Happy New Year!

To all my readers,

As the new year approaches, and as ‘How to Bogota’ celebrates its first anniversary, I thought I’d take a few moments to reflect on this past year, which has been a year of challenges, adjustments and achievements for me. I moved to Bogota on 12th October 2013 because my boyfriend lives here, so at the end of last year I was still in the ‘honeymoon phase‘. I remember enjoying the Christmas festivities and some nice trips away; last December I spent a few days in Medellín with my boyfriend, and then in Cartagena with my sister who came to visit.

I had big plans for 2014: getting my partner visa so that I could stay with my boyfriend in Colombia (which I was granted on 2nd January – ‘check’!); getting a job at the British Council (‘check!’ – February 2014); finding and moving into a nice flat in a decent area (‘check!’ – June 2014); enjoying some time with one of my best friends who came to visit me (‘check!’ – June/July 2014); a holiday with my boyfriend and some quality time together (‘check!’ – we went to Panama for a week at the end of July); and generally trying to adjust to life in Bogota (nearly there – it’s an ongoing process!).

I also really wanted to continue my blog about life here; partly as a way of helping me and others to get to know and adapt to the city, but also to help me to work through my issues and appreciate the good things about living here. Sometimes I’d find myself venting my frustrations on Facebook, and occasionally I’d get a comment to the effect of “If you don’t like it here, maybe you should go home!” I appreciate that many people want to defend their city and country when people make negative comments, but I’ve found moving here a huge challenge, especially since the move is indefinite. So writing my blog has been quite therapeutic for me this year, and I’ve also enjoyed reading the messages and responding to my readers! What I’ve discovered (and love) about blogging is that it puts you in touch with people from all over the world; I’ve also found that it attracts new opportunities, in terms of writing and business, and I’ve recently found myself thinking: what if my hobby could eventually become my profession.. all thanks to moving to Bogota?! Anyway, I do think I’m gradually making my peace with the city, and I hope that others might find this blog useful in terms of tips and sharing experiences 🙂

For us, 2015 is going to start with a relaxing, quiet trip away to Paipa in Boyaca, which is about a 3-hour bus ride away from Bogota. The wonderful thing about living in Bogota, is that you have great opportunities here, and you’re never far away from somewhere beautiful. Paipa has some beautiful countryside, a lake, and hot springs; we’re just looking forward to getting away from it all for a couple of days before we go back to work! Then in March I’m hoping to visit home (London) and my boyfriend and I are planning a trip (only in our minds at the moment!) around different countries in Europe next summer – I can’t wait!

The fact that I started 2014 with ideas in my mind of what I hoped to achieve has helped me to see that, in spite of the difficulties I’ve faced personally, I’ve really come far this year, and that moving to Bogota has been really good for me. I’ve got a number of plans for things I want to do in the coming year.. and in a year, I promise I’ll let you know how it all worked out! 😉

It just remains for me to wish you a very happy, healthy and successful 2015! Thank you for reading my blog and please let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to writing about!

What are your plans for the new year? Are you a writer with big career plans? Are you planning to move to a new place? I’d love to hear from you! 

Leave a comment or email me via the Contact page! 

Naomi x