June 2025 Newsletter

You might have seen on the news a flurry of changes around the travel advisories the US and other countries are putting out. I just recently read in the media about an advisory for The Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. While US State Department Advisories are absolutely important to review, I find the media sometimes sensationalizes the advisories. The US State Department uses a level 1-4 rating system with 1 being the safest and 4 being very dangerous. Countries like Ireland are level 1 and countries like Iraq or North Korea are level 4. The Bahamas has been a level 2 country for a long while due to crime that mainly occurs in Nassau. I read recently in news articles that the US issued new advisories for a very popular vacation spot. They did not change the level 2 ranking but just re-issued it with more information. The same thing was done for the Dominican Republic as well. You absolutely should review the advisories and follow the advice but do check into some of the sensational stories to make sure has the situation really gotten worse. In these cases, the threat level did not truly change. Recently El Salvador was brought down to a level 1 for safety as it’s become one of the safest countries in Central America. We have been to countries from level 1 to level 4 (Haiti in a secure cruise port). Most recently we went to Egypt that was a level 3, and we found it safe for us. We are a bit more adventurous and accustomed to taking precautions based on the levels. You absolutely should look into the risks and make you judgement if it is a destination for you. At the moment Nicaragua is a level 3 national due to possible arbitrary detainment. Nicaragua is off our list for now as that is too risky for us. If you want to see the US State Department reports view them on the link below for the country you are visiting and after reading through it for yourself and doing a bit of research you can decide if a destination is safe for you and in your comfort zone. Just don’t necessarily count out a destination completely based on media reports alone as a relative did for The Bahamas due to media reports, and then she visited and found it wonderful with a local guide! 

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