Next Up: Colombia
Something very important about long term travel is that you have to stay flexible. You have to accept that something will go wrong, especially if you don’t speak the language of wherever you are. And you have to expect the unexpected. So when we planned our first exploratory trip to Colombia, we wanted to keep all of that in mind.
We started our trip in Bogota for two weeks of immersive Spanish at the Whee School. We made no plans after that as we wanted to talk to people to get ideas about where to look. We got some great tips from teachers and students alike and explored Colombia as far south as Cali and as far north as the Caribbean with many stops between. Though there is much of the country we did not visit, we felt we learned a great deal about how diverse Colombia can be. Caribbean Colombia and the Cafetera (Filandia, Jardin, and Solento) are almost two different countries. Bogota and Medellin have completely different feels. Personally, I fell in love with the cafetera region and it was immediately put on my short list.
So we stayed flexible and found the unexpected. And of course, things went wrong: bug bites, a gnarly spider bite, getting on the wrong bus, getting off at the wrong bus stop, not having enough cash with no ATM in sight, food poisoning, a broken toe, altitude sickness. But, all that being said, I wouldn’t trade my time in Colombia for anything! In short, we loved Colombia and it was a contender. But, there were so many other countries we wanted to visit before making a decision.
Next up – Mexico.
