The other day at work, corporate sent out a travel warning about Mexico. Basically, it said the drug cartel violence has escalated in this area called Puerto Penasco. Apparently, this place is about 60 miles from the Arizona border, so lots of Americans travel there. We were warned that more violence has been directed towards Americans in that area, so take extra cautions when traveling and basically, don’t go unless you absolutely have to go. Then it went on to detail the other various places in Mexico that we probably should be wary of too…which was basically the rest of the country.
Now, I personally have no desire whatsoever to travel to Mexico. My ancestors left that area over 200 years ago to settle in California. I saw no reason to go back even before the warning.
I was curious as to what the State Department might say about this and other travel warnings. Basically, their Mexico warning sounds political. It’s kind of like yeah, there’s some bad shit going down, but those guys are economic trading partners, so we have to say it nicely and not scare the crap out of our citizens.
The warnings for other countries, however, scared the crap out of me. While it would be interesting to see the weird animals, like giraffes & lions, in Africa for like a minute, there is no way I’m going to that continent…ever. I used to just worry about catching some horrible exotic disease, but I think the threat of armed bandits, terrorists, and civil unrest is a little more concerning.
Also, can I ask who in the blue hell is traveling to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip? I remember hearing about those places on the news when I was a kid. It was never, “Oh we had a great time traveling through the Gaza Strip.” It was always, “Another bomb went off at a school.” Maybe it wasn’t a school, per se, I seem to recall quite a bit of bad shit going down.
Which also begs the question, who is going to Afghanistan? Aside from soldiers fighting the war, I mean. Seriously, who is traveling TO A WAR ZONE that is not in the military?!? I mean do what you want, but don’t complain to me if something awful happens. It’s pretty common knowledge things are nuts over there.
You would be surprised how many people actually contemplate the opportunity to visit places that are not exactly on the safe list of places to visit. They are called thrill vacation seekers. It does take all kinds, doesn’t it? 🙂
People are nucking futs! Did you read the warning for going to North Korea? Every thing is either a criminal act or espionage. Insane.