This is a question I get asked often about certain destinations and the simple answer is No. Technically nothing is safe, you are not even safe in your own home. A few years ago my husband and I were going to Paris, this was 5 months after the Paris attack, we had some family members concerned about it. So my husband did some research and at the time you were more likely to die by moving furniture in your home then be killed by a terrorist attack. So technically nothing is safe.
Is it safe enough to visit? Another good question. With the rise of internet and social media, if someone in another country spits on someone, we hear about it. I was reading an article from the UK the other day talking about how a girl was fat shamed, by customers, in a cupcake shop. As I continued reading it I saw that it occurred in my home town, not 5 minutes from my house. Why was I reading about it on a UK website? It was crazy! Sometimes shared information causes panic and fear that mixed with fear mongering article titles tends to get people scared. If I had a friend visiting, they could easily type in my city name and find out about that incident and say the don’t want to go to Valparaiso now because they may be fat shamed. Could it happen? Of course! Is it likely to happen? Probably not, yes it did happen here, but it can happen anywhere.
I’m going to Mexico next month and i’ve had many friends and family members send me this article titled “14 killed in bloody 36 hours as violence rocks tourist hot spot Cancun” I was terrified, I thought “ oh no, tourist are being killed in Cancun.” After reading the article I find that all of the killings are linked to organized crime and there is no travel restrictions issued from the government. I had a fellow colleague saying she wants her clients safe and would never send them to somewhere so unsafe. Well I live not too far from Chicago and in the summer 14 dead in 2 days, happens quite often. I’m comfortable going to Cancun right now, just as I am comfortable going to Chicago in the summer. If I had a travel agent dissuade me from going because of killings and than later I find out it was cartel related killings. I would be upset. That’s just me.
Everyones risk levels are at a different place, if you are not sure if you should go you can always start by looking at what the government is saying. Go to travel.state.gov that is where you will find safety warning for all of the countries. It will tell you if there is an advisory, why there is an advisory and if you choose to go, what to be on the look out for while you are there. The government updates this information regularly. This is the site to trust, not an article you Aunt Felicia posted from realnewsimnotlying.com. If after reading everything you still don’t feel safe going to that destination, then don’t go. Don’t be fearful your entire vacation, you won’t have fun. Go somewhere you trust and feel is safe like Las Ve…wait never mind or New Y…nope stuff happened there too. Maybe Cleveland, yea I think Cleveland would be your kind of city.
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