Colombia Blogs

There are some really great Colombia-based bloggers out there, whose blogs I regularly visit. Even though this blog is about Bogotá, many people who move to Bogotá initially might want to move to another part of Colombia eventually. So here are some Colombia blogs that I recommend you take a look at:

• bananaskinflipflops.com – Banana Skin Flip Flops was my blogging idol and guru long before How to Bogotá ever came into existence! Victoria Kellaway is a blogger, journalist and co-author and editor of two books on Colombia (one of which I contributed a chapter to!), Colombia: a comedy of errors and Was Gabo an Irishman? Tales from Gabriel García Márquez’s Colombia (I wrote chapter 11!).

• www.richardmccoll.com – Richard McColl is a British-Canadian journalist, author, hotelier and guide who lives in Bogotá with his wife and son. He has a weekly radio show/podcast, Colombia Calling, which discusses the latest news in Colombia, and features an interview with a special guest (of which I was once one!). Richard owns a beautiful hotel in Mompox, La Casa Amarilla, next to the Magdalena river; a beautiful, peaceful and tropical getaway from the city!

• www.sarepa.com – Australian Sarah Duncan writes Sarepa, a travel blog all about travelling through and living in Colombia. Sarah has written prolifically about life in Colombia, covering a wide range of topics, and her blog is a treasure trove of resources, particularly if your plan is to travel extensively in Colombia. She offers a free ’15-day Inspire Guide to Colombia’ on her blog, as well as a free e-book, How to Quit Your Job and Travel the World, and teaches a 4-week blogging course, Build Your Best Blog. (Phew!)

• nolongernative.com – No Longer Native is an expat blog from an American couple living in Bogotá, Colombia. It’s a journal containing posts on travels, cultural musings and everyday life.  They also want it to be a resource for others facing the same life change of a first time expat assignment.  Since many of the posts are written by Danielle, you’ll find a lot of advice from the perspective of a first time ‘trailing spouse.’ I really liked her post on NGO Sembrando Confianza – get your fairtrade and organic produce delivered to your door!

• flavorsofbogota.com – by Karen Attman on FOOD!! and where to eat in Bogotá. Just visit her blog, and then eat well. Neither my stomach, my taste-buds nor I have ever regretted following one of Karen’s recommendations!

• bogotastic.com – Jade was born French, raised in Florida, studied in Spain, worked in Luxembourg, now lives in Bogotá, Colombia..! Phew! Girlfriend of a Colombian (ditto!) she writes about her experiences of living in Bogotá.

• alittlecameo.com – Written by Camille from Australia, she tells of her experiences living in Colombia, starting off in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, and ending up in Bogotá where she is now based. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes to be found here!

• honestlycali.weebly.com – After finishing her Masters in Environment and Development at London School of Economics, Marie moved to Cali, where she works at CIAT, an international research centre for climate change and food security. In her blog, she writes about her life as an expat in Cali, food, culture, challenges she faced, such as finding a job, and socioeconomic issues. One post readers might find useful is about how to get health insurance as an expat/traveller.

• caliadventurer.com – The Cali Adventurer is Patrick from Denmark, who has been living in Cali with his girlfriend and their daughters since August 2013. It is a blog on living, visiting and investing in Cali and Colombia. He tells one pretty jaw-dropping story about how he lost $100,000 dollars when he got screwed over once in a property deal, and parents thinking of moving to Colombia will find his post on the cost of raising children in Colombia very informative.

• barranquillaorbust.com – Courtenay Strickland moved to Barranquilla from Miami in July 2012, and then to Medellín in July 2014. If you’re thinking of moving to Barranquilla, home to the world-famous Carnaval de Barranquilla (and of course Colombianas Shakira and Sofía Vergara!) have a look at the Barranquilla Info page, which contains a number of useful tips and links to help you get started!

• www.medellinguru.com – Jeff Paschke founded the Medellín Guru blog in July 2017. He and other contributors share entertaining stories about living in Colombia, give tips on the best places to visit, retirement tips and relocation tips.

• incolombia.it – for Italian readers – Roby gives you all of the above in Italian.

• seecolombia.travel/blog – See Colombia is a popular resource for travel news, information and cultural goings-on in Colombia with contributors writing in English and Spanish. You can also book organised tours through the website.

• off2colombia.com – A mine of information about things to do in Colombia, the different regions, trip planning and travel tips.

• www.colombia2you.wordpress.com – Expat couple Jim and Jane’s adventures living and teaching English in Colombia.

• blogs.eltiempo.com/wrong-way-corrigan – This is a personal blog from Irish expat Brendan Corrigan, hosted by El Tiempo, with often amusing stories about his adventures and experiences in Colombia.

(Sorry if I’ve missed anyone! Send me a message and I’d add your blog to the list!)