Billy and Akaisha,
I appreciate both Billy's cavalier attitude in post #2, and Akaisha's well-reasoned and informative post preceding mine. I guess I encompass a bit of both perspectives myself. Good advise- discretion, confidence etc. One doesn't so much need to be big. Much more important to look big. Indeed, the thugs are looking for the easy mark. Tell them, through how you carry yourself, "I'm not that guy (or gal)."
Here's a technique I developed carousing some of the meaner streets in America. When passing one of the bad guys on the street, I neither avert my eyes from theirs, nor do I return their stare, which I don't see but can sure feel. Instead, I stare at their chest. As in drill a hole through it with my eyes. I learned this from once having it done to me by a passerby on the street. It left me with a sense of "what just happened?" I feel it sends a clear message that I see you, and I am not afraid of you. Even if perhaps I really am afraid! No one's the wiser, and I tend to pass unmolested.
I'm also the guy who religiously burns his 12-watt porch light all night long. I want the bad guy to take notice and ponder that I may be expecting him. It's just enough, I'm hoping, to make him wonder what may await him on the other side of that door if he should attempt entry.
This is a variation of how I psychologically coped with the September 11 attacks. They want me to be afraid; I refuse to give them what they want. I can't stand the idea of the bad guys winning.
Regarding safety when traveling: I confess to being a little wary of Mexico, although I often cross over by myself on foot, in border towns. (Who can resist walking to another country?) A big part of it is that I simply don't have enough exposure to, and thus comfort with, backroads Mexican travel. But I'll walked around in the middle of the night in Havana, Hanoi, Taipai or Bangkok with virtually no concern for my personal safety. I've traveled all over America, but the aforementioned are some of the safest places I've ever been.
When people tell me "Be safe", I'm thinking "Thanks, but I've made other plans." Okay, I'm probably more in the Billy camp!
Tom