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Three days in Salento (Colombia): a Small Village in the Coffee Region
From Bogotá, we continue our road trip to Salento, with Philippe, JB’s father, who is currently on vacation in Colombia. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How to get to Salento from Bogotá? We have the choice between a bus that takes almost the whole day, or a 45-minute flight. The airplane option was voted unanimously. Very wise decision because the view from my porthole is breathtaking. I think that after the beautiful landscapes seen from the porthole in Colombia, it is advisable to pay an extra fee to choose a place near the porthole (we had not paid the option to choose our place,…
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Where to buy an emerald in Bogotá (Colombia): Our Experience
During our mini roadtrip with JB’s father (Philippe), we were brought to look for an emerald in Bogotá because Philippe absolutely wanted to bring back a pendant from his trip in Colombia. Colombian emeralds are the most beautiful in the world, because apart from a few mines in Brazil, it is mainly in Colombia that natural emeralds are found. With its characteristic green color, and its inlays specific to the mine from which they are extracted. We have researched online to find a trusted seller. Philippe was also able to get information from his jeweler in France. This jeweler is used to go to Colombia to buy emeralds. According to…
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A day in Bogotá (Colombia): Gold Museum, Monserrate, la Candelaria
For his two weeks of annual vacation, Philippe (JB’s dad) decided to spend them with us, in Colombia! Our road trip is composed of 8 complete days of visit (the rest of the time, Philippe has to manage by himself because we work, eh yes). Follow our adventures on the blog! Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary How do I get to Bogotá from Medellín? We could have gone there by bus (9h of journey) but considering the limited time that Philippe has in Colombia (and that we have outside working time!), we opt for a late departure in the evening by plane. The airplane…
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Being Digital Nomad in Medellin (Colombia)
That’s it, after 4 months of emptying our bank account in Canada and the United States, we finally arrived in Colombia, a less hostile land for our wallet. As we arrive very late and we are tired by 2 weeks of road trip in Florida, we decide to spend 2 quiet days in a great hotel in the South of Medellín (pronunciation: MIDDLE JUNE) before taking place in our Airbnb (we call it the “vacations after the vacations”). Finally, we missed the computer too much and we had a lot to tell you. Instead of resting, we are chaining article after article for the blog, vlog after vlog for YouTube…
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[Travel Guide] Transport from Medellín José María Córdova Airport to the City Center: Taxi, Bus, Metro…
How do you get from Medellin airport to the city center (or to the El Poblado neighborhood, where most tourists stay), and vice versa? Here are the main means of transportation, we have tested almost all of them. The airport is about 20 km from the city (about 45 minutes by car because of the uphill). By Taxi As soon as you leave the airport, you will immediately see the cab fares clearly indicated here. The fare for Medellin, whether it is the city center or El Poblado (our neighborhood) is 75000COP. The other fares you see on the sign are the suburban neighborhoods. For this, you can take a…
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[story time] My Experience as an Apprentice Seamstress in Vietnam
Today, we continue the series [story time]. In the previous episode, I was on an exchange semester in Australia, in Sydney in 2009. At the end of this semester, I could no longer stay in Australia, not having found a job, nor could I return to France (no longer having a visa). So I went back to Vietnam in 2010, at my parents’ home in Hà Nội. Completely confused, not knowing what to do with my life. A Vietnamese girlfriend was in the same case as me, she who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. And for that, she wanted to take sewing classes first and suggested that I go…
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[Travel Guide] What to do in San Andrés (Colombia)? Transportation, Accommodation, Excursions, Practical advice
We have just spent 4 dreamy days on San Andrés Island, a Caribbean island belonging to Colombia. If you have the opportunity to visit Colombia and stay there long enough, don’t miss this opportunity. How to get to San Andrés Island? Simply by plane. Internal and direct flights aren’t very expensive in Colombia. You can get there from : Cartagena de Indias: 1h29 from 41€ return without checked baggage Medellín 1h48 from 58€ round trip without luggage in the hold Bogota 2h10 from 73€ AR without luggage in the hold VivaAir offers the lowest fares but inconvenient departure times (too early or too late). For 20€ more, you can opt…
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San Andrés (Colombia): Proof that Paradise Exists
For my nth birthday we went to San Andrés, a Caribbean island far away from Colombia, but still belonging to Colombia. It is on the same level as Nicaragua. We spotted it by looking at the airplane trips from Medellín. The weather forecast announces rain during our 4 days of escapade (it is mid-September) but we cross our fingers to have some sunshine anyway. This trip was entirely planned by JB (thank you!) Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Medellin => San Andrés by plane Before entering the plane, we are asked to buy a tourist card. Bad surprise! We did not know that the…
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[Test & Reviews] Sony RX100 III, the ideal compact camera for round-the-world touring – Beginners level
It’s been more than a year since I bought the Sony RX100M3 camera (or RX100 III, Amazon link, Fnac link). It’s been halfway around the world, from the Sahara desert to the glaciers of Iceland through the Canadian forest, it’s time for me to give you a return on this camera, whose quality and size I appreciate. My level : beginner amateur photographer First of all, I must point out that I am not a photography enthusiast. I bought my first Canon EOS 1100D reflex (350€ at the time, 200€ now) for a very practical reason: I was a foster family of cats for an association and to help them…
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14 days Road Trip in Florida: Itinerary, Budget, Car Rental & Tips
We just finished our 2 weeks road trip in Florida. They were very intense but full of adrenaline and surprises. We saw alligators, wild dolphins, polydactyl cats, saw a rocket take off, visited a huge miniature circus, got a tan on the most beautiful beaches of Florida, kissed Mickey and swam in hot springs. Here is the itinerary that I propose to you (the program below is an optimized version of what we visited) Part 1: Itinerary Here is the link to the Google Maps map. To use this custom map (with different layers, day by day itineraries) on your smartphone, I have already shown here how to do it…
