I have been thinking about driving from USA (Texas) down to Panama.
My concern is about safety, such as whether the risk of getting robbed or killed would make this sort of trip dangerous?
One reason for this concern is that a colleague told me that drug cartels own the highways in Mexico. Not sure how true that is but it made me wonder if they expect some kind of payments?
I'm a 35-year old white male and would be traveling by myself. My car is not particularly fancy, it's a 2014 Ford Escape so a tankful of gas right now costs about $20 USD and can take me about 500 miles. It is registered in Texas, however, so it has the Texas plates (not sure if this increases the risks of getting mugged?).
Is this type of endeavor too risky nowadays? If I do undertake this trip, are there any particular precautions I would have to keep in mind?