Barranquilla Trip Summary Part 1

Live in direct form Barranquilla, Colombia!

It’s been five weeks since I touched down in Barranquilla, and it’s been a hell of a time. Carnavales, good food, friendly caramel skinned ladies, and lots of sun… I can’t complain and I hope some of you guys can someday make the lifestyle change I’m in the process of making now. As the author of The Global Dating Revolution, I felt I really had to lead by example. I had a good, high paying, comfortable job back in New York but I left all that, including my apartment, and my girlfriend (I have a new girlfriend in Barranquilla, and a new apartment ), in order to prove to myself as well my readers that I don’t just talk the talk, I’m really walking the walk and am now living in Latin America. I don’t know if I’ll stay in Colombia longer then 6 months, I’ll play it by ear, but all I know is that I’ll be living somewhere in Latin America for the foreseeable future. So, I now give you part 1 of my recap of my five weeks here in Barranquilla Colombia.

First a little about Barranquilla:

Barranquilla is a coastal, port city, located on the north coast of Colombia. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region, and the fourth largest city in Colombia. It lies strategically by the delta of the Magdalena River, serving as port for river and maritime transportation. It is also known as the cradle of Colombian aviation and for its carnival.

Barranquilla’s Carnival (Spanish: Carnaval de Barranquilla) is celebrated for four days before Ash Wednesday. It is broadly recognized as one of the world’s largest carnivals; it is second only to the carnival of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In November 2003, UNESCO proclaimed it as one of 28 different “masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.”

Week 1 (carnavales):
I arrived in Barranquilla with two lists. A list of phone numbers of the women I had met online, using my strategies for meeting women online, and a list of phone numbers and addresses to the apartments I had looked up through the Internet. The first step was finding a furnished apartment here in Barranquilla. These apartments are called “amoblados” and they are cheaper then hotels and they can be rented for the long term. I arrived a few days before the official start of carnavales, so I knew prices would be a little steep, by Colombian standards. Luckily for me I had met a nice girl named Vanessa online. Her cousin was a taxi driver and she picked me up at the airport with her cousin. Together with my little posse, we drove all over Barranquilla and called up every apartment on my list (with Vanessa’s cell phone). After an exhausting day of searching I finally found a decent apartment at a decent price. I paid about $450 for the whole month in a decent furnished apartment with Internet access. After I got all settled down I started getting ready for carnavales.

Although I have traveled extensively through Latin America, I’ve never been to any of it’s Carnavales and all I can say is WOW was I missing out! I’ve never been to the Brazilian Carnival, but it’s hard to imagine it being any better than the ones in Barranquilla. Rather than write about how great they were, I’d rather show you some pictures so you can see for yourself.

I’ve never been in a city where the entire population (1.2 million people) is in party mode. Think New Orleans Burbon Street on Mardi Gras, except that it’s not just Burbon Street, it’s the entire city! It was four days of drinking, parties, dancing, good food, and just plain old fun. I really wish they had something like this back in the United States, but the sad fact is that with all the rules and regulations back in the states, there’s no way in hell that something like this could ever take place.

Week 2:
I spent the second week meeting some of the women I had met online and also hanging out with some of the girls that I met during Carnavales. Towards the end of the second week, I ended up going to my first introduction agency event. Through a series of events I ended up attending Sam Smith’s I love Latins introduction tour. Sam was a great host and spending some time with Sam, his staff, and the guys who attended his tour really gave me a different view of introduction agencies, how they operate, and what they have to offer.

Over the years, I had heard a lot horror stories about some of the bad agencies/tours out there. But, Sam’s tour helped me gain a new perspective. Here’s the two main things that I took from Sam’s event and the time I spent at his event:

1. Introduction tours can be great for men who are a little hesitant to take their first trip, either because they’ve never traveled to Latin American country, don’t know the language, or are worried about the negative press and safety issues. When you go through an agency like Sam’s you get picked up at the airport, they provide translators for you, and they host events in hotel where you will most likely be staying. These events are places where you will be surrounded by hundreds of single local women, who are looking to meet an interesting foreign guy just like yourself.

2. It takes a long time, sometimes years, to convince a guy to take his first trip. But 90% of the time, after they take their first trip, they get hooked, they never regret it, and they never look back! Sam has noticed this through his agency, and I’ve noticed it through my website as well.

I spent the whole weekend at the I Love Latins events and I made a ton of friends, guys and girls throughout that entire weekend. That took me into the start of the third week. I’ll get into the next three weeks of my trip in part 2 of my Barranquilla summary.

To be continued…

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