I have done in person p2p cash trades but this was in Asia and fairly safe. I would be open to doing it provided the country I was living in was safe and I met with the person in a very public place during the day.
When it comes to Bitcoin transactions and privacy, trust is an issue because your privacy is very important; therefore, going to see someone face-to-face in the name of achieving a secure transaction or avoiding being scammed is not safe, and it also bridges your privacy because that same person can report you to the government in a country where Bitcoin is not legalized, and the government can also groom such teams in order to get all Bitcoin users.
On my p2p exchange there is the option to do this kind of p2p in person exchange, but there are few people using that mode. Considering that operation chokepoint is real and banks are squeezing on/off ramping potential, its important to have a way of getting in an out of crypto and the only guarantee method that works no matter what is p2p trading weather that's online or in person. A bank can't stop people from meeting up in person/online and exchanging directly with eachother.. When you find someone you trust and have had a few good trades with, then you can continue trading with them. You don't need to find a new partner every time. Meet up and trade $100. If the guy isn't an ax wielding murderer when you trade, then try again next time with $150 and so on. After 10 trades or so, your not going to feel like he's working some elaborate scam on you.
Sign up to my exchange and post an ad for an in cash person meet up and see if anyone messages you.
wild-west.trade.
It is not a bad idea to meet someone face-to-face for a secure transaction, but how can you establish trust at the first stage?
No one can be trusted when it comes to personal security and privacy.