Well, I booked my flight...

[Woody]

Well, dropped $200 yesterday on a few new shirts and jeans. Lightweight, non-knit long sleeve button shirts(x2), patterened, but not wild. Today I'll get some short sleeve solid shirts, some slacks, and some leather shoes. It is also time for some new walking/workout shoes (Current ones have around 600 miles on them from the past six months).

I'm expecting the total damage for the shoes to be around $200-250. Shirts and slacks, another $200 or so. Yay!

It is not a huge deal to drop this money on some nicer clothes. I have to get used to wearing them anyways. I'll be out of the Army in six months and be wearing a non-uniform for seven days a week instead of just the weekend.



Jimmy,
I have far from committed to Colombia. Part of the point of this trip is to find my eventual retirement location. I will be making trips to Peru if only to hike the Inca Trail. But I eventually want to visit every good possibility in the western hemisphere to make my decision on my settlement location (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Costa Rica). I will visit Brazil (Christ the Redeemer is on my must-see-list) and a few others not mentioned. But I will be taking into account government/political climate, cost of living, healthcare, weather, and scenery when I make my final decision. Colombia seems like a good place to start since it, at least initially, rates well for me on all those aspects.

If all goes well, at age 31 I will be retired and going to college fulltime for another couple years to get my masters degree. After that, I'll teach for the hell of it.

[robert angel]

Woody,

Sounds like you have some good ideas and 'plans' and with your plans, you use terms ''like íf all goes well'', which is great. You're in for some changes, leaving the military (Salute!) with a college degree to boot. You certainly don't sound anal in terms of thinking the future holds exactly this or that for you, and that's great--same kinda mindset you seem to carry into your trip. Seems like to ready for pretty much anything that might come up and with an open mind as well. With an attitude like that, a lot of good things, some quite unexpected, are likely to come your way.

Enjoy the ride, have a great trip and please share your journey with the rest of us!

Banzai!

[whitey]

Today I'll get some short sleeve solid shirts, some slacks, and some leather shoes. It is also time for some new walking/workout shoes (Current ones have around 600 miles on them from the past six months).

I'm expecting the total damage for the shoes to be around $200-250. Shirts and slacks, another $200 or so. Yay!

Woody, if it's not too late, I'd recommend you buy the majority of your clothes down in Colombia.  That way, you'll be dressed in the local style.

It's fun to shop down there ... hopefully you'll have a friend or girlfriend to help you ... or there's always the cute girls that work in the stores.

Colombian clothing is pretty casual "hip" and stylish ... should be good for a young guy like you.  Colombians like to look good ... I wear my Colombian clothes in Colombia and up here in Canada, and always feel good wearing them.

Cheers ... Whitey

[Woody]

You certainly don't sound anal in terms of thinking the future holds exactly this or that for you, and that's great--same kinda mindset you seem to carry into your trip. Seems like to ready for pretty much anything that might come up and with an open mind as well. With an attitude like that, a lot of good things, some quite unexpected, are likely to come your way.

I have always been a realist. I have some wild hopes and dreams, but I set simple milestones for myself. I set out a path for retirement in 2004 (I was 20 at the time). Over the years, minor details have changed in drastic ways; however, they were never fixed to begin with. I was pretty much forced into re-enlistment in 2007(stop-loss was going to get me anyways), all that did is delay my plans by two years. I had intended on retiring at 29, now my retirement goal is 31. No plan survives implementation without failure, you just have to compensate for that failure as best you can.

In the end, when I simplify everything, it comes out to this as my ultimate goal:
1. Family (Kids, Wife)
2. Financially secure (Don't need lavish, just never to have to worry about money)
3. Opportunity (Kids are provided the same or better chances in life that I was)
4. Happy (Don't ask, I can't really quantify happy. But I have a feeling it is contingent on the first three.)

[Woody]

It's fun to shop down there ... hopefully you'll have a friend or girlfriend to help you ... or there's always the cute girls that work in the stores.

Except that I'm 6'0", 250lbs with a football player body-type (50 inch chest, 38 inch waist, 32 inches shoulder to shoulder). My non-knit shirts are 2XL. Not because of the waist, but because I can't move my arms forward or up in anything smaller.

How much luck will I have finding shirts that fit in Colombia?

[Jason1]

   Woody,
    I wouldn't worry too much about buying clothes there.Even though you don't need to dress too flashy to make yourself a target, being different will work in your favor when it comes to foreign women.You can go and be different from the local guys or you can go and try to be like them and compete with them also....on their own turf.Not a good idea.

   Think about this in reverse.Do guys travel hundreds of miles to be with women that are exactly like where they are from?It doesn't make sense to do so.These women are actually feminine which is almost illegal in the US. 

[whitey]

Damn, you could eat me for breakfast!

I wear a medium, so pretty common size in Colombia.  Colombians come in all shapes and sizes, but generally speaking they are not as tall and big as Americans, so you may have some problems ...

[lite sweet dude]

My ex in Barranquilla always wanted me to wear slacks and a nice shirt but my Peruana prefers the laid back jeans or shorts and tee shirt look with sandals or tennis shoes which I prefer also.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[Woody]

My ex in Barranquilla always wanted me to wear slacks and a nice shirt but my Peruana prefers the laid back jeans or shorts and tee shirt look with sandals or tennis shoes which I prefer also.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Well, wearing slacks isn't a problem now.

What I bought over the past three days:
2x slacks (one greyish, one an earth tone)
2x jeans
3x long sleeve non-knit collared casual shirts
1x long sleeve non-knit collared dress shirt
1x short sleeve button-up casual shirt (coordinated with the slacks)
2x polo shirts-short sleeve (coordinated with the slacks)
4x tshirts (various designs, coordinated with the two casual long sleeve shirts)
2x ties (coordinated with the long sleeve shirts and the slacks)
1x leather dress shoes  (coordinated with the slacks)
2x dress socks (coordinated with the slacks)
1x leather belt (coordinated with the slacks)
1x pair of sunglasses
2x workout clothes
1x street/walking/sport shoes
4x undershirts (V and round)
------------

So yeah, I went all in. Cost me a pretty penny though. I was dead on with my estimate on shoes costs, but WAY off on dress clothes. One advantage to going to an actual mens store is that my slacks were tailored right there for me. The slacks are WAY more comfortable than any of my jeans. Then again, they were $80 each.

Total damage: close to $1400

Normally this would cause me to gasp for breath, but I had this bill coming anyways. With getting out of the Army, it was time to start wearing clothes likes these anyways.

[raycjs]

Woody

Looks like you have everything covered, Just go there and have a great time, enjoy yourself, be safe, think and use your head.

I wish you the best of luck and safe return


Ray

[robert angel]

Is wearing shorts on the street in LA unusual overall and a sure way to verify that you're a tourist?

When we go on vacation, my wife dislikes my Bermuda shorts, the black socks with the nylon straps attached to the shorts to keep them up, my polyester Hawaiian shirt, my tortoise shell Raybans --even my big SLR camera hanging from my neck--I don't know what her problem is!

[crash]

       Robert, don't forget the jewelry and big white sneakers you can see a mile away.It seems everyone in SA countries wear black shoes.

[jm21-2]

Man, in your size, if you have to buy suits someday the current bill will won't look so bad.