Has the Narco shit changed anyone's "trip to Mexico" plans?

Am I scared to death? No. Am I more cautious than in the past? A resounding..yes. I think the biggest change it's made for us is that we've always driven down, and now we're going to fly. Once we took that step, it was easy to look farther afield. I think there's going to have to be a trip to Costa Rica. It's no more expensive that flying to Mexico and their Adventure trips do sound like fun. And we've been trying to get to Maz and San Miguel for years but never seem to get past Lakeside where we get hung up with friends and lose track of time. So here's to fun and flying!

I know of two groups who have changed plans from driving to flying because they don't want to drive through my area.

I think they are wrong, but I'm not the one doing the driving. I just live here.

If it means peace of mind...I think your friends made the best choice for THEM. Do you do a lot of traveling by car?

After all the crap I had to endure the last trip I made...I will fly the next time,

We were scheduled to move back to Mexico at the end of August - sold the farm, packed up, rented a house. However, we travel from California; have made the drive several times but didn't feel right about it this time. I have a brand new car which I would have had to trade in on something unattractive & we have two dogs, previously rescued from Mexico, that prevented us from flying down. After hearing about the events on the Mazatlan Hwy., we didn't want to risk losing anything, especially our dogs. We also would drive up to the U.S. for a couple of months every year & would dread the drive. Actually very disappointed - we enjoyed the scenic drive, loved to see our friends & will miss living there. Maybe fly down for a week here & there but that's it. So sad.

That's pretty drastic, I'm so sorry this garbage screwed up your moving plans. Could you do an "on hold" till you're more confortable with the situation?

What was drastic was I almost bought a CUBE!!!!! I thought the bandito's & narco's both would rather kill themselves than steal a Cube. Found out, I would rather kill myself than drive a Cube. LOL. We are actually doing an "on hold" - never say never. But, as I & my husband are old farts, we're almost out of the habit of looking for new adventures. Going to move to Canada for a year & then see where we are.

Well we don't intend to change our plans for driving down next time. We're pretty nondescript, and there's nothing much to flaunt. Figure no one would risk their neck over such a paltry prize.
Do all our driving between 9:30-10:00 am and 4:00 or so in the afternoon for a start, none of this starting out early in the morning and driving 'till we drop.
Our truck is 15 yrs old and the trailer 20. Kept up real well, but our little rig is not much of an attention getter. We do our best not to be big and shiny.
To tell the truth, we're more nervous in Arizona than Mexico. The last Az. trailer park we stayed in had the feel of a refugee camp. Folks were real nice, but the ambiance was strained. Lizzy

I have been driving to and from Ajijic twice a year for about 6 years, I know where all the "official stops" are located along the route, this past December, I encountered about double the stops both coming and going,
(I have come thru during christmas before), and the people staffing these point, were not as friendly as they have been in the past. We never bring or take anything illegal, I just got a weird feeling about the whole thing. From now on I'm flying.

I'll also be flying when I come in, for now. I don't have as much time as I had in the past. I used to stay at least 6mo. Right now life is going too fast. Everytime I plan to come down something unexpected pops up. I will wait and see how the hiway sagas unfold and see what else happens. It doesn't seem to bad, but stuff has happened and can happen, just how bad it gets remains to be seen.

Yes, the violence has absolutely kept us from making the long trip that we had planned for years. Both of us are very disappointed, but can not make such a naive decision. We have made several short trips there in the past few years and love Mexico. I know that lots of people stick their heads in the sand and pray that nothing happens, but we can not do that. If we did not have to bring our animals, we might consider other ways to get there, but we can not leave them at home.

We live very close to the Border and hear much more news about the daily violence that goes on all across the Northern portion of Mexico, (like the first 250 miles) than most of you do. Even if we did not get attacked by a criminal gang, caught up in crossfire between ther Military and Narcos, I would prefer not to have to put up with the corrupt Police, that demand Mordidas or hold you on the roadside for hours while threatening you.

Our local News said that since May 25, 2010 there is not much news coming out of Mexico. Some Government Official put a ban on it because it was hurting tourism. They are hoping that people will think that things are better if they quit hearing the horror stories.

Our pets are like our children and after reading about the couple that lost their 3 dogs, truck and all their cash and belongings, there is no way we would take that chance.

I can only HOPE that things will change but I do not have much hope. These criminals are not going away and I can only believe that they will get more violent as their other forms of income is taken away.

I understand that those of you that have their money invested in property there, will not like this posting and I will probably be flamed....but I know a lot of people that feel the same way. We love Mexico and it is a sad situation.

Thanks for posting your thoughts and insights macmember and sorry to hear you won't be coming back. As a property owner and protector of our sons mother I appreciate your perspective as folks who have been here, are there now and pine to return.

Of particular interest in your post is the statement that, "Our local News said that since May 25, 2010 there is not much news coming out of Mexico. Some Government Official put a ban on it because it was hurting tourism. They are hoping that people will think that things are better if they quit hearing the horror stories."

Waaaa? I'm fascinated by that statement and hope you will elaborate in as much detail as possible or maybe post a link. I've got a ton of questions. tx

And thanks again for posting, I've appreciated your posts on TOB and hope you will continue to share your unique perspectives from 'up there'.

Funny, we seem to get all the news here. TV, newspapers, both in English and Spanish.

One source:

By Robin Emmott
Source:Reuters
Mexico drug gang hushes killings with news blackout
11 Mar 2010 15:55:47 GMT



REYNOSA, Mexico, March 11 (Reuters) - A powerful drug cartel is buying off journalists in northern Mexico to work as spies and smother coverage of a spike in killings on the U.S. border in the latest attack on the media in Mexico.

Hitmen from the Gulf cartel based over the border from Texas are paying reporters around $500 a month and showering them with liquor and prostitutes to intimidate and silence colleagues at radio stations and newspapers in towns near the Laredo-Brownsville area, journalists and editors say.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N1141010.htm

VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muyOBjZLY9M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGRigR4ov4o&feature=related


Yep it's happening.