Tag Archives: security

Travel Day to Oaxaca: Ready, Set, Go

I’m double masked. First, an N95 then covered with my handmade cloth mask made at the height if the pandemic by friend Sam Robbins. (She makes beautiful masks because she is a quilter.)

Do I feel more secure? With my third Pfizer booster and a flu vaccine, I’m still feeling jittery and a bit anxious. I asked the woman behind me in the security line to step back to maintain distance. No one else seemed to care. Everyone else was jammed up in the line.

It looked like it always did traveling before Covid. Lots of close contact. The only difference was that everyone was wearing face coverings, though a few had masks drooping below nostrils.

At age 75, one can go through security and keep on shoes and light jackets. Easy peasy, I thought. Except that before going through the metal detector, I was asked to remove my belt and Teotitlan woven quechquemitl (short poncho). Upon exit of the detector, because areas lit up on the x-ray, I was asked to remove my shoes and undergo the patdown. Shoes had to go back through the x-ray.

In the security line

Leave plenty of time! I got to the airport 2 hours before flight departure.

Be patient. Ask for what you need — like asking people to step away.

it’s a full flight from ABQ to Houston. We will see how that goes!

Safety in Mexico City. Advice for Travelers. Featured in Mexico News Daily.

Mexico News Daily asked me to write about SAFETY IN MEXICO CITY.  The feature story was published today! Let me know what you think.

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When The New York Times picked Mexico City as the #1 among 52 places to go in the world in 2016, I felt like doing a somersault. Finally, my much beloved and unfairly maligned Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX)—so deserving because of its remarkable history, culture, architecture, archeology, fashion, great food, and sophistication—was being recognized as a top tourist destination.

Recently, the World Tourism Organization Mexico named Mexico City the eighth most popular travel destination, garnering 35 million foreign visitors a year.

Yet, many still consider Mexico City a dangerous place, fraught with robbers, drug lords, pickpockets, scammers, muggers, kidnappers, purse-snatchers and other sordid folk ready to take the unsuspecting visitor for a ride to who knows where.

Read the Complete Feature Story Here!

The Mexico News Daily feature story includes tips for travelers, what to see, how to make a personal safety plan, and other advice based on my years of visiting there.

 

 

 

 

Have you been to Mexico City? Is it SAFE? Share your comments.

Hi, dear readers: I’m planning to write a feature article about Mexico City safety, and would like to hear your opinions about visiting there.  Here are some  ideas:

Where do you live?

Why did you go to Mexico City?

How was your experience arriving at the Mexico City airport?

What about getting a taxi to take you to where you were staying?

What neighborhood did you stay in?

Did you walk around? What time of day?

Did you feel secure? Why? If not, then why not?

Is Mexico City more or less secure than any other city you have been to? Why?

What was your most memorable experience?

Are you a man or woman? Did you travel alone? If not alone, who did you travel with?

What would you recommend for safe travel in Mexico City?

Anything else you want to add?

Would you give me permission to use your name and comments?

Thanks,

Norma

P.S. If you prefer, you can email me your comments directly. norma.schafer@icloud.com

Mexican Flag, La Bandera de Mexico, Zocalo, Mexico City

On the walking street, Francisco I. Madero, Mexico City

Organ grinders on Mexico City streets, a dying breed

Museo Palacio Bellas Artes, Mexico City

Archeological discovery continues in Mexico City under the Cathedral

Women Speak About Safety Traveling to and in Oaxaca

Eleven women gathered together in early March 2011 to participate in our first Oaxaca Women’s Writing and Yoga Retreat: Lifting Your Creative Voice.  All were from the United States except for two, an Australian transplant living in Mexico City and a local Zapotec woman from the village of Teotitlan del Valle.  Nine of us traveled to Oaxaca by air, some making connections through Mexico City, all negotiating the distance in time and space independently, solo, alone. Our ages ranged from 28 to 60-something.  Several had never been to Mexico before.

During our week together we talked about what it was like for a woman to travel to Mexico on her own, and I included the following question on the program evaluation form.  I want to share participant responses with you.

What would you say to people who are concerned about safety and hesitant to travel to Oaxaca?

I would say you are often as safe as you think you are and that bad media, amongst other things are only trying to feed your fears. That safety is not a concern in Oaxaca, just to be wise, as you would anywhere and trust your gut, come well-informed and open your arms and heart to the beauty of the incredible place.

Not a problem. We felt perfectly safe in Teotitlan del Valle.

There are some simple precautions to take regarding food, but I have always felt safe here and that the people are very helpful.

I would say – “you are missing an awesome (in the real, not slang sense of the word) experience.”

It’s a wonderful place. I did not feel threatened in any way.

It was safe and people were kind, patient, friendly.

I felt more safe here than in many U.S. cities. I saw/heard no violence, no drunkenness, no homelessness.