FYI- BAJA NORTE VIOLENCE.
- Thread starter hankgs
- Start date
True, but being capable of protecting yourself is much easier inside the border.
How? Two women and a infant child went to a New Mexico park. (USA state) The child was kidnapped and the two women were found dead. So how was that safer?
Mickey Bitsko
Adventurer
Safer? Inside of which border?
Markal
Active member
It's really pretty silly to think the level of danger in the US is similar to Baja and other parts of Mexico. Do horrible crimes happen in the US? Yes. But at a much, much lower rate. And most murders in the US are committed by acquaintances of the victim, not random.
I have certainly given up on the idea of traveling overland to any part of Mexico for the foreseeable future.
I never stated it was safer. I stated it is easier to defend yourself in the U.S., mainly because you can legally carry a firearm. More of course goes into self defense, but it certainly helps.
No reason to get overly emotional about this, I only stated a fact.
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plh
Explorer
Meth
ThePartyWagon
Active member
Well, there goes any chance of convincing my wife to travel Baja in our camper.
She has no problem flying into the tourist areas but remote camping, surfing and chasing roosterfish won't be happening like I've always dreamed of.
She has no problem flying into the tourist areas but remote camping, surfing and chasing roosterfish won't be happening like I've always dreamed of.
plh
Explorer
Yep, my wife has given up on even flying into the tourist areas of MX. Too many other good choices to fly too.
Not to Hijack this thread or steer the conversation elsewhere but can anyone point me to reputable websites or blogs (or even within this forum) that can provide real world, on the ground info, about safety in the Baja? More specifically, purchasing a retirement home and not necessarily overlanding. We are looking at San Jose and La Paz.
Try the Chamber of Commerce, police departments for the areas of interest, make some phone calls to locals that provide social services since they usually know areas of need and dysfunction. You Mexican/Spanish must be excellent.
Now, back to the Mexican killing field stories.
lucilius
Active member
There are many many expat sites to be found with a trivial google/other search, that can provide some snapshots of successes, challenges and failures. IME, a lot of this, particularly the rosy success stories, correspond to the expat's wealth, not that there aren't a lot of folks doing the expat on a shoestring routine extremely well and maybe better IMHO. Spending a lot of time in the region prior to buying a house/land there would seem to be essential. This is probably not the standard approach these days but, especially given that your goal is real estate and not just a vacation, I would start by studying the history/geography/politics/industry/etc. of the region(s) of interest. Tumultuous local politics, large demographic shifts (influx or outflow), crime, and anything else that might change things for the local populations are essential to understand if you want to gauge the investment and security value of a place. I would also look for any long term presence of reputable international companies of all sorts who need reliable local workers, security, etc. Immediate border regions can be more dodgy when it comes to security with a higher transient population and illicit cross border trades of all sorts. The only website I know of where there is at least a notional disincentive to fail (all those gov employees need to keep getting promoted in order to retire at higher pay grades) to keep US citizens from coming into harm's way, e.g. being disinvited to embassy cocktail parties for a month, would be this: https://travel.state.gov/content/tr.../traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html
Jokes aside, this is always a good place to check and can be a jumping off point in your quest for knowledge. The Dept of State/US embassy is a great place that most folks don't use enough and probably one of the best repositories of local knowledge you can access from your desk in the US. Feel free to call them and ask for information and points of contact for real estate. IME, they are knowledgeable and professional. Remember, they work for you.
Fly into Loreto, (out of LAX on Alaska Airlines) and stay at the La Mision Hotel- Then take a taxi to Nopolo, 20 mins South of Loreto and have your mind blown... It's an expat haven and the Marina is one of the finest I've ever seen...
Mickey Bitsko
Adventurer
He's just trying to help 🤣
BajaNomad forums may be a good resource.