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Brinton1
  10/2/2015 16:30 EST

Hi. I'm Brinton and new to the forum. My wife and I are tired of the States and are thinking about moving to Columbia but don't know much about it other than what a friend told us. He is a world traveler and described Coulumbia as his favorite country.

Questions: How difficult is it to live in Columbia without being fluent in Spanish? Anyone recommend a very small coastal or town to reside in - preferably one with hills and views of the ocean with palm trees and a place to dock a sailboat? How much would a modest 2 room bungalow cost in such a town approximately? Other questions to follow I'm sure.
Thanks, Brinton

leo8530
  10/2/2015 16:57 EST

Hi, one thing to be aware of is that I think if you live in Colombia more than 183 days then you pay tax to Colombia on all usa earnings and assets like social security and dividends. I would check this out first.

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Exbury
  10/2/2015 17:24 EST

Big difference between travelling and living somewhere. I suggest take a year off (if you can be that flexible), find somewhere to rent in the area you desire (you may have to pay the full year in advance if you dont have a sponsor), then rent your place out and see if its for you. You can renew the tourist visa and take a short break out of the country I think in the interim period.
Knowing some Spanish will be important for paperwork and documentation as there is very little english translation available. Colombians are going to get annoyed if you cannot spell Colombia correctly.
I am sure there are plenty of those places to live around the coast, finding the right one may be a bit harder.

broncoII
  10/3/2015 20:03 EST

#1 Colombia
#2 Learn Spanish
#3 Travel to different coastal locations either the Pacific or Caribbean
Good Luck

novato1953
  10/3/2015 21:43 EST

Anywhere you go you can't speak the language, you are going to feel isolated because you are, well, isolated. Next step is making Skype calls back home from your laptop in a gringo bar during the afternoon happy hour. Plus, you'll never get breakfast cooked the way you want it. But even without Spanish, there must be a town somewhere on Colombia's nearly 2,000 miles of coast on two seas that'll look just peachy keen to you, as the young people put it nowadays.

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