“Is it safe to travel in eastern Russia?” People regularly seem to ask these generic questions on social media. “Is Mexico safe?” and so on. I am never sure what they are expecting to read in the responses. The replies nearly always range from perfectly safe to guaranteed instant agonising death. The premise of the question is flawed as it is far too broad. I‘ve travelled through Mexico several times and found it to be perfectly safe. Don’t hang around at the border; don’t go to Cuidad Juarez; avoid all the major cities; don’t travel at night; don’t be
