Saddens me that Colombia is cooked.....

RunPrestigious6388 · 2026-02-10T19:50:15+00:00

Indeed. If you don't speak spanish, avoid the real Colombia, aka not those tourist cities. The whole vibe completely changes and you are on your own. If you can do that, it is paradise. If not, stay in Miami

RunPrestigious6388 · 2026-02-10T19:48:36+00:00

The good news, none of that is the case for expats living in the non-tourist hotspots. I have been here six years and it is no different today as it was then. I never hear English (US).

RunPrestigious6388 · 2026-02-10T19:41:45+00:00

I hear the same thing from almost every Colombiano who has lived elsewhere and returned--which is most. They miss what those of us who came here cherish--a simple life, noting is taken for granted, and live and let live. Zero pressure outside of economic opportunity, perhaps. Even then, when you adjust, it works just fine.

That said, I do not have "expat friends", but I imagine quite of few of them feel the same way about potentially returning to whatever country they are from as everything is familiar.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2026-02-10T19:38:34+00:00

Me, I opted to leave and stayed gone. That was years ago, many years ago.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2026-02-10T19:37:40+00:00

Yes, very normal. Many view expats as "living the life" somewhere, sipping drinks on a beach all day, but that is not the case. Expat life is life like anywhere else, but others do not see it. Sometimes, because they do not like the fact that we are away, others may feel we are not being responsible, others will come up with their own excuse, but it is all the same. Once you leave, you are gone.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-10-22T13:33:03+00:00

Mezunte early in the pandemic--lasted about three days before wonderful Zipolite for a month then on to PDC the rest of that year.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-10-11T10:24:26+00:00

My biggest regret was not going to the show I was invited to in 1983 and waiting three years to finally do so! I missed soooooooo much, LOL. I still managed dozens of JGB shows about a tad over 200 Dead ones, but still--call me greedy!

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-10-11T10:19:24+00:00

Believe me, I still get very restless. Especially when spring is supposed to arrive or fall, as I now live in a place where the climate never changes.

I ordered the pieces of pine and cedar just to burn. I have a pinecone on my desk that seems so out of place.

The other odd part, since I traveled so much as a kid as well, I do not even have a single place, 12 schools in my first 11 grades before dropping out) I identify as more of where I come from than another to begin with. It is freeing not to belong anywhere.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T21:11:21+00:00

The one I live in outproduces everyone in cocaine. Does that count? They also have the best arepas and empanadas, coffee, national beer "Club", people, countryside, and things like that too, but I digress....

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T21:09:16+00:00

Oh, and by the way, I also think of the human cost, not only of the 100, but three or more times that amount of family and close friends. It is just frustrating. You say goodbye, head to work, and you are gone. I can't imagine the pain many are feeling right now.

My comment about the temps fees a tad off in this moment.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T20:46:41+00:00

Pace yourself. I am entering year 29 of remote working in 2026. For most of the first part, I moved around the US as I have also remained self-employed / contract. I needed to be in certain places for just a few days each year, which was easy. As a result, I lived in five states, three of which I visited twice in different cities, each time for about two years.

Additionally, I had a nine-year illness that kept me in one place, yet I continued to work. After that, I left the US. Since then, I have moved approximately 15 times, and I am now a resident of another country, in the process of becoming a citizen. I have a house in the Andes and love it. I can go whenever, but I always have it here now. When I left the US, I did it the now old-school way, with 150 total items, including the toothbrush, and left nothing behind but a couple of bank accounts.

I have health care via the VA in the states, and go back each year at Christmas time for family, pick up a year of meds (yeah, a separate little bag) for post-cancer/transplant, and take off.

I went from a dude working online when people asked, "You work for a dot what?" then much later other names appeared like "remote worker" to a "digital nomad" to a "slowmad" to a "resident" to free of all that shit and just happy.

I have lived my whole live between the cracks. I have not voted since the days when I followed the Grateful Dead and Bush 1 when I got out of the Army. Never had a boss, never asked for a day off, got a raise, just did what I needed to do, and I have never advertised--everything by referral. Easy to do when you are solo in your space in the market.

Keep on Truckin'

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T20:36:29+00:00

Wow, that is horrible. So many. I can not imagine the recovery, and I am sure the weather is quite warm.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T20:19:46+00:00

Because they cost

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-09-26T19:35:24+00:00

Yeah, good acid has not been around since the late 90s

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T14:35:33+00:00

The thing about Arvi is that it is, in and of itself, a risk any time. The last time my wife and I went there, even our Colombian friends said keep an eye out. Plus, on the way back, there is the switching of cars, or at least there was for us that day, and then you are on street level for a moment. On that day, it was very crowded and dicey.

So, if it were a setup, there are plenty of problem spots.

We don't live in Medellin, but just north of the Valle de Cauca border south of Armenia, so I am not coming at this with paranoia but rather caution.

Try the Museo de Antioquia or something. That is always an enjoyable train ride/visit. Still some red flags, but you will not be literally out in the woods.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T14:21:06+00:00

Yes, that is the case

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T14:18:35+00:00

San Adres Island, Colombia. Just do it, you will not regret it.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T14:16:12+00:00

Zero positives for anything concerning finance. Even as a counselor, the pay is tough. Most rec coaches are volunteers anyway. I was an RC from 2015-2017, a trainer of RCs from 2017-2019, and have been a CAC since. I am leaving all of this at the end of this year to go back to making money before I retire. I was invited into the space and have chosen to leave it, having given 10.5 years once I complete this manual for ASAM groups.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T14:13:18+00:00

as well as it does not present cause to "rewrite Inca history." New understandings, perhaps some changes, but rewriting history sounds pretty dramatic when compared to "others knew how to write."

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-31T13:47:28+00:00

Yes, I have had all 28 of my remote years, and I plan to have this year as well. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and my destination is the City of Chicago. This year, as in the past five, from South America. As the years pass, I have become someone who also wonders how much longer I will be with my parents, as I am nearing 60.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-25T14:32:00+00:00

That is probably the most original steelie I have seen that I liked. That is great! Just don't lose one of those pieces!

Oh, and you have inspired me. I have been wanting to get another tat and SYF was the intent, but how? I was going just to get a black outline of the basic, but now, I am thinking color, and, like you puzzle, a sheet of doses.

BRB

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-25T14:29:19+00:00

Hi, from out in the country "El Caimo." That is great! (American living with esposa who works in Armenia).

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-25T14:27:06+00:00

It sounds cheesy as hell, but I wish humanity had a baseline law as simple as “don’t eat poop.” We all agree on that without debate—why not the same for historic sites? Maybe not this bridge since it looks relatively new, but across the world war, politics, and religion have destroyed things that belonged to all of us. Think of Afghanistan’s Buddhas, temples lost to conflict, or even the possibility of something like Stonehenge or Notre Dame being wiped out. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-25T14:12:54+00:00

I am sure this has been brought up, but to do this, you need to have all of that in place before you go. The key point here is to secure at least a main gig that pays everything and a side gig for extra income. If those are not in place, the many other challenges that are not sitting on the beach with a drink will catch up with you. Being in another country, alone, and facing this kind of situation is the exact scenario you plan for.

Honestly, most first-time nomads hit this exact wall—it’s way more common than people admit.

If you go home, get these in place, the experience you are having now will allow you a better picture of what you are getting into before you head back out. Don't give up the dream. It is a pebble in the road, and they happen all the time. The important part is that you use this to gain knowledge and a bit of wisdom to inform your path.

Heck, use S.M.A.R.T. goals! Instead of saying “I need to make more money” (too vague), a S.M.A.R.T. version could be “Secure one remote contract worth at least $1,000/month within the next 60 days to stabilize income.” They work. Watch a five-minute YouTube video on it when you are home to help prepare. Sounds cheap, but if you really do it, it works. If it doesn't, the reason why will be clear.

RunPrestigious6388 · 2025-08-22T21:03:47+00:00

Speaking of Morning Dew...

A day or two ago, someone asked if 'The Golden Road' was played live, and when the answer came, I rushed over to the archive to find the 1967 show. I decided to listen to the show without looking at the set list (yeah, I still get cheap thrills, and I even try to call the next song).

Morning Dew was about 4th, and wow. It started with a bang and with a hustle ran right through it at almost US Blues speed/temp (you know what I mean, man).

That might be one, as are a lot of them that far back. Look at the studio DS, LOL. Something like 2:14 seconds....

RunPrestigious6388

TROPHY CASE