Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Latin America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | Colombia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 5 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 5 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌧 30°C 85°F + 💦 Humid (88%) + 💨 7km/h = Feels like 39°C102°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 42 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 115V60Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | Claro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 10,000 COP in USD | USD 2.97 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: COP 1,000,000 | USD 297 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 Tipping | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💳 Cashless society | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, contaminated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors returns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,200,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 45% 👱♀️ 55% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Online electronics shop | Falabella | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Encuantra24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Copa Airlines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Avianca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
💥 We recommend you to take precautions when traveling to Barranquilla as it may not always be safe for travelers, more info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| outdoorsfoodcultureno-beachbeachairportwarm nowwarmhotclean airgood air qualityslow internetcheap cost of livinghigh crimehigh humiditymany womenfriendly peopleadult nightlife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,243 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $634 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,333 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $381 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $280 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $103 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $1,297 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $61 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (180 listings) | $886 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $29 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $3 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $1 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $1 |
Based on Barranquilla's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
I was there for one week and stayed in Bocagrande, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the Walled City. Pros of Cartagena: Inexpensive locale, reliable and fast internet, good weather (if you like it hot), not terribly crowded (aside from Walled City), beauty/history/nightlife of Walled City. Cons: Local beaches are average at best and riddled with vendors who accost visitors non-stop, street vendors are less pushy but everywhere, fluency in Spanish is very helpful (not really a con, just is), Walled City is loaded with tourists and priced accordingly. Cartagena struck me as a one-trick pony like a Las Vegas. Some people love Vegas because of the weather and the entertainment. Cartagena has the weather and the Walled City. Unfortunately even though its a coastal city, it's tough to enjoy the beach.
I visited Poblado for about a week. I had absolutely no problems with the Internet while I was there. Maybe it was because I was in Poblado, but I never experienced slowness or anything of the sort. Pros of Medellin: spring-like weather, inexpensive, reliable Internet, plenty of shopping and creature comforts, cosmopolitan, friendly people. For cons, a big one is air pollution. Medellin is located in a higher altitude valley. There are many old cars, buses, and (especially) motorcycles belching exhaust into the air. It's difficult for pollutants to disperse because of the city's geography. I.e., there's plenty of smog and there's no debate regarding the negative health impact. To Medellin's credit, the city acknowledges the problem, monitors pollution, issues advisories, and is trying to change, but obviously change doesnt happen overnight. Other cons: The more Spanish you know, the better (not really a con, just is), gringo price gouging, some safety issues (use extra common sense).
I visited Poblado for about a week. I had absolutely no problems with the Internet while I was there. Maybe it was because I was in Poblado, but I never experienced slowness or anything of the sort. Pros of Medellin: spring-like weather, inexpensive, reliable Internet, plenty of shopping and creature comforts, cosmopolitan, friendly people. For cons, a big one is air pollution. Medellin is located in a higher altitude valley. There are many old cars, buses, and (especially) motorcycles belching exhaust into the air. It's difficult for pollutants to disperse because of the city's geography. I.e., there's plenty of smog and there's no debate regarding the negative health impact. To Medellin's credit, the city acknowledges the problem, monitors pollution, issues advisories, and is trying to change, but obviously change doesnt happen overnight. Other cons: The more Spanish you know, the better (not really a con, just is), gringo price gouging, some safety issues (use extra common sense).
I was there for one week and stayed in Bocagrande, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the Walled City. Pros of Cartagena: Inexpensive locale, reliable and fast internet, good weather (if you like it hot), not terribly crowded (aside from Walled City), beauty/history/nightlife of Walled City. Cons: Local beaches are average at best and riddled with vendors who accost visitors non-stop, street vendors are less pushy but everywhere, fluency in Spanish is very helpful (not really a con, just is), Walled City is loaded with tourists and priced accordingly. Cartagena struck me as a one-trick pony like a Las Vegas. Some people love Vegas because of the weather and the entertainment. Cartagena has the weather and the Walled City. Unfortunately even though its a coastal city, it's tough to enjoy the beach.
Nice place to work remotely. They do have fiber optic so you should update the info
Nomad-ed here for a month. A totally ok place if you have the budget for it. Coworking spaces are good, 4g everywhere, transportation is effective. Lots of things to do. I was able to find friends. Lots of international people, very few digital nomads. If you're there, consider not renting in the center (as it gets expensive fast) and being creative with places to eat to find cheap options. Be prepared to use cash unless you live in a luxury.
I was there for one week and stayed in Bocagrande, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the Walled City. Pros of Cartagena: Inexpensive locale, reliable and fast internet, good weather (if you like it hot), not terribly crowded (aside from Walled City), beauty/history/nightlife of Walled City. Cons: Local beaches are average at best and riddled with vendors who accost visitors non-stop, street vendors are less pushy but everywhere, fluency in Spanish is very helpful (not really a con, just is), Walled City is loaded with tourists and priced accordingly. Cartagena struck me as a one-trick pony like a Las Vegas. Some people love Vegas because of the weather and the entertainment. Cartagena has the weather and the Walled City. Unfortunately even though its a coastal city, it's tough to enjoy the beach.
I visited Poblado for about a week. I had absolutely no problems with the Internet while I was there. Maybe it was because I was in Poblado, but I never experienced slowness or anything of the sort. Pros of Medellin: spring-like weather, inexpensive, reliable Internet, plenty of shopping and creature comforts, cosmopolitan, friendly people. For cons, a big one is air pollution. Medellin is located in a higher altitude valley. There are many old cars, buses, and (especially) motorcycles belching exhaust into the air. It's difficult for pollutants to disperse because of the city's geography. I.e., there's plenty of smog and there's no debate regarding the negative health impact. To Medellin's credit, the city acknowledges the problem, monitors pollution, issues advisories, and is trying to change, but obviously change doesnt happen overnight. Other cons: The more Spanish you know, the better (not really a con, just is), gringo price gouging, some safety issues (use extra common sense).
Dangerous and the salsa wears out after a while...
Amazing, amazing, amazing. I initially arrived there for 2 weeks with an intention for it to be just a transit stop, but stayed there for 3 months. Stay in the right areas (Condesa, Roma, Coyoca, Polanco, Coyocan, etc), take Uber and take basic precautions. It's a lovely town with endless food options and work options. Accomodations are not cheap by Mexican standards, but very affordable comparing to USA. It's just a great place to live, in my opinion. The only thing that is bad is quality of the air (not everywhere, though, but in general). If you are sensible to a bad air - take a trip and see how you adjust to it. It's a big issue, yes, but I feel like the are much more pros than cons. Viva Mexico!
One of the most well known cities, few will be surprised by what they see and experience. Very high cost of living can make it tough for many nomads. A lot of things to see and do but most of that costs money. Can feel overwhelming and oppressively business oriented (ie, full of very serious yuppies and places catering to them), especially in Manhattan south of Harlem. Ton of single people, which is good on paper but means everyone you date will get distracted by another person, or multiple, unless you are extremely exceptional, before you have a chance to meet again, never ends. Weather sucks hard from July to August and January to March/April. It's an okay city if you're a biker and varies a lot. Some areas are quite protected, others have no bike lanes. In general, it can be dangerous if you want to commute by bike, it's not Amsterdam. Friendliness of the people varies a lot. I think income/wealth, where they grew up, where they live within NYC, their job, etc. can often give you an idea of what to expect. Service at stores is usually pretty unhelpful and unfriendly but, again, it varies, even within the same store. Internet is fast for the most part. Great selection of food, just a bit pricey besides some of the cheaper pizza slices. Transportation system is good, no need for a car. However, the subway lines are notorious for having issues during rush hour and are usually jam packed. Also, the stations look decrepit and are way out of date. It's pretty safe. Street scams are more prevalent in tourist areas, pick-pocketing and random phone snatching isn't really anything most people worry about. Can be very noisy depending on where you live. You may wake up to extremely loud construction every morning.
I do not recommend London for nomads. It's very hard to find places to work in London. Cafes don't like people with laptops, there won't be any power outlets and you'll get funny stares from staff. That's because London is expensive, and it's a loss for cafes to have you. Flexible coworking is hard to come by and day passes are very expensive. That makes it practically impossible to work properly in London as a nomad.
Been there in November 2017 and I didn't saw something special about it. Prices for each pocket with a big variety of products and so on.
Getting a place to stay is a challenge, and renting an apartment might be a challenge unless you can show proof on stable income job. most leases are 6-12mths minium
Been living in 3 different centrally located airbnb in Berlin (2018), each between 800 and 900€ per month for 40-45 sqm (we're two, so 400-450€ each). Each time a full flat and not a shared airbnb, legal now since some months (though it was always possible to get a full flat before as well). Internet was always between 15 and 50 mbps. I spend 100€ per week on food, including restaurants (pretty cheap here), check for Turkish market on Maybachufer and Turkish stores in Neukölln (I spend less on food here than in Chiang Mai!). Berlin is such an awesome place to live, very multicultural, very tolerant, many different neighborhoods, quite relaxed feeling, many parks, lakes all around. No need to speak German at all. Come over here, probably one one of the best place on earth ;) (written in Sept 2018)
Museum city! Definitely one or two days worth seeing it!
It's possible to live in Hong Kong on the cheap. You've got to live far out in the New Territories, or on an outlying island. I spent a summer living happily on Lamma Island for ~$500USD/month in rent for one bedroom in a shared flat. Rent is really the only tricky part--everything else is relatively cheap.
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by levelsio
