I am temporarily living in Medellin, Colombia. In this post I am going to give you a breakdown of what it’s like, from basic costs to what I do all day. If you find this kind of information interesting I also wrote about my daily life in Tel Aviv, Israel. And more recently about living in London. I am of course supporting myself through my three businesses described here.

Sample Daily Routine:

Below is sample of what I do each day. Of course I don’t do these things every single day at the exact same time. Sometimes I skip salsa class and other times I work more hours or completely skip a day of work.

• 11AM: Wake up naturally without an alarm
• 11:00AM-12:00 AM: Shower/drink coffee/read emails

My Office

• 12:00AM-1:00PM: Work (Process ecommerce orders, respond to advertisers, email clients)
• 1:00PM-1:45 PM: Play tennis one-on-one with Pacho, a private instructor at La Unidad Deportiva de Belen
• 1:45PM-2:00PM: Order lunch from downstairs restaurant/shower, La Esquina de Basco
• 2:00PM-2:50PM: Eat a full lunch/watch TV/browse internet
• 3:00-4:00: Take private salsa dancing lesson
• 4:15PM-7:00PM: Work
• 7:00PM-7:45PM: Cook/eat dinner
• 8:30PM-1:00AM: Meet friends for drinks at a bar on La 33, Parque Lleras, La 70, etc.
• 1:00AM-2:30AM: Browse Internet/Watch TV
• 2:30AM: Sleep

My Home:

Rather than my previous plan to live by myself in a beautiful, expensive apartment, I chose a different option. I settled on a furnished 5 story, 12 bedroom/8 bathroom apartment with 10 others from Colombia, UK, Australia, Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, and other countries.

My particular floor looks like this.

And my bedroom looks like this.

View from my bedroom window

What I like most about living her is that it is located right next to a huge park with basketball courts, tennis courts, archery, a swimming pool, outdoor gym, track, and soccer fields. But I won’t lie. i only use the tennis courts!

View of the park from my balcony

Costs: US$

Rent (furnished bedroom, wifi, utilities, etc.): $266

Lunch (soup, meat, rice, side dish, juice): $3.50

Private Tennis Lesson(45 Min.): $13

Private Salsa Lesson (1 Hr):$8

ATM: a shit load of cash

Like most places Colombia is a cash society. All I can tell you is how much money I have spent in total.

Total Costs $3,400 for 49 days = $69/day

So obviously I am spending money on a lot of dumb stuff like a coffee maker, tennis racket, vacations to Bucaramanga and Don Matias, bottle service at clubs, imported swiss cheese and turkey for obscene prices, etc. I also have a girlfriend which in Colombia means treating her to meals, bars, etc.

Still, I wouldn’t say I am living like a king here. Just a nice lifestyle.

Back in Bogota last August I did the usual. I  ate well, drank at cafe’s and partied non-stop. I flew from Buenos Aires to Bogota and stayed at my favorite hostel, Hostel Sue #2, which has turned into a tradition as history shows I can be expected to stay with them in Bogota at least once a year.

I arrived on a Monday night and ran into some people I had met on previous trips, like a Peruvian chef who has been living in the hostel for over 6 months. I met a few regular backpackers, one of which was dumb enough to tattoo “Pittsburgh” on his shoulder. Pittsburgh was where I went to college so after meeting him he gave me his book, Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring. I have not looked at it since my brain has become an encyclopedia of useful and useless information about South America.

Another person I ran into again was a girl who worked at the hostel last time I visited. She was excited to see me but that excitement was confusing because we were supposed to meet for a date one time, but she flaked out.

We made plans the next day and met for coffee at Juan Valdez downtown. I found out that the reason she flaked out was because she had a boyfriend, who she recently broke up with. As I learned more about her I noticed she was completely different than I assumed. She was older…27. Also still in school studying environmental engineering which she talked about too much. One interesting fact about her family is that her grandparents owned one of the biggest food companies in Colombia, producing the main ingredient for Colombia’s staple food, Arepas. So her family is beyond wealthy but because her Mom eloped her family did not receive much. Meanwhile, her cousins own multiple mansions in different countries.

Others I ran into again was the maid and owners of course, who were as hospitable as ever. I talked to a Swiss backpacker I met my second day in Colombia in 2007.

I went over a Colombian friend‘s house one night and caught up with everything while I was away. Heard some interesting rumors about certain people…haha. I won’t say what they are as they are just rumors.

One morning I went to Crepes & Waffles for breakfast and I swear the same woman always works the counter. She smiled and I know she remembers me from my many visits in the past.

I also did some chores. I bought a new sim card for my phone and got my glasses fixed. At the eyeshop an older Colombian man, Raphael, befriended me. He lived in New York City and Miami for a long time so i think he was just happy to be able to practice his English. We exchanged numbers and he urged me to call him so we could get some coffee.

Another day I hung out with my Colombian friend I wrote about above. He recently bought a new dog and so he dragged me to a park a few blocks from his home. The park was pretty neat because every day an official dog club meets up so each of their dogs can run around and socialize together. The fun thing was that the people there were such an odd mix full of rich older men, teens with the gothic look, good looking middle aged women, a poor looking guy with missing teeth, and more.

I one day moved to another hostel for easier access to people wanting to go out at night and that upset the owners a bit. But it was worth it because the new hostel was so lively. I ran into an Australian backpacker I took a day trip with to a salt mine in Zipaquira. I also walked right into a a guy I studied with in Buenos Aires who I had given tons of advice to before he left Buenos Aires.

One night a bunch of us from the hostel went out together and I met a really cute architect but her annoying friend just kept clinging to both of us. Other nights we drank rum in the hostel, where quite a few people were long term backpackers stuck in Bogota teaching English. I really met some fun people. A group of Chileans, a cool Australian, and other nights we also went out not coming back to the hostel until it was light outside. Classic Bogota.

If you stuck it out this long reading this you are kind of lucky. This marks the end of my writing about old travels and the next posts you read will be about my trip to Ecuador that I leave for in 2 days.

I am approaching day 9 here in Manizales, a medium sized city right in the heart of Colombia’s booming coffee region. But i’m not going to talk about coffee much this time. Rather, the 7 day Feria de Manizales that ended a few days ago. So choo choo, lets begin!

Many days begin with a cup of Juan Valdez coffee. Juan Valdez is like the Starbucks of Colombia, except it actually a coop owned by a union of coffee farmers.

These are some friends. Monica from Colombia, Jordi from Italy, and Diego from Buenos Aires.

The four of us hung out at Monica’s apartment my first night while Jordi cooked us one of his native pasta dishes, consisting of pasta with a vegetable based sauce of condensed milk, onions, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, etc.

Afterwards, the four of walked down the street for an electronic concert in the park. A quick observation is that this city is filled with soooooooooo many teenagers. Its ridiculous. Going out to discotecas or bars at night means hanging out with 15-17 year olds. The concert ended at 11 PM, just in time for the teenagers to get to bed.

Another day I was befriended by a Colombian couple from Bogotá.

They own a company that rents out musical equipment for concerts all throughout Colombia. They were here in Manizales to rent their equipment for huge sold out Marc Anthony stadium concert.

After chatting for a bit, they invited me and an Australian girl to come watch them setup for the concert the following night.

After an hour or so of wandering around the stadium, we walk directly outside to watch a car race around the stadium.

We met up again for dinner with a bunch of Colombians also staying at the hostel. This week has definitely been about practicing Spanish. My ability has definitely regressed from last year. My theory is that as I learned more complicated grammar is takes me more time to process what I want to say since I have a wider range of information to use.

By the way, I ate a pretty good chicken shwarma.

Walking back to the hostel revealed a very authentic looking US Army vehicle.

Wandering outside the hostel is a giant parade complete with beautiful Cristal Aguardiente (Anise flavored alcohol) girls dancing in a truck.

It is perfectly normal for Colombian soldiers with giant guns to help control the flow of pedestrians.

Another night some friends and I taxied it up to the city’s lookout point.

Of course we were not the only ones there as there was a widespread carnival going on, complete with games, clowns, etc.

Climbing this tower provides the view of the city.

Later that night I watched the Juanes & Miguel Bose concert. Juanes is arguably the most popular Latin American musician right now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The following morning I watched even more live music at the Reggae, Reggaeton, and Hip Hop day in the park. One of my favorite groups, Dragon y Caballero happened to be playing!

Click here to view the embedded video.

They are pretty big, as you can see.

But before them, I and many others suffered through the performance of this reggaeton singer with a lisp. It was awful.

And finnally I am going to share a few random pictures from the park.

A bunch of Colombian soldiers huddled in the back of a truck.

Gambling with guinea pigs again.

I am presently sitting in a hostel in Manizales, a major city in the coffee region. But before that I stayed in Bogotá until this past monday.

In Bogotá, I hung out with my friend Adam, from England. I met Adam about 2 years ago during my first big trip alone in Ecuador. We met up later in Colombia on that same trip and have kept in touch ever since. Adam has been back in Colombia for more than 5 months now. The reason he is here is thanks to me. I introduced him to his current girlfriend one night and they have been together ever since.

While waiting at the bus stop for Adam, i started chatting with an old man sitting on the bench doing nothing. I think this is a worldwide phenomenon; old men sitting on benches.

After lunch with Adam, we walked back to the hostel for a few beers. Thats when I saw another Israeli traveler I met on my first trip 2 years ago, a Colombian traveler I met 2 years ago, and a former hostel worker randomly in the streets. Why am I telling you this?

I want to show you that Colombia is that one country that gives so much reason to return. Many of the travelers I meet are here in Colombia for a second time. Its just the way it is.

My days in Bogota consisted of walking, drinking coffee, and people watching. I often walked for hours each day exploring familiar and unfamiliar parts of Bogotá. I average nearly 5 cups of coffee a day. Whether drinking coffee provided by the hostel or from Juan Valdez. Oma, or a random cafe; the coffee is delicious and very strong. I like to sit in plazas when I tire from walking, watching the many people of Bogotá.

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Military musuem

Another beauty of Bogota

Walkin’ the streets

One day in Bogota, a new Australian friend of mine names Heather and I went on an adventure with a goal of having someone shoot us in our chests with a gun! No really, I am serious. See, there’s this famous clothing company called Miguel Cabellero. This company manufactures and sells bulletproof clothing to politicians, celebrities, and those quiet but important people. The bulletproof clothing is unique because it is handcrafted into stylish suits, polo shirts, dress pants, etc. Sort of like urban camouflage. Miguel Cabellero has retail stores worldwide, even in Harrods department store in London.

Heather and I rode the Transmilenio down to Chapinero. The Transmilenio is like a poor man’s subway. Its actually a very complicated system of buses with its own lanes that go throughout the city, stopping at terminals that you would enter just like a subway in NYC.

at the Miguel Cabellero factory, we attempted to smooth talk the secretary into letting us tour the factory. “Yes, we really did fly all the way to Colombia just to see this factory. Its a fascinating story and we would love to see the inner workings of the company.” We got close, but unfortunately there was nobody available to show us around. We didn’t even get a chance to ask if they could shoot us wearing a bulletproof article of clothing.

I have gone bungee jumping, skydiving, paragliding, been jumped, and many other adventure activities. What else is left, other than getting shot in the stomach? At least we got to see them unloading the fabric into the factory I guess.

We waited on the street in some random part of the city and within minutes found a collectivo van going to the area of out hostel. Public transportation is excellent in Colombia. Wherever you are, there is either a taxi, van, bus, subway like system and its all so cheap. Although bus stops exist, flagging down a bus is more common and saying “por aqui” will get any bus to let you off anywhere.

Back in our neighborhood, we searched for a particular seafood restaurant. You see, I ate at this restaurant on my first trip to Colombia and could never find it again. Until a few days ago I randomly found it just by wandering the streets. This restaurant has character. The wooden floorboards creek, its always, packed, pictures of MLK, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, and other line the walls. The owner is a friendly guy who enjoys practicing his limited English. Best of all, their coconut rice is incredibly tasty with a sweet but spicy flavor. For just $3.50, I got a big bowl of soup, a whole fish, salad, coconut rice, fried banana, and freshly squeezed juice.

Unfortunately, Heather and I could not find it again after wandering for nearly an hour and had to settle on eating fried chicken with gloves.

The hostel is a great place to meet people. Unlike in other countries, I can easily say that 75% of the travelers here in Colombia came alone. This makes for a great environment where everyone is looking to socialize and make new friends.

One interesting guy I met is a Navy veteran. He’s no more than 24 years old and was medically discharged after serving just 6 months. He started telling me that he has no intention of ever paying back his student loans.

“You know, they are going to garnish your wages if you don’t pay them back”, I said.

“That won’t really matter because I never plan on working again in my life”

Turns out he is receiving a pension from the Navy for the rest of his life. After working for just 6 months, he is retired at 24. That must be some kind of record.

Thats not all though. Before the pension kicked in, he went traveling and ran out of money. In order to continue traveling, he joined the French Foreign Legion. He trained again for 6 months and was eventually discharged for medical reasons. Nuts!

Random llamas in Bogota

But like I said, there are always people to meet and hang out with. One night, I went out with Roger, an electrician from London. One interesting thing he mentioned about Americans that he meets in hostels is that Americans will tell people their life story within a minute of meeting someone, and then won’t even say hello when walking past that person the next day.

It reminds me of this annoying woman from Atlanta who did just that. I could tell you everything about her life. I won’t because she is not a very interesting person. She’s the type of person who brags hanging out with a local or taking a “dangerous” bus route that everyone she is talking to has also done.

Like Roger said, she barely acknowledged me the next morning.

I left Bogotá very spur of the moment on Monday night after spending some more time with Adam. I really enjoyed my time there and look forward to returning in a month of so.

I leave in 7 days, more or less. I never officially announced here that I was accepted into the Universidad de Belgrano’s Semester in English program in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Despite my worries, my application arrived in just a few days and I was accepted just a few days later. Since that time, I gathered all of my crap to fit into 1 backpack that I will live out of for the next 8 months, bought a one way ticket to Colombia for $105, and a round trip flight from Colombia to Argentina for $650. I fly into Bogotá with the intention to spend around 2 months enjoying the country, followed by 4 months of studying at an Argentine University (more on this in a few months), followed by an undetermined amount of time back in Colombia (1 month?), and then back home to the United States where I will continue at my current university in Pittsburgh.

Similar to the past two years, I am spending my few weeks before the big trip lounging around being a bore. I wake up at 12am, drink what’s really just a poor excuse for coffee (it’s so bad), read 20+ Colombia/Argentina travel blogs I keep in my Internet favorites, write a resume ($$$), process some orders, and hang out with whoever is around the house while I continue to browse the net. But in just 7 days, my life will drastically improve.

I will begin my 8 month trip in South America, beginning in Bogotá, Colombia.

I look forward to meeting new friendly people, both locals and the general respect you get from fellow backpackers, as well as old (more like 2 years old at most) friends who fell for the beauty we call Colombia, and now live and work there. Or the beautiful girl I spent weeks with in Medellin who I hope to see again soon. Not to mention the succulent fresh juices (guanabana, mora, and more) or powerful tasting coffee I will soon drink straight from its origin.

I cannot forget about the abundance of cute women I will soon have the pleasure of meeting or the world class discotheques with dancing midgets and perfect 10 models.

The excitement of every new place I will visit and building new memories revisiting old places. Speaking my poorly accented but improved Spanish (B- in Spanish 4 baby!), kamikaze bus drivers, and the favorable exchange rates ($2,180 to $1).

Most of all, I look forward to being in Colombia because of how much the locals enjoy life.

Enjoy a mix of video clips from my trip to Colombia in 2008. Included are clips from Bogotá, Playa Blanca, Medellin, and much more!

Click here to view the embedded video.