Buenos dias! I recently got a chance to visit Colombia's capital, Bogota and I had an amazing experience!
Let me first start by saying that you don't need to know Spanish to travel to a spanish speaking country. However, it would help to know the basics. Which I thought I knew, but clearly I didn't. There were several confusing moments on this trip that I was just like uhhhhh... and me and the person I was talking to literally had to communicate with gestures/body language. Such as the first day I went outside to play and got an uber to take me to this spot called Crepes & Waffles that I had heard about in a blog. Except I didn't bother to check what time it opened. It was morning, and it was a breakfast spot, sooooooo it should be open right? Well i'm pretty sure my uber driver tried to tell me that it was closed but because I couldn't understand anything he was saying, I just smiled and nodded and said si. He drops me off and the doors are locked. I go next door and ask them what time does the restaurant open and they say 10. It was only 8:45. :-( Oh well, maybe next time.
But let me back up! Deciding to go to Colombia was one of the most spontaneous courageous things I've ever done. Because of that, it was the most exciting and fulfilling trip I've ever been on. I had been contemplating solo travel for quite some time. I go away for work solo all the time but that was different. There were still colleagues expecting me to report to a certain office at a certain time so if I didn't show, someone would notify someone. Solo travel for pleasure I think is a little different in that no one is expecting you. Maybe a hotel or airbnb but they don't know you to really be concerned if you don't show up. Anywho, while looking for flight glitches during Christmas, I spotted it. Roundtrip ticket to Bogota, Colombia via Jet Blue airlines. Colombia never crossed my mind as an option but it was kind of like, why not? I stared at it. I kept playing around with it. Looking at other deals. I mentioned it to a few peeps. I searched info in my travel group that had a TON of information as far as what to do, where to go, members who had went and their blog posts, etc. Fuck it, I'm going. What else do I have to lose? As soon as I booked, I started frantically researching. Places to stay, things to eat, places to party, things to see, and what to expect were all the things I was looking for. I came across Rachel Travel's post on how she did Bogota for $126 and Passport Required's post on 20 things to do and remember in Bogota. IT WAS LIT! By the beginning of February, I had compiled a list of the things I wanted to do and I was ready to go!
