Adios Ayapel

[dennislevy]

I ve spent the last four days in Ayapel....a pueblo and 12 pueblitos totalling 57,000 people 2 hours from Monteria in Cordoba.
The pueblo dates back 450 years and its built aroud the shore of a natural laguna.

This is worlds away from Bogota or Cali or Medellin or Baranquilla, I didnt see anyone who remotely looked like a foreigner....

its a town where almost ALL of the traffic is motorbikes and small motorcycles, very few cars, the rest are bicycles. There are 16 cops in Ayapel....and there is no reason to enforce traffic laws, no traffic lights, the streets in Ayapel are paved and some of the homes are spacious. and quite a few are squalid, tin roofed shacks....

I registed in a hotel we  re not talking any stars, there were rooms in a private home and I paid 30,000 pesos a night. The bathroom was one unit, of course cold water shower with no wall or glass, no lip betweenthe shower and the rest of the bathroom sink and toilet...and the floor of the bath and room was concrete. Thats when you know youre IN COUNTRY. But it had a beat up but functioning air condiitoning unit an electric ceilign fan, cable TV, I watched my steady diet of Law and Order reruns n English with Spanish subtitles , and they made the bed (which was lumpy and hard as a rock  every day and cleaned, all for aobut 16 bucks a day.

And before anyone hollars estas tacaño! that was as good as it gets in Ayapel, no Sheratons or radissons or marriots here!

Tonight,. i took the lady out to dinner in Ayapel s best eatery, a casual restaurant in the garden of a large private home......she had  broiled chicken, french fries and white rice, a small salad  and a Coke, I had roast pork, french fries, white rice, a small salad and a Sprite, Im talking BIG portions....tab before tip, 19.700 pesos, a bit over 10 dollars.  In four nights, i spent 240,000 pesos for everything and that included her and an amiga out yesterday for lunch and sodas and beers afterwards in a large kiosko bar that overlooked the lake.  

There are three Catholic churches in Ayapel, in a small town the biggest is always called the cathedral, this one was pretty, lots of white gingerbread, a cream and white paint scheme and when you walk out the steps, you see the lake.

The lady, an attractive vibrant widow is the exective secretary of the personera, a two person office which helps people with complaints and also watchdogs the city finances. I was in her office on the ground floor of the alcalderia (municipal buidling), typical beaureatic pea green, needed  a paint job 10 years ago, ceiling tiles missinng, but it was air condiitoned, furnished with 25 year old Steelcase office furniture...and she earns a bit under 20,000,000 pesos a year. which is quite decent salary for a woman in Colombia.

She is the well off widder lady...that s as close as I can get to describe her social and eocnomic status, because of her job, she is well known in Ayapel...I hung on to her on her Kawasaki and everywhere we went we hollered as we went by...not hola.....but Adios.....thats the casual salute here. But she doesnt have a license or insurance to operate the motorbike.....as I guess most people don t. And no one wears helmets or vests with tags...as in the big cities.

And I had yet another great experience in Colombia  And THIS is also Colombia, the Colombia outside of the cities there are thousands of pueblos like Ayapel in Colombia, some poorer, some not as pictaresque.....but waiting to be experienced by adventureous gringos.

Anyone game?  


    
 

[V_Man]

This is really interesting to me Denis. Thank you.
To answer your question, I just don't have enough Spanish but I'll keep working on it.
In fact I start my next level of classes tomorrow.

[Colgando]

I'm game, I just need about 3 to 5 years to get my finances in order, working on a couple of projects right now. Maybe I'll have a steady, female travel companion by then, if not, a non-steady female would be fine. My trips are laser focused on wife hunting at this time, until I am successful or I get my fill of the whole idea and move in a different direction, so back packing in the back woods of Colombia is not in my hand right now. Your trip report sounds a lot like the 6 months I spent roaming around Mexico, good times! Enjoy and be safe!

[sticky2]

I love reading your posts!

So tell us, Dennis, what is the nicest Colombian pueblo you've ever been to?  Any of them ever make you think to yourself, "Wow, I could live here"? Or are all of these little pueblos just too poor?
 

[dennislevy]

thanks for the compliment Sticky.

I assume you mean a pueblo and not a full fledged city  Bar none, the nicest pueblo I ve been to is Santa Fe in Antioquia   BUT it is touristy.

Around  Baranquilla, Sabanilla, I could live in Sabanilla all I need is 3 million US for an estate up on the cliffs  and further down the road........ Porto  Colombia which is right on the water...but poor...but great chow right from the water.

Around Bucamaranga there are some very nice towns...and I cant for the life of me remember their names! 

 

[robert angel]

DL,

Thanks for the excellent post--I really enjoyed it. It's great to see 'off the beaten path' posts. For learning a bit about what life's really like, posts like yours are a 100 times better than guys who typically stay with the 'agency route'.

[Colgando]

DL,

Thanks for the excellent post--I really enjoyed it. It's great to see 'off the beaten path' posts. For learning a bit about what life's really like, posts like yours are a 100 times better than guys who typically stay with the 'agency route'.

DL's posts are great, but I consider his posts to be more from a person living in Colombia, who's life is in Colombia, not from a person who is specifically "wife hunting" in a foreign country using agencies or online dating, DL is a person who lives in a country writing about his life, travels and adventures. Comparing DL's posts to people who do not live in Colombia and use agencies or online dating, drop in country for a couple of weeks to a month and take off is comparing apples to oranges IMO.

But I agree, living in Colombia, without working and dating is much more attractive than living in the US, working full-time and flying to Colombia for a short while to wife hunt and then return.

[dennislevy]

Colgando...et al.... I appreciate your comments about my posts. .

For some reason I m still in Ayapel.....before anyone gets too enthusiastic about the idea of traveling in country like this....jejejejeje!

When I entered the building where my room is located last night and turned on the lobby light, there was a big salamander crawling on the wall and a frog hopping on the floor and I killed two bugs in my room with my weapon of choice a rubber soled Sperry topsider............and I m talking  bugs that were thick and black and four inches long.

 Ayapel is a dilapidated pueblo, pictaresque but the are lots of cracks and crumbling masonry in the pastel painted buildings, the streets in the center of town while paved...are broken and rutted, and other then a radio tower, there isnt anything higher then two stories here  

Both men and women cruise on their motorbikes, quite often a couple and two young kids and NO helmets zip by. Im sititng in an Interet cafe at 1,000 pesos an hour across the street is a bar billiards hall with salsa going full blast and a bunch of lounging men in the customary cheap white plastic lawn chairs around the bar.  Once in a while a car or motorcyle will cruise by and a guy will pitch something using an electric loudspeaker

There are guys on the board, like JimD........ who have traveled outside of the big cities know exactly what Im describing.

The woman I came to see went to Monteria for three days for job related  training and I decided to stay  While she was here, her neice wanted to meet me...just for curioisity, just to meet a gringo.....she joined us one night at dinner nand after that  I ve ran into her neice a couple of times and we ve chatted.

She is 33 never married, tall about 5 feet six  or 5 7 , a long black haired morena, very pretty a nice slim figure, BUT with a ROUND cola,not grotesque, but a lucky man will have something to hang on to.....She  wants a family and I think would make a great wiife. She is an accountant, a serious  woman and  I don t think she is an easy girl  and she wants to leave Ayapel.

She is not a gold digger or a green card shark, other then messenger she doesn t have a profile online. She is  looking for a guy from about 35 to 45 who wants to have kids.....a guy with some life in him, likes the outdoors,maybe has a motorcycle......she owns her own motobike

After my widow lady left, i ve spent 50,000 a day, 30 for the room, food and Internet.And I odnt think it can get much cheaper on the road.....

The widow lady and my ex novia in medellin were worried that I would be a target for guerillas, because Ayapel is a zona rosa. Maybe, but I cant live my life in fear....I ve kept to myself, been polite without being gringo effusive. Polite means saying buenas, señoras  to two women talking in a doorway, but not stopping, the same to men. And I havent had any problems, absolutely nothing,  

Chatting up other women would be both stupid and suicidal  because my amiga is so well known, and I don t have any interest to pursue ANOTHER relationship in Ayapel

But, If there is a SINCERE, single  man who wants to find more about the neice, her name is Jazmin ......email me at dennisianlevy@yahoo.com...and UNDERSTAND up front that I will grill you before I put you in contact with her.  You must be willing to chat with me on line send me photos of what you look like,  be ready to come  to Colombia probably no more then 90 days from the first contact and come to at least Monteria, which is 6 hours away from Baranquilla.  She doesnt speak any English, so you better have some decent Spanish on board.

Im committed to being in Cartagena on Monday afternoon.

Have a good evening everyone!

[fathertime]

Really a great report dennislevy!  Your description of the places you go are great, I'm still hoping for some pictures at some point though. 

Are you drinking the water nowadays? If I were travelling like you do, I'd be a little concerned about getting ill from the water.  What have you been eating when you eat out?  Was there something in particular you found incompatible about the 2 ladies you described?

Thanks,
Fathertime!

[dennislevy]

FT
On the road in small towns, i drink only bottled water......My diet is simple...bread and coffee in the morning with hopefully a piece of fruit, a big lunch or dinner, in this town there is a casual cheap restaurant but with big portions, I have had pot roast or broiled chicken, french fries, patacon and rice and a small green salad for 8000 pesos a big portion and usually a soda for another 1,200....

There is NO Carrefour or Exito in this town, nothing remotely close.......

I was briefly with a woman in Monteria, a beautiful 41 year old triguena, never married and no kids but she wanted a marriage and baby....marriage I can consider......but a baby...............remember, Uncle Fester  i ve got 15 years on you, jejejejee.

I thought that even if we did get married in 6 months and I shot a bullet right away....thats at least another  year and a half...from today and then she ll be 42 and change.......and I ll be like 94.  If you ask me what s he matter, are you chicken, my answer is damned straight, I m a chicken. its way too risky at her age to have a baby. She s got lots of faith and a ticking clock , but I ve had a child......

Not in the game plan.

The lady here in Ayapel is a widow of 4 years, very nice woman...but Im not going to live in Ayapel..... way too small.....and indio......provincial.....

[robert angel]

Colgando,

Re:

>>DL's posts are great, but I consider his posts to be more from a person living in Colombia, who's life is in Colombia, not from a person who is specifically "wife hunting" in a foreign country using agencies or online dating, DL is a person who lives in a country writing about his life, travels and adventures. Comparing DL's posts to people who do not live in Colombia and use agencies or online dating, drop in country for a couple of weeks to a month and take off is comparing apples to oranges IMO.

But I agree, living in Colombia, without working and dating is much more attractive than living in the US, working full-time and flying to Colombia for a short while to wife hunt and then return. <<

I just like a variety of perspectives and I think they help you understand the women, (to whatever extent we can understand ANY women) when we understand where they're coming from culture wise, big city & little village alike. It seems to me that sometimes that Colombia and the Philippines are quite similar, but then in other ways, i.e. six stratas', music, dancing, most of the food, their fiestiness etc--they seem very different. Post like DennisL's,  AndyLee's and other guys like you and older vet's 'differing opinions' only add to it.

I guess I just love a good trip report and ever since I was old enough look at pictures and read, starting with the National Geographic (wow, mountains AND boobs!) I have just been 'into' learning about other places, far, far away.

I want to see a number of places in S. America yet and my wife is into travel to just about anywhere. If we can get our Espanol to an acceptable level it'd be a whole lot better. Just like in her country, I am sure I'd find all the beautiful women quite an eyeful and I think sunglasses are mandatory, maybe even a neck brace!

[Colgando]

Colgando,

Re:

>>DL's posts are great, but I consider his posts to be more from a person living in Colombia, who's life is in Colombia, not from a person who is specifically "wife hunting" in a foreign country using agencies or online dating, DL is a person who lives in a country writing about his life, travels and adventures. Comparing DL's posts to people who do not live in Colombia and use agencies or online dating, drop in country for a couple of weeks to a month and take off is comparing apples to oranges IMO.

But I agree, living in Colombia, without working and dating is much more attractive than living in the US, working full-time and flying to Colombia for a short while to wife hunt and then return. <<

I just like a variety of perspectives and I think they help you understand the women, (to whatever extent we can understand ANY women) when we understand where they're coming from culture wise, big city & little village alike. It seems to me that sometimes that Colombia and the Philippines are quite similar, but then in other ways, i.e. six stratas', music, dancing, most of the food, their fiestiness etc--they seem very different. Post like DennisL's,  AndyLee's and other guys like you and older vet's 'differing opinions' only add to it.

I guess I just love a good trip report and ever since I was old enough look at pictures and read, starting with the National Geographic (wow, mountains AND boobs!) I have just been 'into' learning about other places, far, far away.

I want to see a number of places in S. America yet and my wife is into travel to just about anywhere. If we can get our Espanol to an acceptable level it'd be a whole lot better. Just like in her country, I am sure I'd find all the beautiful women quite an eyeful and I think sunglasses are mandatory, maybe even a neck brace!

Me gusta...   I guess I love reading the agency trip reports because that is the stage I am in, I love reading DL's posts because that is the stage I want to be in. For me, I dream of having a steady travel companion to go with me on our adventures. That is awesome with you and your wife traveling, I think it is a really special thing to be able to do that with your wife and to share those experiences together, very nice  . When I was at the airport this last trip south, there was a couple that was retirement age, prob in their 70s heading to the Galapagos islands of the coast of Ecuador, they were so excited and full of life, chatting with the people sitting across from them, so happy, I was thinking to myself how awesome that was. I was eavesdropping, they made a comment on how they are spending their kids inheritance. I love airports, so many lives intersect.

I love DL's posts, I love everything international, every time I read his posts, it gets me motivated to get my businesses at a level where I can have a free, global lifestyle. We are getting there, fortunately for me, my family has property in Africa that we are renovating and making productive. Over the next 5 years, I hope to be able to spend 6 months in Africa running the businesses, 5 months in South America with my wife or wife hunting, whatever the case may be, and 1 month in the US visiting with family and friends. I will need much more than $15,000 US to support this lifestyle, especially if my wife is traveling with me, which I hope she will, that is the dream anyways.

[dennislevy]

Colgando el al.

Africa? WOW

Its just TOO BIG for me at this point of my life.

The best present I ever got in my life, was an annual subscription ot National Geographic from my parents for Christmas 1961 when I was 8....They renewed it every year until I was 21....and then my dad said, you re on your won and I kept it going until I was 25 or so. And when my son was 8, I did the same thing and kept it going it until he was 21, told him the same thing.

Just the best!!!!  history, geography, maps. photos and boobs!

I went through the agency stage starting in January 2008 and if you ve got nothing better to do  search on my profile for my posts...they are still there, all of  them going back to Decmber 2007, when I first signed up in an agency 2 months beforeI came to Colombia for the first time.

I used agenices more or less for the first year and a half that I lived in Colombia, in Bogota..... and I worked briefly for one agency after I arrived in Colombia.  

 I spent about 2,300 in agency fees met about 130 or 140 women, some terrific women and several are still friends. And I learned more then enough to understand the advantages and disadvantage sof using an agency, all of that expeience is applied when I post about agency experiences..... as I did on yours at jamie s place.  

I have no regrets about the experience, it was necessary to learn enough so I could do what I do now....

Some general thought about Colombian women, they are general comments, made for everyone

1. talking, chatting or dating one who isnt really interested in you is like trying to go through a gauze wall....there is nothing there, just polite evasions, stalls and ambiguous comments that have nothing to do with what you re trying to learn or progress to.

2. Almost never will a Colombian woman say I m not interested in you, I am not attracted to you. As a a matter of fact I have NEVER heard those words in three years, what happens is the gauze wall-----excuses, sickness, some one else is sick, I have to go out of town, I have to work.....when you hear that, its time to check out....or they just flat out avoid you. Its the culture, get used to it.....

3, I qualify for three things, interest in me, time and sex. if they not interested in me they wont spend time with me on the internet or face to face.....and if they dont spend time with me face to face , there is no chance for a sexual realtionship leading to something more enduring. Its that simple....

I m talking about straight women, not prepagos or party girls.

4. Most Colombian women react spontaneously. they decide instantenously...yes or no. Yes I like this man s picture, I ll talk to him on line, yes, he seems simpatico, I ll touch his hand or hold his hand across the table.....in the first 10 minutes of a date....so, dont analyze too much, just go with it..

5. . I never come on too strong....and many foreigners think they have to do that to roamnce a straight colombiana. I also want the woman to CONQUER me, to feel that I am HER gringo.


6. Dating Colombian women is a cat and mouse game, a dance or minuet for control. A smart man understands that.
After the frist few months, I realized it was pointless to think.....I gotta have THAT woman, thats a Colombiano attitude,,,part of the male role in the connquista.

I can t and won t compete at that intensity....and Im not gonna chase any woman for months or a year.

A former colombiana girlfriend, who is 44  --told me that the first man and lover in her life, a Colombian was 25 years older, he was 44 and she was 19,,,,,and he pursued her for 18 months before they were lovers. For the first year  she would hardly give him the time of day......but he kept coming around......she finally was conquered. They spent 11 years together, had a son and then she left him when she was 31 and he was 55

She told me  that he never had another woman until he died. and he never gave up hope that she would return to him.

After 5 months of chatting, and we lived in different parts of the country we met in Bogota for two gigs, each for about 6 days. After the first day and a half of the first gig, we spent every minute together......All together, She and I lasted exactly 36 days, and his shadow (he had died 5 months earlier loomed over our relationship.  She fascinated me, intrigued me, was beautiful, was a good lover......she kept me on my toes but I have never felt that I NEEDED or HAD to do that with ANY Colombian woman.

7. So when you date a Colombian woman, her past with men is important. Just as it is with an American woman.....but with an American woman, you get a story, expurgated, sanitized, edited, maybe 60% or more  bull[snip]...but you get SOMETHING.

With a Colombian woman you may not get ANYTHING from her past......This woman I described WANTED to talk......and if a woman says...I DON T want to talk about my past I´ll check out.... if she says that.... its a dealkiller.

So be VERY careful of going all in.....before you meet parents and family...and see how and where she lives and if you can accept her version of her life.

  

[Colgando]

Good stuff DL, I am so ready to get back in the trenches! 

It would take a lot for me to go all in, I would have to be at the point where I could not live without her. To date, I can live without all the women I have had in my life. At my age, I am still in striking distance of young, quality AW, so I am still keeping that door open, lightning may strike.

[dennislevy]

This is very probably the last trip reprt from Ayapel. I ve arraged for a puerta a puerta (door to door) mini van service t take me to monteria tomorrow, 20,000 pesos for a 2 hour ride, the bus is 15, 000 but getting to a hotel in Monteria from the bus terminal is 4,000 by taxi, so for 1,000 exta pesos, 52 cents I get delivered directly to my hotel

Just FYI, getting in and out of Ayapel is limited you CAN take a bus to medellin or baranquilla but baranquilla is once a day, Medellin four different busses and two of them are at 4.30 and 5:30 AM

Tonight is my 10th night in Ayapel, restful, relaxed, beautiful weather.a little rain..... My room is three blocks from the lake Its not a Luxury timesahre vacation, but in 10 days, i spent about 580 000 pesos, call it 300 for a room, I had one very good meal a day and breakfast, I dated a terrific woman and a wonderful lover for three days!  there is NO place you can do that in the US! jejeje!

Sometimes life on the road is intense, a lot of dates in a few days or an extended session of 2 or three days with a woman...and I m not a kid anyiore, even OGs need time to................ chill!

jejejeje

Last night after leaving the Internet cafe, i walked over to a bakery bought some stuff to snack on while i watched TV. As I walked by, there is a square two blocks from my room, and at 11.00PM it was filled  with tables and chairs with some parties of men and women, and mostly men just sittng and drinking with 10 or 15 or 20 empty beer bottles on the table.  Probably a hundred and fifity ´people between the bar and the tables. The bar cantina is called Bar5, painted purple and fluorescent green, with small strobes flashing inside and kids dancing. Young girls may, but mature women do not go out to a bar in a Colombian pueblo  on Saturday night, I m talking about straight  women, even if it is the only form of entertainment. The only mature women were a couple of women who had outdoor grills of meat and were selling to the the bar patrons.  

Nobody paid me any attention....And as much as I would have liked to chat up a pretty señorita and maybe have a dance or two...I kept walking. Ayapel is an insular society...and I would  have INSULTED people and gotten myself in TROUBLE----

 I kept walking.
Tomorrow Monteria and probably Cartagena

[Jeremy.west]

could you add some picture ? that will be fun for reading

[dennislevy]

My digital camera is in a suitcase that I have stased at my ex novia s house in Medellin.
 
Sorry.....
 
You asked what the first three days of my trip to Monteria were? I believe that I wrote that I had met a woman for a frist date on the first night....The relationship didnt last, we were together for about two weeks total....12 days the frist trip and then I went back to Monteria ot make sure .....and I was.   I  dont blame her.....she is 41, and says that shye wants marriage and a baby, marriage I oculd pssibly do (I ll be 58 in a few days), but I dont want to have a baby! 
 
Since early march  all told, I invested almost six weeks in three different locations....Riohacha in la Guajira, Monteria and Ayapel in Cordoba with women who were 38, 41 and 50, one never married,no kids...and two widows with grown up kids and none of the realtionships worked.
 
Back to the drawing board.....
 
 

[Grimjack]

Hey DL,

If this question is too personal I understand, but could  you elaborate on how you are financing your life in Colombia? I lived for a time in Panama while  in the military. I loved it there and would have stayed,  but I didn't see a way of making a living, without staying in the army. Which I wasn't willing to do.

Sounds like you are loving life, and enjoying your escape from the US! Good for you.

[dennislevy]

Grimjack

I don t have any problem talkng about it. This is a copy word for word of my answer to the same question that someone asked on another board four or five months ago.

I went through a divorce six years ago, but I still have mutual funds. i ve always been a saver....and in Colombia l ive carefully, . Im careful with myself

But if I am with a woman I ll take her out nicely to a very nice restaurant. For instance, I almost always order at the low or middle end of the menu for myself and I don t drink ...so checks for dinner dates are reasonable. I rarely spend more then 60,000 pesos to take a woman out for dinner thats about 31 or 32 dollars and if Im on the road I trry to find decent hotels based on references from men I know.

If a woman complains that Im not at the nicest hotel in town....that s a quick cut...For instance in Cartagena i can pay 60,000 pesos a night for a decent hotel in gethsemani with air con  or I can pay 90,000-120,000 in Barrio Alpes or I can bay 350,000 in the glitzy downtown. I dont mind staying in Gethsemani!  And I ve cut women who objected to my choice of hotel, before i even met them.

And if I know a city really well, I ll always find a less expensive but decent hotel.. I NEVER stay in expensive hotels in North bogota or for example in Oviedo in Medellin.

But in Bogota someone can get a BETTER quality room then agency hotels) in Barrio Quinta paredes (near the American Embassy) for 80,000 pesos and take cabs back and forth to North Bogota for 25,000 peos that s 105,000 for the day and an agency hotel room is going to be a bare minimum of say 65.00 dollars or 130,000 pesos and somone still has to take a cab to a date.

And thats how I think.

I live on the interest of my bonds and savings and from time to time, i ve taught private English lessons, but mostly to keep my mind active. And I ve preserved my capital.. ive never bought an apartment or a house because I see no point to being bound to a place without a mate. Security for me is in my mind, my heart and of course in the money I ve accumulated.

As Whitey said who needs THINGS when you can have EXPEREINCES.

Colombianas often judge a man based on his image..where he lives how he dresses, his jewelry. etc. I lived in  small but nicely furnished studio apartments I dress cleanly and neatly and I wear a $25 Timex watch from Walmart. I m looking for a woman who has the patirnce to understand WHO I am, she wants to be with Dennis and not just with my wallet. and so i shield my wealth by keeping it it the US.

A lot of the NUT in liivng in South America is the NUT that the gringo creates for himself. of course many gringios are wealthy and can spend how they want...and that s fine.....but with respect many of the the wealthy grngos create jails for themselves by living in the most elegant neighbiorhoods on hills and they are cocooned from the everday colombia. As a result, their Spanish rarely improves.....many still really don t understand the culture, even after several years of living in Colombia. Thats only my opinion.

I like to live in an envoronment where I can talk to people where I do business witht he same people every day and where I MUST speak Spanish. everyday But I ve rented furnished apartments in estrato 4 and estrato 5 neighborhoods in Bogota and Medellin and I admit that s mcuh better then the average Colombian s life.. .

if a gringo doesnt shop around carefully, and his Spanish isn there, he always pays a gringo premium. I have two rules

I m never in a rush to buy something that I consider to be expensive...so i compare prices and I negotiate and if someone thinks Im a cheap gringo because I wont take his first price, the hell with them, my respose is bueno, caballero...me voy.OK; I m leaving

I always try to know the price of something before I take it. for instance if I am taking a cab to a barrio that I don t know to meet a woman....in a town that I don t know well...I ll always ask the clerk at the hotel what is the price to go there? And if the cab driver tries to gouge me..very quickly he finds out how really good my Spanish can be.....

In Colombia a gringo who lives here has three powers and three powers only
1. he can say NO
2. he can choose ti open or close his wallet when he wants
3. he can walk away from anything he wants.

I don t say no, i say lo siento mucho no lo hago o no puedo hacerlo....Im very sorry I cant do it. and i walk away

as I ve posted I am currently in Tulcan, a border town in Equador and i ll return to Colombia today. In three days here, i ve spent 87.50 US for a perfectly satisfactory hotel room for 10 bucks a night and HOT WATER, a bunch of terrific Chinese food meals (shrimp with lober sauce white rice and a bottle of coke for .$7,30 US), some junk food and internet tiem at 70 cents a minute.

And I think a gringi could live in this town for about 650 to 700 dollars a month, there isnt a lot to do...but he could live here. Colombia in general is more expensive then Equador.

OK?

[robert angel]

could you add some picture ? that will be fun for reading

Would you like some fries with that?

[Grimjack]

Dennis,

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. It sounds like you have your bases covered and as long as you are preserving your capital you could live down there indefinitely!

Which is what I will hopefully be doing. I will be eligible to retire in 9 years (at 50 years old) and I hope to move to South America and, much like you, just rent and travel until I find a city that holds my interest. Stay until I get bored, and then move on.

All of my kids will be adults by then and I really don't have much that is holding me to the U.S.

I just hope the economy here can hold on that long, 9 years seems like a life time right now, as I really want to be down there....

Thanks again!

[robert angel]

I agree that Dennis's posts (post's isn't a worthy enough term) are great. I am always worried about getting another year in and keeping my job, which pays pretty good, especially considering my own 'cost of living', But if I lost it, I couldn't see me selling cars for 60  hours a week or being a restaurant assistant manager or whatever the economy might offer.

I look at my options and economic situation and consider a number of places overseas. Not just the Philippines, but exploring Colombia, Peru and Ecuador intrigue me. Aside from air conditioning, internet and  limited cable TV, I don't feel I need much in the way of 'fancy'. Yes, I realize I'd have to bust my ass to really learn competent Spanish.

It boils down to this.: If I lost my work here, I'd probably have between $22,000 and $24,000 a year in savings to live on for the next six or seven years.  Each year I keep working in my present capacity, it adds an extra couple grand to the yearly income I'd have, so in a year, I'd probably be looking at $24,000 or $25,000 a year instead not too far from now.

I'd allow some 'untouchable unless emergency' money, just in case I had to return quickly to the USA--funeral, etc.

Then six or seven years from now, I'd have used most of that up, but my pension would kick in, upping our to about $33,000 a year (might be higher adjusted for inflation and a cost of living increase is built into that therafter) then another $13,000 or so a couple years later from social security.

I really don't know if two people could ek out a livable existence on say $23,000 a year in the places I mention. I'm pretty sure $33,000 a year would be quite doable, and that eventual, (God willing) $45,000--$50,000 a year  would fund a rather nice, by most standards, life style.

You guys think these figures, near and long term --for a couple living modestly are workable?

There are times I really want to bail out of the rat race and life style our lives in the USA have become, but I'm just not sure if it's economically feasible, given the figures above.

Any feed back would be greatly appreciated!

[AndyLee]

In my estimation a man and wife could live well here in Colombia on $22,000 USD year. Peru seems to be about the same cost of living overall as Colombia, and Ecuador seems to be a good deal less expensive than Colombia.
Personally I wish I had bailed out of the US many years ago and moved to live full time in Colombia, or Ecuador.
My personal budget for living decently in Colombia is $10,000 per year. I live in a beautiful home with tremendous mountain views, I eat well and drink good brandy, and I have enough money left over to date some of the most beautiful women I could ever imagine. The rest of my income is set aside for eventual rainy day(s).

[robert angel]

Thanks AndyLee,
 
Having you come on to this site couldn't have come at a better time--you add tremendously. I think almost all of us enjoy your writing--I for sure do. You can say more in 5 words than I can in 20--and stay on topic too!
 
Tickled pink that you seem to have found a very special lady. Maybe a little surprised that being the proverbial 'kid in the candy store' with all those lovely women all around you---that at least to me--all of a sudden, you may have found a real keeper, but you seem like a honest, nice fellow, who's  of sound mind,
 
Sometimes love hits you like GOOD lightning! Wish you all the best!!!!
 
Hoping we get some other views on income needed to live decently in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Philippines and other countries as well, and I appreciate everyone helping in that regard!
 
Robert

[Micky]

Two very large asterisks to start.

One - I own my home,  so obviously there is no monthly for that,  which is normally is single largest expense.  I only have my property tax which I pay quarterly,  but that breaks down to about $22 U.S. a month.  That is for 105 M2 apt in estrado 5. 

Two - Lifestyle.  We are all different there.  Eating,  traveling,  entertainment,  clothing,  home comforts,  etc..  Being realistic,  there are those of us that can live in our comfort zone on very little with our lifestyle and those of us who need five times that amount to be in our comfort zone.  My POV is from a person that does not need more than the basics.  I think that (here) $10 U.S. for lunch for one is WAY to expensive,  I think that approx. $4 U.S. is about right,  more/less.  Point being ones lifestyle will dictate,  to a very large degree,  the realistic amount one needs to live in their fashion.

So with that in mind!!!

I think that one could live here on $1000 U.S. without a problem.  That is NOT including any contingency funds,  emergency funds of any kind.  As mentioned,  that is OWNING your pad.  Housing here (like anywhere on the planet) varies greatly on location.  A house in Manizales may be close to HALF what it would be in Medellin,  all things being equal.

Micky
P.S. - Also posting this over in "life on the Lam" thread.