By Everett Potter

The discovery of eight bodies on the streets of the city of Cancun, Mexico on August 23 not only raised the idea of safety in Mexico yet again but cast a fresh light on the US State Department’s new travel warning system, which was rolled out in January.

The State Department replaced its traditional travel warnings and travel alerts with a travel advisory for every country. Each country’s advisory is ranked at one of four color-coded levels. Specifics are spelled out on each country’s webpage, which also has visa requirements, embassy locations and contact information, not to mention local laws travelers should know about.

There are now four advisory levels, ranked from low to high … continue reading