation in Canada

I came from NY….not a flyover state…..and flying to a tourist destination is no big deal..Jamaica, Barbados, all the Caribbean for that matter.  Mexico is a great place to visit and live.

THANK YOU FOR A SMART COMMENT. IT WAS NEEDED

Thanks, Peter.  We’re from Rochester, NY and my son looked up some statistics last year and discovered Rochester is far more dangerous than Cancun.  The coast south of Cancun had less violence than rural New York State. Hans S.

Thank you Peter for your truth about Mexico.  I have been living in Vallarta for over two years and I absolutely adore it.  However, yes to all my friends and family back in the states, I always find myself defending my decision to retire here.  Gracias!

I love Cancun Mexico…I have been to Cancun 9 times…Years ago I would have considered moving there-if i wouldn’t have met my wife and gotten married. It is an amazingly beautiful country (Mexico) and Cancun is like a paradise with it’s crystal clear waters and white sandy beaches. I love the history and the culture as well as the people. The people are humble and happy…Every place in the world has its bad areas….everywhere. If you are a a person, up to no good, you will find those types of people. You can’t be naive.
Stay on the tourist path and be smart and you will be fine…

Love Mexico, I feel sorry for those people who are missing out on this fantastic, breathtaking Country and all it has to offer…

I totally agree. Safety concerns in Mexico are blown way out of proportion. I was just there and it was as or more safe than many other countries I’ve visited recently. 

I totally agree. Safety concerns in Mexico are blown way out of proportion. I was just there and it was as or more safe than many other countries I’ve visited recently. 

So… is it safer in Mexico or in an Aurora Colorado theater?

So… is it safer in Mexico or in an Aurora Colorado theater?

Peter thanks for this article so interesting and true, I am Mexican, I love my country and I have never been a victim of crime or something, I live in Mexico City, and have traveled to many parts of my country and also U.S. and other countries, I think, just like that when one is traveling you have to be open to culture, to learn from it, because that is the purpose of traveling, and I feel that many Americans do not travel with that attitude but I really thank you this article because I, as a Mexican, I realize that other people from other countries have a vision of Mexicans and the drug war similar to or that we dothe Mexicans, we see and live.
P.S. I also hope the next president will continue the work that has made Felipe Calderon against drug trafficking

I lived for 5 1/2 years in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. For reasons beyond my control am now living back in the US. The years in Mexico were the best years of my life and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t miss the cullture, food and most of all the warm people of Mexico. Viva Mexico!