Expert: Cesar - 2/27/2009

Question
 I have a girlfriend in Colombia. I have never traveled out of the USA. I would like to know what to bring there and how much it will cost me to live there? She lives in Cali. I plan to live there until her visa is approved. I would also like to know where to avoid and what to expect.....Troy

Answer
Dear Mr. Troy:

Your expenses would be:

1) Plane tickets (check current prices at airlines and travel websites). Those could range from say $500 to $800 or more.

2) Passport if you do not have one (check with the Postal office). That could be from about $90 to $270 if lost, etc.

3) Travel equipment: luggage, cart, etc. depending on what you want to use.

4) Transportation: buses, taxis, etc. To go to the airport, to go to to her home, etc. Taxis in Colombia are inexpensive, less expensive than in the US. You might pay from say $4 to $10 to go from the airport to her home.

5) Excess luggage fee if you bring/carry too much stuff. Those fees could be of $100 per extra luggage.

6)Excess luggage fee for domestic flights. If you travel to a large city and then purchase a domestic flight in Colombia then the domestic flight would have a smaller luggage allowance and you would have to pay an extra fee for the extra luggage. That is why sometimes is better to include the domestic flight in the international flight, but not always because if there is no agreement between the two airlines you might end up paying a lot more for the two different airlines to be combined.

7) Expenses in Cali: food, hotel, transportation, entertainment, etc. They would be less than in the US, but not everything. Restaurants in Colombia sell lunches for say $2.50 to 5 five or more, but normally it would cost more than in a US Chinese restaurant. American fast food places in Colombia are expensive. Hotels charge $30 and up unless you got to a very lousy place and pay $6 to $10. It would be hard to find a cheap hotel in Cali and be prepared to pay $40 to $50 per day unless you go to a poor area. Once you find a place (house or apartment) to rent you would pay less: probably from $150 to $300 per month unless you are willing to live at a cheaper but not so nice place. Entertainment expenses vary, but they are not too high. At a club they would normally expect you to pay for half a bottle if you go accompanied ($12 to $30 per half bottle or bottle). Utilities are not too expensive: Internet from $25 to $50, other utilities from about $40 to $100 depending on consumption. Most people use cellulars and you could buy one from $10 for a used one to hundreds of dollars for a top of the line one. You could get a prepaid or one to pay on a monthly basis. You would spent a lot of money in taxis unless you decide to use buses or little buses (busetas). Cars in Colombia are very expensive and importing them is very expensive too, but prices are starting to come down. You could pay $3,500 for an old 1990 or older Renault 9. Prices on some imported items is very expensive. That includes clothing (twice the price than in the US or more), personal hygene products (twice the price), some food items such as cereals are expensive, etc. Do not expect to find too many 99 cents stores, but you might find the equivalent of a $2 dollar store. In downtown you would find some that would be like a $0.50 to $3 dollar stores. You can go to open markets and negotiate prices. Clothing is very hard to purchase at a lot price since it is usually very expensive unless you choose a non imported item.

8) Airport fees. Those are added to tickets, but they might ask you for more. Try to get a flight straight to Cali instead of one from other city (such as Bogotá) to Cali. Cali is a large city and some flights go there directly.

Avoid carrying too much cash. Carry only what you are going to spend for the day. Do not carry a lot of cash and do not carry expensive items or jewelry such as watches, rings, etc. to prevent crime. Do not go to dangerous places (easy to notice by looking at the people there). Use large streets, etc. and do not be on the streets alone at night. Use taxis often instead of walking alone. Colombia is a safer place now, but you still should be careful since you are a foreigner and do not know well how things are. The best thing to do is not to trust anyone (including taxi drivers) until you have been there for some time. Make sure you are not overcharged by asking before how much things would cost and making sure you retain copies of your credit card purchases. Do not let someone make a copy of your credit cards. It is preferable that you pay cash and with traveler checks than with a credit or debit card unless you are at a large supermarket. It is preferable that you take from the ATM smaller chunks of money two or three times a day than a large sum at a one time, but that depends on what you need to do because it is an inconvenience to be going to several ATMs. Make sure you are not followed when you withdraw cash. Take a taxi right away instead of walking with money in your pocket. Place your money in a separate wallet and place them in separate wallets. If ever robbed you would keep the documents. Hide your documents in some kind of wallet inside your pants. Have a wallet with little money in it at a somewhat visible place and a hidden wallet with the large chunk of money at a hidden place. That way if ever robbed you would loose little money. Hide your expensive stuff from viewing: cameras, etc. and do not expose it to view too much so that you are not tempting robbers. Try to always be with more people when on the street, not alone. When beggars approach you you have two options: give them a coin and leave promptly or say no, no, no and move away. Avoid stopping to talk to them. If you are alone in a street and someone crosses the street to go in front of you: cross to the other street or the middle of the street to show you do not want to be close to him. If he tries to approach you you tell him in loud voice No, no, no: and avoid him, even run or bring up some kind of defense item such as a pepper spray. Watch out for some currency exchange places that would trick you when changing dollars for pesos (would use a trick with the calculator or spread the money on a table to later take back a bundle when someone else distracts you). Do not change very large chunks of money at a single time or count the money several times yourself before leaving the site (and go well accompanied). Things are not so bad in Colombia, but I want to make sure you are safe.

Take care,

Cesar
www.CesarUSA.com