Packing For Mexico – What Can You Take With You?

When you are preparing your driving trip to Mexico, it is vital that you are aware what you can and cannot take with you.  You cannot take obvious items, such as firearms and illegal drugs.  Everyone knows that you will experience problems at the border either going into Mexico or trying to return to America, if you carry illegal items.  If you try doing this, you will definitely go on vacation, not to a lovely holiday destination, but to a prison cell.

Packing for your road trip to Mexico is much the same as packing for any other trip.  You can take clothing and personal items for your personal use.  You should try not to take too much as you may want to buy goods in Mexico.  It is a good idea to remove the price tags from any new items of clothing you wish to pack.  This will allow you to avert any questions about whether the items are for your personal use or for commercial resale.  In the same vein, you should pack normal-sized toiletries as you may be suspected of taking items into Mexico for resale.

If you are on chronic medication, you are allowed to take your medication with you.  In this case, you must ensure that you obtain a prescription or a letter from your doctor stating that the medication is required by you.

You are allowed to take a maximum of 20 cigarette packs or 200 grams of tobacco.  You can also take three liters of alcohol with you.  The limit for books or magazines is 20 copies.  This is the total number you are allowed, regardless of the number of passengers in your vehicle.

You are legally allowed to take your laptop and the relevant equipment to operate it into Mexico with you.  You may raise suspicion levels if every member of your traveling party takes a laptop.  Taking more than one laptop also puts you at risk of theft.  The logic here is that you are on vacation and should not be spending your time on your computer, checking emails or working.

You should also consider that you may not have excellent internet access in Mexico.  So, in view of this problem, you may want to leave most of the laptops at home.

You are allowed to take a television with a screen up to 12 inches into Mexico.  You may also take a set of binoculars with you.  This means that items such as DVD players and portable music devices should not raise any eyebrows.  The only thing you have to ensure is that you do not take several of these items with you.  The best bet is to limit them to one per person.  You have an allowance of 20 compact disks, so do not take your entire music CD collection with you.  Simply take your favorites, or better still, transfer your favorite music to your portable music device.

If you have children in your traveling party, you are allowed to take a maximum of five toys for each child.  Abiding by these simple rules can save you a lot of anguish and frustration when you reach the border.  Your child will not be very happy if their favorite toy is confiscated.Above all, remember that you need Mexican auto insurance.  Your American or Canadian insurance is not valid in Mexico. Go to this URL to purchase your Mexican insurance.