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Comment by bombcar | Hacker News Reader

20 years ago Mexico was much different than it is now; 30 years even more so.

30 years ago in central Texas we visited northern Mexico many, many times a year. 20 years ago we thought it was funny other people were starting to be scared to do so. 15 years ago we stopped going. We haven't been back since.

It's so weird that, from a central Texas perspective, we used to be a short drive from visiting another COUNTRY, which is now effectively a blank space on the map of the world around us. Ski west in New Mexico, eat easy in New Orleans, Hike north in Colorado. South? Here be dragons.

Maybe the next 30 years will be the same story in the opposite direction, but I don't know. I haven't seen anything to give me hope of that.

Edit: You have a last name only a Texan could pronounce ;-)

Similar experience with my family in South and Central Texas as well. They used to go multiple times per year, but never go now. Back then the cartels were more targeted with their violence. Over the past 10-15 years, it has become indiscriminate. A cheap tampiquena plate and a few drinks is not worth the risk.

Would you mind elaborating a bit on what has changed from your perspective please?

I have never visited Mexico and would love to although I will admit hearing things of this sort and some of the footage I've seen of carjackings and machine-gun fire and the like is admittedly somewhat of a deterrent, but then I consider how many scary things happen here as well and I wonder what's true and what's an exaggeration or simply a case of uniquely bad luck.

People in San Diego used to treat Tijuana like part of the city, just split by a border is all.

And I have family that still visits there, but it is much more dangerous than it used to be. 30 years ago it was basically "don't drive a brand new vehicle and be polite" and now it's all sorts of things including knowing which highways to avoid, how to stay away from parts of town that may have drug lord activity, etc. There was almost an unwritten rule years ago that you don't mess with normal people or tourists; that rule has been significantly broken.

And the border waits are much more annoying, too; the people who do still cross now have to wait much longer, even with Sentri.

drug war, notably shift in power from Colombia to Mexico. Various power plays between different organizations advancing on eachother and government interventions. Much more dangerous for civilians in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'. But violence against tourists is by and large greatly exaggerated, even at the height of narco-violence in Mexico. It is still a safe place for a tourist in every single city and most rural areas.

I mean it seems like the biggest change in this story is you. It’s true there’s more cartel stories than before I guess but if you wanted to go there you would go. I spent a week in Monterrey this year, it was lovely.

Mexico is of course full of some lovely places, but cartel violence has been increasing since around 1990 (so 30 years) and has spiked quite dramatically in the past 20 years.

And the difference between "fly into a tourist zone" and "drive across the border into 'real Mexico'" is a huge one. If you do it, you should know quite a bit or have a local so that you can notice situations before they begin.

Sure, the chance of actually being beheaded by a cartel is probably relatively slim, but it's a risk you don't need to take.

Monterrey is a tourist zone? Huh? I’m talking about the largest industrial city in northern Mexico, one that’s closely linked to the Texas economy, not Cancun.

I speak fluent Spanish and have traveled all over these areas and I think the original poster’s idea that Mexico is now off limits is about 95% media fear and hype at best.

But hey if they want to stay home in Waco or Uvalde or wherever they live to avoid violent situations that is certainly their choice.

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