hola buenas tardes bienvenido al Mexico, hoy es Jueves, estoy en parquet alameda
este video es sobre seguridad en ciudad de mexico and once again in
english so today I am in Alameda Park in Mexico City and today I'm going to be
answering the age-old question is Mexico City safe
so on that note I need to find somewhere to sit down so I can talk to you let's
go
so this videos going to be a bit of a relaxed talking video is a bit cloudy as
you can see behind me I'm hoping it's not going to start raining halfway
through but what so happens and to start off with I'm just going to tell you it's
Mexico City safe yes it is please watch the rest of this video I'm going to go
into a bit more detail about that now and you might be wondering what makes
this video different from all the countless other videos on YouTube about
weather makes go see you safe I'll tell you now there's a couple of things I
just want to highlight for you to keep in mind throughout this video the first
one is that personally I think whether a city is safe or not very much depends on
whether you are a local or a native to that place or whether you are a tourist
a backpacker a long-term traveler or a digital nomad I'm pretty much all of
those last four ones so you know what I mean by that is that someone that lives
in Mexico City will probably have more knowledge and more experience of that
place they will know more about the negatives they'll know more about the
safety than I ever would you know I've been in Mexico City now oh I think about
four months this year four or five in total in Mexico so I could never have
the same amount of knowledge as a Mexico City resident would have you know the
way I look at it is that when I think about London you
know I lived there for 34 years in the UK that's where I'm from
and you know when I see foreigners talking about London as if it's the best
place on earth and it's amazing I almost start laughing because my experience and
knowledge of London is obviously more extensive than this and I'm obviously
going to have more knowledge of the negatives like crime homelessness
alcohol issues drug issues you know things like that that in Mexico City as
a visitor visitor sorry I bit my lip I probably wouldn't be aware of those
things but I'm gonna tell you my take on it anyway the second thing which is
really important I've mentioned this before is about the word responsibility
again personally I think that every city in the world is safe okay maybe a few
exceptions places in Syria Rio de Janiero at the moment places in
Venezuela for example and but the experience that you have in a city is
very much dependant on your responsibility and using your common
sense and that kind of thing any city can be safe but if you are not using
your common sense and taking responsibility of your actions then it
won't be safe you're going to have issues so let's just move on to a few
points about Mexico City if you're coming to Mexico City for the first time
you need to do some research in terms of where to stay because and I said in
previous videos there's so much variety in terms of the locations and the
neighborhoods there's so many so many neighborhoods colonias whatever you want
to call them Barrios and they all differ hugely so if you're gonna stay in
somewhere like condesa or Roma Norte which is a common area for people to stay in
Mexico City then you're probably not going to have much of an issue because
it's very much tailored towards tourists foreigners people that are here for a
short time I live in Doctores which I'm going to
cover more in the next video coming up and that is viewed as being quite
dangerous area along with places like Tepito Guerrero Garibaldi areas like that
and you know obviously having some knowledge about where to stay in Mexico
City for your individual trip obviously everyone's different and that will make
a huge difference you know I'm here for a long time I can't afford to stay in
someone like Condesa to be honest with you and I don't want to I quite I'm
quite happy staying in doctores because it's cheap it's close to everything it's
convenient so it's up to you what you do the next point is about transport so
there's so many ways of getting around Mexico City is crazy so you've got a bus
taxis buses the subway and firstly I want to talk about uber and taxis so I
never get an uber or taxi largely for this reason yes the traffic in Mexico
City as you would expect is chaotic an absolute nightmare I think I've only got
a taxi twice coming to and from airports I believe you know additionally with
uber obviously if you're paying on your card and you're from another country
you're gonna have bank charges I get charged one pound 25 for every
transaction I have with my UK bank so it's just a waste of money and
additionally it takes longer than other forms of transport so what's the point I
think for a tourist coming to Mexico City for maybe a week and maybe you're
used to getting taxis in your country wherever you're from then you're
probably going to do that it's it's convenient
it's safer I think than other forms of transport particularly if you're a solo
female I'm not being sexist or anything but let's face it sometimes it's less
safe for single females on their own traveling around a big city late at
night the thing about that though when I hear people say oh I was you know
I had an issue in an uber or a taxi you put yourself in that position again what
I said earlier about responsibility and using a common sense you know if I was
drunk at two o'clock in the morning I wouldn't just get a random taxi in the
middle of the street simple as that you know I would find another way of
getting home or I just wouldn't put myself in that position in the first
place so um yeah Uber's I would say they're very safe I've never had an
issue I don't know anyone else that's had an issue as well so when yeah that's
the first one moving onto buses so obviously you're gonna have the same
issue with buses as you do with taxis in terms of traffic horrendous
I have been pickpocketed pickpocketed on the bus before not in Mexico City in
Malaysia and that's one reason why I'm slightly reluctant to go on a bus you
know why would I get a bus when I can get the subway moving onto the subway so
I am probably the biggest fan of the subway it does get it does get a huge
bad rap I guess it's got a bit of a reputation from a lot of people and I
don't think it helps when people slag it off or they're negative about it it's
efficient it's cheap I've never had an issue on the subway I don't know anyone
that has ever had an issue on the subway and I've only ever seen one instance of
a man I don't know what he was trying to do to a woman but at the next stop
the police jumped on and removed the guy from the train so in comparison to so
many other Stoppers in the world even London next go City Subway is safer you
know I've had issues on the London Underground that I've never had here and
some advice about the Mexico City subway you see I'm wearing a bag like this okay
diagonal across me always wear a bag like that so people can't grab it off
you put your valuables underneath other things in your bag with the zip shut
things like that so realistically you're gonna notice if someone's trying to open
your bag and go through it and I have a no pockets rule ie nothing
in my pockets rule except my cigarettes and the lighter you know so my phone my filming
equipment things like that go in my bag underneath underneath everything and I
hold my bag on the front of me when I'm on the train and it's not just
foreigners that do that locals do that you know I've had subscribers tell me
about issue they've had on subways where they will put their bag on their front
just to make sure that they don't have an issue and something else about the
subway which I think is really important is about blending in and fitting in you
know I'm lucky because I'm by myself you know
there isn't a one way that Mexicans look in terms of their appearance it's very
varied in terms of different areas in Mexico so I could quite easily fartole
Mexican in some ways and the thing I see a lot of is tourists that are maybe in a
couple or a group and they're talking to each other in English which just makes
it obvious that they're not Mexican and singles you out for a potential issue
like pickpocketing or something like that and the other thing I do is
mirroring which is a great little term I used to use when I used to work in the
UK you know for example if I'm getting on the train and maybe 5:30 p.m. and
there's people coming home from work and you know they've got their arms folded
and they look stressed out because they've been a busy day I'll do the same
thing so that when they look at me they probably think the same thing they don't
look at me as a tourist so blending in on the subway is probably the most
important thing but overall I'm the biggest advocate for the subway it's
cheap it's the best way to get around the city and I've never had a problem
hopefully you will not either moving on to what I mentioned earlier about
responsibility and using a common sense so if I was to go out at 2 o'clock in
the morning to get a drink from a shop or whatever you know I would use my
Wiles if you know what I mean I would be aware of my surroundings no I'm I'm
lucky that I've been to a lot of countries in the world and I'm used to
that kind of thing I used to live in a slightly dodgy area of London so I'm
used to being aware of my surroundings what's going on the people around me
that kind of thing and I understand that if you're what a new traveler you know
you haven't travelled to many places before that might not be second nature
but for me it is and that's the biggest thing you've got to be aware of your
surroundings and don't put yourself in a position where you
I have an issue so like I said on the subway going out at night
being drunk I never get drunk very rarely being aware of maybe homeless
people alcoholics drug addicts on the street and keeping away from them oh
it's a helicopter right helicopters gone hallelujah what was I saying oh my god
yeah okay another area that you want to keep a watch out for is in like busy
food courts busy shopping centers where there's a lot of people but that can
happen anywhere it's no it's not a thing about Mexico City either in busy areas
you're gonna get robbed because that can happen anywhere you know I've been
robbed before I was robbed in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival I was mugged by
a drug addicts in Sydney Australia and I had my wallet stolen in Malaysia last
year in Kuala lumper don't get me started on Kuala lumper but my point is
that it can happen anywhere and it's not something that's a single doubt in terms
of Mexico you use your common sense and responsibility and you won't have an
issue simple overall the thing I just want to say about Mexico City to end
this video is that I understand that if you haven't been here before
or you haven't maybe spent some time in Central American cities or South America
it can be a huge culture shock a massive shock to your system and and naturally
those things in terms of responsibility in common sense that I talked about
won't come to you straight away or take some time to feel streetwise and feel
comfortable in that situation and I'm gonna touch on this in another video
which I kind of had before is about language and clothing you know dress
like a local not that many Mexicans wear this red jacket but you know what I mean
and you know fit in blending like I said about the subway that is the key thing
in terms of feeling safe in a city for me and feeling comfortable so and I hope
this videos helps those of you who are looking to come to Mexico City for the
first time or maybe move to Mexico City for a long period like I am and you know
the thing I will say or don't be scared let's go see it's it's it's not as bad
as people think in fact it's not bad at all the the reputation that it has is
unfounded it shouldn't and there shouldn't be that reputation because
personally I've never had an issue I hope you never do either when you come
here so when if you would like there is a whole massive playlist of Mexico
videos I think it's about 45 videos at the moment
I think this is video 46 we'll see that just be linked to that is down in the
description below so feel free to check that out don't forget to subscribe if
you like and leave a like leave a comment why don't you tell me about your
experience in Mexico City have you had any issues with what I talked about in
terms of the subway things like that so I'm gonna go and film another video now
which is just down the road sit tight for that and I will catch you later