I have such fond memories of trips to Mexico. I’m so sad that now I would not want to go because of the violence and even if I did it would be to a tourist enclave. We actually camped in the early 70s at Cancun and there was absolutely nothing there but a coca plantation and some wonderful lagoons. We snorkeled. We slept in hammocks. We also camped about a mile from Tulum. Again, nothing there but a guy up on a bluff who would cook what we caught and charge us for it if we brought it to him. We slept in our camper on the beach with some friends and caught and cooked most of our food. We were 60 miles from the nearest town (where we could buy bread) but the beer truck stopped on its way to the coca plantation down the road twice a week.
A lady I work with went back home to chihuahua and she said she was stunned by the changes. Her sister there warned her about what shoes to wear to avoid having them stolen..
Some parts are still ok. I was in Oaxaca (City, as well as some surrounding villages) about a month ago and it has had very little problem with the drug gangs. In fact, the worst group it had there was the teachers’ union, which was dissatisfied with the election results a couple of years ago (because the conservative party won) and set up barricades and burned tires in the streets! Where is Governor Walker when you need him?
I met some Americans who lived in or near Merida or Campeche, and they said those places were ok. Most of the really awful stuff seems to happen up north, particularly as you get closer to the border w the US.