The U.S. Department of State 's travel advisories have been slammed for either understating risks among allies or overstating warnings for developing nations. As a result, many Americans simply ignore these alerts. Many turn to first-hand expat and tourist accounts online, showing a growing distrust of government cautions. U.S. travelers are even the top tourists in Mexico despite its serious multi-level warnings .

What's interesting is that top vacation spots like Mexico seem to get aggressive advisories, while China , the country with the most wrongfully detained Americans , maintains a low-level warning from the U.S. Moreover, the U.S. travel advisory for China doesn't even warn Americans of the risk of detention; the "D" marker for detention is nowhere to be seen in the

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