I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away.

          Danger is the major concern when I tell anyone I want to go on a road trip through South America. I recently conducted a new survey online that specifically focused on the dangers of this trip that I desire to embark on and as expected many people said that they wouldn't go on the journey because of the danger. But I do acknowledge that there is danger and most people consider Mexico to be the most dangerous part of the journey. Luckily most of that violence in all of Central and South America is inter-gang related. Usually bad guys killing other bad guys. But that is usually related to the great fear of death which I don't plan on encountering until I'm at least 70 years old.

          Think of Central America as a large funnel for the drug trade which means that the most murders and criminal activity will be in the middle. Mexico actually isn't the most dangerous instead if you look at the map I put up, the most dangerous is El Salvador and Honduras. Luckily after this week I figured out that I can change my route slightly and I don't even have to touch El Salvador. Unfortunately there's no good way around Honduras.

          Now even though Mexico doesn't have the highest murder rate it does have distinct regions that are more dangerous than others. This is where I need to change my route again. I saw on an interactive map on TheEconomist.com (Link Here) that my original route passes right through Chihuahua, Mexico. The highest murder rate in Mexico is here and it is over 4,000 murders per year and my route took me straight through it. Well, I think I'm going to change that route and find a different one through areas that seem to look more forgiving and safe.

          Finally I've found the government travel advisory website and found that there's a few different countries that are currently on it. Now El Salvador which I'm already skipping is listed on the website for having 25 U.S. tourists killed since 2010 and 274 U.S. Citizens who have had their passports stolen. Also of those murders in El Salvador only 6 have been solved. So I'm skipping it and that's final. As for Mexico, it is also listed on it for murder in which the number of Americans murdered in Mexico was 113 in 2011 and 71 in 2012. But for Mexico You also need to consider that it sees a lot more traffic and tourists each year unlike El Salvador. So with that said I'm officially skipping Chihuahua, Mexico and the country of El Salvador on my journey south.

Works Cited

"Current Travel Warnings." Current Travel Warnings. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Travel advisories for different countries

"A Gruesome Paradox." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Mexico homicide rate chart

Henry, Wesley R. "Create Surveys. Get Answers." SurveyMonkey: Free Online Survey Software & Questionnaire Tool. Survey Monkey, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. My personal danger in Central America survey

"The Rot Spreads." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Central America homicide rates