Post: #1

I am going to Colombia for a little less than 3 months and I am not sure if I should bring my macbook. I will need to work from there, but I am a little worried that it might get stolen. Otherwise I can bring my cheap netbook but I won't be as productive on that shitty thing.

Can some Colombia vets drop some knowledge on the general safety (Buses/Taxis/Room)? If I get robbed in the street, whatever. But if I lose my MBP I'm in trouble...

And does someone know a BJJ school in Cartagena? Found some in Medellin and Bogota but not in Cartagena.

Post: #2

a) buy travel insurance
b) before you leave, make a complete backup to external hard drive
c) make a backup to the cloud of all important work data that you'll need to access while traveling

That would limit your downside if it gets stolen.

Don't leave it in checked luggage when flying.

If you need to walk with it on the street, avoid carrying the laptop bag in plain sight. Wrap your laptop bag inside an opaque shopping bag or trash bag.

Post: #3

I saw a lot of backpacks people were sporting. Put it in there.

Post: #4

I got an old laptop off someone, that should do I guess.

Thanks for the tips so far.

Hiding it when walking around is a given of course. But I have heard stories about whole buses getting robbed (that was not in Colombia though).

Post: #5

I've been robbed severeal times in Colombia, though always without noticing it. Most Colombians are wonderful people though, and there are a lot of very good business and investment opportunities. I've been robbed by taxi drivers and in expensive high end clubs, so it's difficult to say where the risk is highest. You just gotta roll with it and apply common sense. I could have avoided being robbed most of the times if I had been paying more attention. I've gotten robbed in other countries as well (including the West) so it's not like the problem only exists in Colombia though obviusly the risks will always be much higher in a developing/emerging country.

Post: #6

solo, would you mind going into details? Sounds like it was just pickpocketing?

Or did you get robbed at your place too?

Post: #7

Colombia is no more dangerous than anywhere else really. Its the exact same situation as if you were going to miami, stay in good neighbourhoods don't do anything stupid and you have as much chance of something bad happening as any other major city.

Post: #8

"solo, would you mind going into details? Sounds like it was just pickpocketing?

Or did you get robbed at your place too?"

Sure. I never got robbed at my place.

I've been to Colombia twice (mostly Bogotá and the Caribbean coast), in 2008 and 2010/2011. First time I was living in Bogotá for 8 months I left my jacket at an internet café, realised it and went back after 5 minutes but it was already gone. Bought a new jacket, left it on a chair at an upper class place (not my type of venue usually) and it was gone when I got back LOL.

Second time I was only in the country for like 10 days. I got off the taxi that had taken me to my hotel. Carried some of my bags into the hotel and then went back to get the rest, by which time the taxi was already gone. Took my ipod and glasses among other things. The hotel called the taxi company who called the driver but of course he said there was no luggage left.

I think there might have been a few more times too but I can't remember. It was frustrating when it happened but now looking back at it it doesn't bother me so much, will just try to learn from it. But I was never robbed at gun-point or anything though there were few times where some gangs approached me and tried to threaten me. Actually this thread is good for me because I need to remind myself of NOT trying to be macho and just give any potential robber whatever they want and just treat them with respect even though they are robbing me, for my own safety. They are often several guys and likely carry weapons but it's not like you see this everywhere all the time (far from it).

I also did some really stupid shit like walking on the séptima (main road in Bogotá) all the way from La Candelaria to where I lived at 4 o'clock in the night without anything serious happening to me though (albeit there were some guys who were kind of stalking me). Highly NOT recommenable. But I was so tired of hearing everyone warning me so I think I just wanted to do something really macho haha. It was kind of therapeutic actually.

I'm going back to Colombia in just a few months myself and will bring my own Macbook though knowing full well that it might get stolen if I don't take precautions. But like I said it can get stolen anywhere in the world. By the way I've also been to Cartagena, the touristy areas there seemed generally safer from robbery risk than most of Bogotá.

All in all, getting robbed is the least of my worries in Colombia.

Post: #9

I would like to stress that even though I've lost some things in Colombia, most Colombians are really nice people and will often go out of their way to be helpful. For instance, last time I was there I forgot my credit card in an ATM after having taken out money. The people next in line called me back and gave it back to me. They could easily have taken it and possibly withdrawn more money from it but chose not to.

This is typical of the vast majority of Colombians, who are good-hearted people despite being subject to prejudice of being drug dealers etc. Criminals are actually pretty few and far between but unfortunately they make a lot of noise. Yes Colombia CAN be dangerous but that is true of any country. It is much more dangerous for Colombians than for foreigners.

Post: #10

Solo if you were to compare dominican women and colombian women, who has the upper edge in your opinion? In terms of bodies.

Post: #11

That is a really tough question. Too difficult to give you a straight answer I'm afraid. You also have to factor in that plastic surgery is far more common in Colombia. So in a place like Medellín, for instance, this probably raises the average if you don't mind that. If you were to "remove" the plastic surgery from Colombia maybe DR has more curvier and big booty women, though actually there are a lot of girls that fit this description naturally in Colombia too.

If you compare the top 5 or 10% of girls in both countries it's pretty much a dead race. I've worked out at both Bodytech and Bodyshop for long periods at time, which is where you can find girls with stunning bodies. There's not much telling them apart IMO.

It's a close close call, so in the end other factors would have to decide. Unfortunately IMO the obesity epidemic has hit both DR (I know you disagree with me on this) and Colombia. In some places of both countries I estimate 50% of the girls are too fat for my tastes.

Maybe the perfect mix between DR and Colombia is Venezuela. As you know they used to be the same country but Venezuela has maybe had a little bit more Caribbean influence. Sometimes when you can't decide between two options, the answer is to get more options. If one picks a Venezuelan city that is relatively safe and gets good logistics in a safer part of town and take other safety measures based on common sense, maybe it wouldn't be much more dangerous there than in other part of LatAm.

Post: #12

(06-29-2013 10:29 AM)solo Wrote:  Unfortunately IMO the obesity epidemic has hit both DR (I know you disagree with me on this)

haha I was laughing hard when i read that, yes, of course i disagree with you on that

But thanks a lot for the info, truly appreciate it.

Post: #13

you guys don't use word correctly. Robbery is when someone takes your stuff with use of force or threat of use of force.
If you guys have gotten ROBBED many times in your life...you are in the wrong places ..doing the wrong things.I live in NYC and me and my friends have NEVER been Robbed. But our homes have been burglarized. Big difference!