living in Colombia

Useful contacts if you’re moving to Colombia

April 20, 2017 // 5 Comments

I’m always really pleased when my readers get in touch with me via the blog or leave a comment. People have asked me so many different questions about living in and moving to Colombia, and while I’m happy to help when I can, I don’t always have the right expertise. The most common questions relate to private Spanish teachers, Colombian visas, how [more]

Culture Shock in Colombia, 2 years on

October 29, 2015 // 3 Comments

I first wrote about my experience of culture shock in Colombia a year ago, one year after my big move to Bogotá to be with my Colombian boyfriend Javi; re-reading it now, I was clearly feeling quite pessimistic at the time, so I thought that now would be a good time to write a follow-up post! In my first post, I referred to the model of culture shock presented [more]

Bogotá vs. London – Things I miss about Bogotá

June 19, 2015 // 5 Comments

Bogotá has a bit of a marmite quality about it. People seem to love it or hate it. For a long while I certainly fell into the latter category, though in time I have acquired a taste for it. They say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone… well my story has become a Tale of Two Cities. I’ve recently had to leave Bogotá and return to London [more]

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2014 // 2 Comments

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 [more]

A Foreigner in Bogotá: My 5 Colombian Identities

August 20, 2014 // 6 Comments

I’ve been a foreigner in Bogotá, Colombia for more than two years now, and something I’ve noticed is the way that people are defined here. Since moving here, I have taken on a number of identities which didn’t matter or exist when I was in London. In this post I explore my various Colombian identities. 1. I’m a gringa I’d actually say [more]