Tag / travel advisory

by Kelly Mattei

See Mexico City

See Mexico City

I know what you’re thinking, because I have heard it a million times. “It’s so dangerous!” “You’ll get kidnapped!” “Won’t the cartel get you?” No, no, and no. Most people in the United States don’t know about Mexico City, the governmental center of the country directly to our south; they don’t know it’s a beautiful, vibrant, cosmopolitan city with some of the best food in the world!

I just got back from Mexico City. I’m not a “sit at a resort” kind of vacationer. I like to move around. I like to learn. I like to have experiences. If you’re like me in that regard, you will likely appreciate this magnificent city. I visited several times in the 1980s and 90s, but I had not been since my daughter was born in 2003. Many times, I have tried to get friends or family members to go with me, and finally, my friend, Jennifer, from Ohio, agreed to go. Not only did she agree to go, but after she looked up information online, she was downright excited! You know why? Because she had taken a little time to learn something about the city, and she found, quickly, that it’s an amazing, massive city that is safer than many cities we don’t hesitate to visit in the United States…like Baltimore, Dallas, Portland, St Louis, and even San Antonio. In my opinion, the US media makes the entire country of Mexico look scary, but really, it’s only certain areas that are particularly dangerous. Even the US government has the same level of travel advisory for Mexico City as it has for France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Sure, other parts of Mexico are considerably more dangerous, but we never felt threatened in Mexico City.

Allow me to share some fun things to do there (we did some, but not all of these):

  • Walking food tour of Polanco, the “Beverly Hills of Mexico.” Tacos! Enchiladas! Chilaquiles! Mexican Hot Chocolate! Let me tell you…Mexico does food way better than we do food in the US.
  • Museum of Anthropology. If you’re like me, and the word “museum” just sounds boring, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this massive museum.
  • Ride bikes on Paseo de La Reforma. On Sundays, from 8am to 2pm, the city shuts down one of the main arteries, a street called Paseo de la Reforma, allowing people to ride bikes, run, skateboard through the city safely. Some of the crossroads are open, so they have people there directing traffic for safety. Rent a Citybike! We used it as a “first look” at the city.
  • Helicopter tour of city. Yep. It’s a thing. Most of them are about a half hour, and they’re not cheap, but wow!
  • Eat street food. We had street tacos and street churros…both delicious! Our general rule of thumb for eating street food was to only use crowded vendors.
  • Chapultepec Park. This park is the largest park in the city and is about three times the size of New York’s Central Park! Inside this park? Lots of sidewalks for strolling through various vendors; the aforementioned Museum of Anthropology; Chapultepec Castle, a real castle; Pole Climbers, also known as Danzas de la Voladores (see info here); three lakes, and you can rent paddle boats on at least one of them; a zoo with a panda! There is so much to see in this park. And the zoo was the first to successfully breed pandas in captivity outside of China. The panda they have now is the only panda in Latin America, and she is very old…so hurry.
  • El Palacio de Bellas Artes. This gorgeous neoclassical building is in the historic district and houses several Diego Rivera murals and other beautiful pieces, plus an auditorium, where you can see scheduled performances of the Ballet Folklorico.
  • Gran Hotel. You don’t have to stay at the Gran Hotel, built in the Art Nouveau style, to go inside and admire the Tiffany-style ceiling and birdcage elevators. It’s free! Make a lunch reservation at La Terraza, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant overlooking El Zocalo, and enjoy an al fresco meal with a view!
  • Stroll through a market. There are lots of markets throughout the city. San Juan Market offers lots of different foods…vegetables, meats, seafood, even insects! There are small restaurants inside where you can dine, if you want to feel like a local. Mercado Jamaica is a flower market that operates 24 hours a day! And there are lots of other markets…
  • Metropolitan Cathedral. This magnificent cathedral, located in the historic center and bordering El Zocalo, is a must-see. Constructed in the 1500s, it’s free to visit and is well worth your time.
  • MORE! There’s no way I could possibly list every single thing there is to see and do in and around the city. There are pyramids outside town. You can take a hot air balloon ride to the pyramids. There’s Xochimilco, the floating gardens. How about the Frida Kahlo Museum and Diego Rivera Museum? The Soumaya Museum in Polanco? Go to the top of the Monumento de la Revolución. Like I said, there’s no way for me to list everything. There are tons of ideas on TripAdvisor. Here’s a video that shows the flavor of the city:

All of that information doesn’t even begin to touch on the restaurants! When I say it’s a world-class foodie city, I mean it’s world class! The only problem with the restaurants? There’s not enough time to try all of them!

If you’ve ever considered it, or even if you haven’t, you might want to think about visiting Mexico City now! It’s gorgeous! The food is incredible. You’ll never run out of things to do. And the people are awesome too!

Viva Mexico!

by Kelly Mattei

Planning an International Vacation?

Planning an international vacation?

The world is a crazy place right now, for sure. I know lots of people who are freaking out a little about planning an international vacation. Some of them aren’t sure about the safety or peace levels in the countries they want to visit. I don’t always have answers, but I do have some websites travelers can check when they are planning their international travel…places that give information about safety and peace levels.

I just returned from a trip to Panamá City, Panamá…yes, the one in Central America. I had been to several countries in South America and Central America, but I had never visited Panamá, so I decided to go. I invited my cousin from Florida to go with me. Whenever either of us told someone from the United States that we were visiting Panamá, they acted surprised. Some of them said, “Don’t get kidnapped.” Some of them said, “Oooh…be very careful.” Lots of them asked, “Is it safe to go there?” Anyone who knows me knows I do my homework. I was in the travel business for ten years, so I know “how to do.” There are never any guarantees of safety, but I do my research before I travel anywhere, and my research on Panamá told me we would likely be safe. In my research, I learned it is one of the most stable, safe countries in Central and South America, only behind Costa Rica. Here’s what I will tell you: during the week we were there, we never felt even remotely threatened…not one time. We felt welcome, and we felt safe. In fact, I highly recommend traveling to Panamá if you’re interested in seeing a beautiful city, the Panama Canal, maybe a sloth or two…and meeting some awesome people.

If you’re considering international travel but don’t know how to check the safety and peace levels in an area you want to visit, I have some websites for you to visit:

  • Visionofhumanity.org. This website, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, says it “measures peace in a complex world.” The publication at the website is called the Global Peace Index, and it ranks the most and least peaceful countries of the world. The report also offers information about results and trends in peace, the economic impact of violence, conflict hotspots, and positive peace. You might even be a little surprised at how some countries rank. I will go ahead and tell you Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world, and Afghanistan is the least. Those people who were worried about my travel to Panamá? I’m guessing they will be surprised to learn Panamá ranks 64th in the Global Peace Index, and out of the 163 countries on the list, the United States of America ranks as the 131st most peaceful country…yikes! See the report here. It makes for a great read.
  • US Department of State–Bureau of Consular Affairs. I have used this website for years. It gives details information on different destinations. The US Dept of State issues travel advisories for every country, and often, for different regions within a country. For example, there are places in Mexico that are listed as “do not travel,” and there are other regions that are simply listed as “exercise increased caution.” You will be surprised at some of the countries that are listed in the “exercise increased caution” category…Netherlands, France, Belize, and even Costa Rica! Most of the “exercise increased caution” is due to petty crime. We have to exercise increased caution in many parts of our own country, right? And there are even parts of our country that I would list as “do not travel.” If you’d like to check out what the US Department of State has to say about the places you want to visit, see the website here. To see lots more travel information offered by the US Department of State, check out all the available information on the website. You can see the homepage and work from it here.
  • US News and World Report. US News and World Report published an article last week listing countries that should not be visited by US citizens right now. Most of the information, I believe, comes from the US Dept of State travel advisories, so you will likely see duplicate information, but because of the way it’s written, it’s easy to see the countries you should not visit. Please note that in Mexico, there are different advisory levels in different states of the country. See the article here.

Always do your research before you travel! Also, when you travel internationally, make sure you enroll in the US Department of State STEP program, the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which is a service to allow US citizens traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest US Embassy or Consulate. Through this program, you can receive important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country. The Embassy will also know where to contact you in case of a natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency. See the website here.

Do your homework when you travel, and you are likely to be safe!

Happy Travels!