Bogota - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Nothing could have prepared me for experiencing the quality of the city and culture first-hand. I suppose I wish I’d braced myself for the traffic more (you really want to walk wherever possible). Know you can find pretty much anything you need locally, so don’t stress about things you might forget. - May 2024
The traffic is even worse than you can imagine. - Aug 2023
Bring electric blankets and space heaters. No central heat in apartments here. - Feb 2021
In my opinion, it's a socially unwelcoming city. Without introductions from trusted third parties when they can be hospitable, Bogotanos tend to be content to stay in their own longstanding social circles. They can be guarded, classist, racist, and unwilling to move out of their comfort zones. Northern Bogota (Chico/Rosales neighborhoods) empty out on weekends and holidays when the upper class flees to their rural villas/farms. It can be a ghost town when everything is closed down. The city often can seem bland, vapid, cold. - Jul 2020
The altitude affects people. Blood pressure, sunburn, breathing problems. There is malaria and dengue outside of Bogota. - Feb 2020
How little Spanish I actually knew! - Sep 2018
I wish I had known that we wouldn't be able to travel as much as we thought. South America is way bigger/spread out and flights to neighboring countries are much more expensive than we realized. In country flights are usually under US$100, but lack of development in some areas makes it difficult to get to some of the best places if you only have a three day weekend to travel. - Aug 2018
Colombian society in general is very classist and due to the 50-year civil war, the people are very closed off to foreigners. This means making friends is difficult, and you need to know someone to get a job here. As a foreigner without any pre-existing friends in the right places, you may find it difficult to have an "in" with a company to even find out about a job opening. - May 2018
Housing is spread out and commuting can be difficult. I didn't know how hard it would be to find taxis at times. I thought there would be more opportunities for mountain biking and camping. - Jun 2014
