Does crime change your travel plans?

[Rhone Man]

After reading the travel advisories I decided not to got to El Salvador, while in Central Am last year.

I went to Nicaragua instead, me and a friend got held up at gunpoint our first morning in Managua.

So much for that.

It's like the old joke: An old man is walking around London, and he turns around a corner and bumps into Death. The man is shocked and flees as fast as he can. He takes a train up to Manchester where he believes he is safe from the Grim Reaper.

The very next day he is walking around another corner, and there is Death, who strikes him down instantly. Death then helps him up to accompany him to the afterlife.

"Funny, I thought I had managed to escape you in London," said the old man.

"Well, I got pretty confused when I saw you there," admitted Death. "I was supposed to be meeting you here today."

 

[vladimir]

Crime is everywhere, who on this forum lives in a crime free area!!

Me, pretty much. No place is crime free, but I have lived in Hong Kong, New York City (Manhattan), Chicago, and Singapore for the past twenty years. For most intents and purposes, Singapore and Hong Kong are crime free--there is no place in either city that I'd be afraid to walk through at any hour. With the exception of a few neighborhoods, you are also very unlikely to have any direct experience with crime in Manhattan. Chicago, too, can be very safe, depending on the neighborhood, but there are large swaths of no-go zone, so you do have to know where to avoid. At 1.85 m and 100 kg, I am probably not the most vulnerable crime target, but I have not felt unsafe in my home city in over twenty years.

 

[Rhone Man]

Me, pretty much. No place is crime free, but I have lived in Hong Kong, New York City (Manhattan), Chicago, and Singapore for the past twenty years. For most intents and purposes, Singapore and Hong Kong are crime free.

True, but the diving in Hong Kong sucks...

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Me, pretty much. No place is crime free, but I have lived in Hong Kong, New York City (Manhattan), Chicago, and Singapore for the past twenty years. For most intents and purposes, Singapore and Hong Kong are crime free--there is no place in either city that I'd be afraid to walk through at any hour. With the exception of a few neighborhoods, you are also very unlikely to have any direct experience with crime in Manhattan. Chicago, too, can be very safe, depending on the neighborhood, but there are large swaths of no-go zone, so you do have to know where to avoid. At 1.85 m and 100 kg, I am probably not the most vulnerable crime target, but I have not felt unsafe in my home city in over twenty years.

If any of these cities have police departments, jails, prisons, or what ever they may call them, then there is crime. I fell safe in my home, that doesn't mean I live in a crime free area. When I say crime free I mean zero crimes across the board, not for most intent purposes. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime!

 

[vladimir]

If any of these cities have police departments, jails, prisons, or what ever they may call them, then there is crime. I fell safe in my home, that doesn't mean I live in a crime free area. When I say crime free I mean zero crimes across the board, not for most intent purposes. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime!

Yes, thank you, I stand corrected. This is what a mathematician would call the "trivial solution"--one that is so obvious it sheds no light on the matter of interest. But yes, I agree that there are no cities with zero crime. In the spirit of triviality, I will disagree with your statements that "Crime is everywhere," and that "Anything can happen to anyone at anytime!" I leave the proofs to you.

 

[jdcpa]

As evidenced by the results, the answers do not fit the question. Most people have answered other.

Does Crime change your travel plan? is not one of the options.

Nor is something along the lines of "Do you pay attention to or research crime before plannig a vacation?".

Yes, crime does change my travel plans. It does others on this board too. Evidence the recent murders on Grand Cayman.

 

[Jax]

As evidenced by the results, the answers do not fit the question. Most people have answered other.

Does Crime change your travel plan? is not one of the options.

Nor is something along the lines of "Do you pay attention to or research crime before plannig a vacation?".

Yes, crime does change my travel plans. It does others on this board too. Evidence the recent murders on Grand Cayman.

I cancelled plans to travel due to increasing crime

The above seems to apply. When you change a plan, don't you cancel the original option and chose another?

 

[mike_s]

I will go to Mexico, though not to border towns.

:headscratch:


yet when you go to Mexico.... you drive.... which takes you through border towns?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I've done a couple of fun trips to Bonaire. There are many things to like about a dive vacation there: on-your-own-schedule unlimited shore diving, nitrox availability, well-marked and easily accessible dive sites, very short surface swims, healthy reefs, location outside the Hurricane Belt, drinkable tap water, good beer and cheese, English-speaking locals, interesting mix of ethnicities, etc. I see the potential for making Bonaire an annual destination, and this is a strong statement coming from someone who enjoys the novelty of traveling to different places throughout the world.

Unfortunately, the petty theft on the island and the authorities inability/reluctance to prevent it from happening are the reasons why I haven't returned in the last couple of years. It's sad, but it seems as though many dive tourists, locals, and the police think the level of crime there "isn't a big deal." Frankly I'm not too fond of the keep-your-doors-unlocked-and-windows-rolled-down-during-your-dive modus operandi that the police and rental car agencies advocate. Recently a diver had his rental truck battery stolen. That's pretty crappy, if you ask me, since there's really no way to protect against it.

I can't help but see it as the criminal element preying upon tourists.
The locals will only apply pressure on the police to do something about it when it begins to affect the tourist trade.
Until the police make a more consistent, aggressive effort to eradicate the petty crime on-island, I'm not going to return to Bonaire. It's my personal choice. There are many other places to go diving in this world.

 

[boulderjohn]

But things like the repeated reports of car prowlers in Bonaire do leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, and it's partly for that reason that Bonaire isn't high on my bucket list of places to go. So crime does affect my travel planning decisions.

When I went to Bonaire, I heeded the warnings about leaving things in the truck while shore diving. It was slightly inconvenient but doable.

On the other hand, I received far, far stronger warnings about that kind of theft in a place you have dived without hesitation--Ginnie Springs in Florida. Almost everyone I have dived with there has a story. One guy I know was about to put on his brand new, never used dry suit. He went into the rest room briefly and came out to find it gone. With all the gear you need for cave diving, and with all the thousands of dollars it costs, it is a much bigger hassle to secure it all while diving.