|
Colombia: For a 90-180 day trip what would you absolutely bring to COL:
I agree with the other guys: bring tech. Cameras of any quality are just about unobtainable here, and when you do see one it's obscenely priced. Computers and phones are available but are generally inferior and overpriced. I would personally bring two phones, but I realize that's a bit over the top for most people. Make sure they work on the band of your Colombian provider either way.
For non-tech items, I find almost all vitamins and supplements cost more here, or are unavailable. If you're on any prescriptions, don't assume they'll be available here. I use a common hypertension med called Diltiazem and it's simply not available here. I have to buy huge amounts when I'm back home and explain to the border guys at the airport that it's nothing bad.
One more thing: if you're even slightly overweight, you will have trouble buying clothes here. I'm definitely not very fat by Canadian standards but I always have to buy the biggest size available in Colombia. They're just smaller than we are.
Other things depend on if you're fussy or not. Back home in Canada, there will be 30 different types of shaving cream at the drug store to choose from. Here there are maybe 3 if you're lucky, or you might just have to say "crema de afeitar" to the guy behind the counter at the drogueria and take whatever he hands you. I don't sweat that stuff but some do.
Colombia: Swim, bike, run and rent a durnished room or live with a family.:
Biking here (motorized or leg powered) is near-suicide anywhere in Colombia. All your other pastimes can be achieved almost anywhere.
Swimming for me is best in gated communities but the public pool in my town is great, too. Just crowded. If you prefer olympic-sized public pools where you can do laps, I'd suggest you check out the exact pool you'd be frequenting before choosing a town because some can be quite dirty. I'd say the same if you were moving to the US or Canada.
Gyms are everywhere.
I'm not a runner but I'd guess air quality is a big issue for those who are, and towns under 60k in population would probably be best. If there's a park that isn't directly beside busy roads (to avoid diesel fumes), that would be another consideration. I'm actually toying with taking up running in my town. We'll see how that goes.
Welcome back to Colombia!
Colombia: Half and half:
lol. Great post.
Colombia: Can you drink the water in Colombia:
Homecenter is great. Here's their site in case you want to check out what they have online. They deliver very cheaply, too.
Colombia: Expats who returned to US or Canada:
I've been here in Colombia for 2 years, but I actually still work in Canada so I go back every few months, usually for a month at a time. Here are a few thoughts I have about returning.
I gain weight every single time I go back. I don't eat garbage, but the drive-everywhere lifestyle of North America is simply not conducive to good health.
The prices are shocking when I return. Not everything, of course. Meals and taxis, especially, as someone noted above.
I order something on Amazon there and I get it either tomorrow or sometimes today. Here in Colombia, I order on Amazon, have it shipped to a mail drop place, they reship it to me in Colombia and I'm lucky to get it in a month. Or I order from AliExpress and I get it in 3 months.
Here in Colombia, I leave my balcony door open and, most of the time, it's the same temperature outside as it is inside. In Canada, well, no.
People read and respond to emails back home.
Winter is bloody depressing back home. It really affects me psychologically these days. I'm well suited to not having seasons.
I love being able to communicate at a professional level without thinking about it. That's not possible for me in Spanish.
Grocery shopping back home is not inconvenient but it's way better here in Colombia. Anything heavy (milk, diet pop, cleaning liquids), I just phone Metro and they deliver it to my door within an hour for a dollar.
Driving back home isn't my idea of fun, but it's entirely tolerable. Drivers are generally competent and polite. Roads are excellent. None of that is true here in Colombia.
The food here in Colombia isn't tasty but it's super healthy which is more important to me.
Corruption exists in Canada, but you can easily go a lifetime without encountering it personally. In Colombia, that's just not the case.
You don't really worry about violence in Canada. You don't even think about it. Nobody has a gun and traffic disputes don't escalate into murder. That's not true in Colombia (or in the US). I mitigate this by living in a gated community with armed guards, something that simply does not exist in Canada.
Maybe most important of all, I love having a colaboradora. She makes my breakfast, gets me coffee, keeps my home spotless, and leaves me alone in my home-office to work.
I don't believe there's a "best place in the world". There's good and bad everywhere. For me, Colombia is currently a better compromise than Canada or the US. I love it here.
Colombia: uber demand:
I don't have any personal experience using Uber in Cali but I just loaded up my Uber app and looked to see if there were any cars in Cali. There are a ton of them there right now as I type this (see screen shot). I have no idea how business is for them but supply usually follows demand.
Colombia: Barking Dogs:
I think that's going to be a neighbourhood-specific issue. Live in a gated community and the odds are high there'll be no dog barking noise.
Colombia: Project FI by Google:
Maximoto,
SIM card size is entirely dependent on your phone, not on the service you use. All SIM card sizes are technically capable of working with all networks. Whatever size SIM your phone takes, the local provider will be able to give you a SIM that fits. I recently bought both Claro and Movistar SIMs and they came with adapters for all sizes. Movistar charged 3000 pesos and Claro charged 8000.
What you should be worried about is whether your phone works on the frequency of the provider you choose in South America. In Colombia, almost all the providers work on GSM 850/1900. For LTE, Claro uses Band 7 and Movistar uses Band 4. Tigo uses both. If you try to get a phone that handles those, you should be fine in Colombia, although obviously some phones are simply better than others.
Here are some super useful sites to see if a phone will work in Colombia:
FrequencyCheck.com
WillMyPhoneWork.net
Best,
Reg
Colombia: Cartagena:
I'm actually getting tired of the cold weather in my little town near Bogotá. My gf's contract ends in October and we're toying with moving to Cartagena. It seems like more of a tourist destination than a place to actually go and live, though. I'm not into paying gringo-tourist prices everywhere.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with experience living there. Are the utilities reliable? How's Internet there? Power, too. Is water as big a problem as it is in Santa Marta?
Colombia: Opening electronic business in Barranquilla:
Demand for consumer electronics is high everywhere, including Colombia. Colombians have far less disposable income than Canadians, however, and price sensitivity is huge.
Shipping is another huge issue. Getting stock from Canada to Colombia will cost far more than the original shipment from China unless you have some methods I'm unaware of. My own shipping experiences from Canada have been terrible. I ship directly from China, myself, in order to avoid that mess, although I'm just shipping for myself and not a business.
Most importantly, don't forget online competition. Amazon is set to become the world's largest retailer. I buy all my own electronics online, mostly from AliExpress. Yes, some people say they prefer touching things before buying but the overall trend is clear: bricks & mortar stores are yesterday.
I will say this: there are a lot of enterprising people here and there are a lot of places where you can buy electronics here. The fact that electronics pricing is high across the board here indicates to me that there must be some very real factors driving those prices up. I don't know what those factors are but there's no way it's just price gouging or some marketplace disruptor would show up, kick ass, and get rich. Of course, it's possible you might just become that marketplace disruptor but (no offense intended at all) the odds are against it given the amount of competition that already exists.
Business is all about looking for an opportunity and filling that need. You're trying to do that which is great. I'm just not sure that opportunity exists here.
| |
Login to Contact regnatarajan
About regnatarajan
