Getting started

How to find a place to live: Bogota apartments

January 30, 2014 // 8 Comments

Whether you are looking for long-term or short-term accommodation in Bogota, there are a number of websites advertising Bogota apartments for rent. You might also find my other post about the neighbourhoods and where to live in Bogotá useful. Long-term accommodation Renting long-term normally means committing to at least a one year contract. I’ve yet to come [more]

How to watch your favourite TV programmes online while abroad

January 27, 2014 // 0 Comments

When you first move abroad, the first couple of weeks are often so jam-packed full of things to do – looking for an apartment, filling it with furniture, starting work and getting used to a new daily routine, sorting out a mobile phone, finding out where the nearest supermarkets are etc. etc. – that you don’t even have time to think about the things [more]

Is Bogotá safe? 13 safety tips

January 8, 2014 // 0 Comments

Whilst it is fair to say that Bogotá’s reputation as a ‘dangerous’ city is not entirely undeserved, there is also a great deal of scaremongering and ignorance with regard to this matter, particularly online. It often ‘ranks’ within the top 10/25/50 most dangerous/violent cities in the world in online blogs; in this blog post, for [more]

How to get a Colombian partner visa

January 6, 2014 // 158 Comments

NOTE: Please read the comments in the comments section below when you’ve finished reading this post, as readers have been giving helpful advice on how the partner visa application process is constantly changing! I’m summarizing the most helpful ones here at the top as updates. *Update June 2019*– Readers are still confirming that the Centro de [more]

How to renew your Colombian tourist visa

January 6, 2014 // 6 Comments

Update May 2018: Many thanks to Chris for writing to me to let me know that you can now extend your Colombian tourist visa online! Here’s his helpful blog post on this topic on The Unconventional Route. Many foreigners come to Colombia and find themselves wanting to stay .. much like myself 🙂 Thus arises the question of how to renew your Colombian tourist [more]

How to get a taxi in Bogota – Taxi apps [UPDATED]

January 5, 2014 // 2 Comments

Updated July 2019. In Bogotá, hailing a taxi from the street is not recommended, especially at night. Calling for a taxi or car service may be a daunting prospect for someone with a lower-than-intermediate level of Spanish. But never fear; here are some mobile apps which solve this problem, helping you to get an Uber-style car or taxi in Bogota easily. You will need [more]

How to send a letter – Bogotá mail

January 4, 2014 // 29 Comments

The first part of this post explains how to send a letter from Bogotá to somewhere else (either in Colombia or to another country). The second part briefly explains how to format a Colombian address when you are posting a letter to Colombia. How to send a letter from Bogotá Colombians rarely use the public mail service so it took me a while to find out how to send [more]

« 1 2 3 4 5 »