Safety in Jamaica

I was saddened by the article “Woman’s Disappearance in Jamaica Is a Cautionary Tale for Vacationers” (Her World, Aug. 12) and the picture it paints of Jamaica and traveler safety there.

I visited Negril with my family about three weeks after guidebook editor Claudia Kirschhoch disappeared. I’ve been to Jamaica numerous times, and I find travel there no different from traveling within the U.S.

I travel alone on business at least once a month (I’ve logged more than 40,000 miles this year) and think that common sense should be a guiding force. As a woman, I know I must pay careful attention to my surroundings and avoid finding myself in a situation where I couldn’t summon help.

I am sad that the disappearance of one woman out of the tens of thousands who visit Jamaica each year has led to the issuing of security alerts in a travel guidebook. Is Frommer’s Travel Guides going to issue the same alert for the Washington, D.C., guidebook, with information on Chandra Levy’s disappearance? I doubt it.

LYNN M. FERRY

Alexandria, La.