so i need to figure out what i'm doing...

[chameleon]

I have about 6 weeks of vacation this year and have to figure out how best to use it. I'd like to make my first trip in a couple of months, which should give me some time to improve my spanish.


The last time i did something like this, I'd met a girl off LA cupid. She was really nice and would have made a good wife for someone, but long-term it wouldn't have worked out. =/


I don't know if i want to use an agency or a dating site. I feel like I have to do one or the other, or both, to make the most of my time. There are negative comments about each.... I do want to enjoy my time off and see something interesting as well, so some actual vacationing mixed in would be nice.


Any suggestions?

[dennislevy]

If you can do the six weeks consecutiively, go overseas....(Colombia?)
 
pick 2 or three places in the country and gin up a dating pool for each locale from say Colombian Cupido or Latin american Cupido.
 
C mon this isnt brain surgery!
 
jejejejejeje

[chameleon]

I can't do it consecutively. I can get away with 3 weeks max at a time. I'm thinking 3 weeks and then if i meet someone a series of shorter trips... I'm the type of guy that hates not having things planned, I guess...


What are the best vacation spots where there's also a sizable dating pool?

[Gato4Astrid]

I'm the type of guy that hates not having things planned, I guess...

So do I
 

[Jeff S]

What are the best vacation spots where there's also a sizable dating pool?

Tons of them in Latin America - most not in Colombia, though.

[Micky]

You could do Santa Marta and go into Barranquilla.  Dennis or Whitey can chime in and give a realistic view of that,  just an idea.

Micky

[Researcher]

      Go vacationing or go wife hunting, pick one......Nah, you can do both but it seems you are more serious about vacationing. Just go on a vacation and when you are ready for a relationship, get back to us.We'll be here.

    Researcher

[whitey]

For what it's worth, if I had 3 weeks, I would spend the first week in Medellin, and the last 2 on the north coast.  Medellin is a beautiful, modern city with a perfect climate, and will give you a taste of the women from this region of Colombia.   

Barranquilla is 1.5 hours from Cartagena on one side, and 1.5 hours from the resort town of Santa Marta on the other side.  The women in Barranquilla are fantastic ... very beautiful if you like morenas.  Cartagena and Santa Marta are worthy of visits on their own, and are great romantic spots to relax and enjoy the company of any ladies you happen to meet for a weekend.

Bogota I would skip ... too cold, rainy, big, and polluted for me. 

There have been many discussions on this board about the differences in looks and personalities between women from Medellin and the coast ... they are generalizations of course, but reasonably accurate in many cases.  So, where you ultimately decide to spend your time may have a lot to do with your personal taste.  Me, I like a little spice!

Cheers ... Whitey

[chameleon]

Assuming I don't use an agency, will my days be empty? Most adults will be working so what should i do during non-dating hours? Cartagena/SM are easy but Medellin is less touristy. Thoughts/ideas?

[Dan Las Vegas]

Go and sit in a sidewalk cafe and watch the most beautiful women in the world walk past you!!!! , take the metro and explore Medellin, go visit pablo Escobars grave in Itagui, vist the tres Boles amusement park in Sabeneta, Take the metro cable to Santo Domigo, visit the museum of Antioquia, visit Pueblito Paisa, Climb El Penol just outside of Medelin and enjoy the view,  Visit El Tesoro Mall to get a beautiful view of the city and enjoy the view of the paisas at the same time, try Paragliding,  visit the botanical gardins, etc, etc, etc, i'm sure you would have no problem spending your "non dating" time in Medellin!
Either way have a great time!!!
 
Dan LV

[AndyLee]

If you meet a few women on the LAC or CC sites you will have plenty of company when you visit their city. They will make time for you. If you utilize the dating sites and plan your trips carefully it is rare to spend a day in any of these cities without a lovely woman to show you around. Seeing the tourist sites by yourself can be okay, but it is loaded with fun if you have a lovely woman on your arm explaining things as you go and helping you navigate the city.
I agree with Whitey; cities of choice are Medellin and Barranquilla (forget Bogota, too cold, big, expensive).... actually Pereira-Armenia are first on my list, but the flights to Pereira are time consuming because they go through Bogota.
Better for you to get a direct flight to Medellin, spend a week, then a flight to Barranquilla and spend a week discovering the North Coast where the Costeñas live. From Barranquilla you can catch the door to door to Cartagena and to Santa Marta. Read some of Whitey's posts, he's very familiar with those cities and can give you some good leads on where to go and what to do.

[chameleon]

Ok. I think Medellin/Cartagena/Baq/SM is a good plan.


I guess I'll fine-tune things the nearer I get to departure based on which location has the women i'm most interested in meeting.


You guys think i should do the latin-wife thing in BAQ? Or better to just do it on my own?


My spanish is very beginner right now, but I'm a fast learner and am fluent in french, which is quite similar, and I plan on doing intensive learning before I go down.. 3 hours a night including 1 hour per day of private lessons focused on conversation for the couple months before I leave, and I'm thinking lots of Rosetta stone or something for building vocab on weekends.

[dennislevy]

The plans sounds good if you ve got three weeks.

I dont know what your budget is.....but you can sleep comfortably alone in Medellin, or Cartegena or Baranquilla for no more then 65, 000 pesos a night...and if you want some local color even less! 

The price in Santa marta depends on whether you re talking about the city of Santa Marta or Rodedero which is about 4 miles away and is more expensive.

Jamie Morrow (International introductions...(my latin-wife) charges approximately 1475 for his premium service, he is competing with AFA which has an office in Baranquilla. His service is a bit more personalñized but essentially youre meeting a crapload of women in a short period of time and then following up with one on one dates.  AFA does round table coffee socials, Jamie does group interviews.....I would give the edge to his method.

I THINK, am not sure, but pretty sure that if you want to be his client you have to take his lodging...and you can do a lot better for the money in Baranquilla.

Bear in mind that on the coast, the Spanish that is spoken is the costeña dialect, VERY fast, lots of chopped off words and verbs....Your Spanish probably isnt going to be equal to understanding costeña...and there is no shame, I have a hard time understanding costeñas and when I date on the coast, I usually  look for educated women who I hope will speak good Spanish.

Baranquilla is the hinge between Santa Marta to the east and Cartegena to the west.  The bus terminals in all three locations are not conveniently located But there are door to door and 14 passenger mini van services for 25,000 pesos between each city, ask the hotel to arrange it for you.

A  trip between Baranquilla and either of the two cities may be as much as 3 hours, because of pickups before and after they pick you up  and drop offs before they let you out at your location.   

OK?

[utopiacowboy]

While I agree that knowing French is helpful, it is the least helpful of the Latin languages for learning Spanish. My wife can understand Portuguese and Italian but is completely lost with French. I grew up in Montreal speaking French but every time I searched for a French word (mot) to help me with the Spanish (palabra), it invariably got me into trouble. I do wish we were speaking French instead of Spanish - it is the most beautiful language in the world.

[chameleon]

While I agree that knowing French is helpful, it is the least helpful of the Latin languages for learning Spanish. My wife can understand Portuguese and Italian but is completely lost with French. I grew up in Montreal speaking French but every time I searched for a French word (mot) to help me with the Spanish (palabra), it invariably got me into trouble. I do wish we were speaking French instead of Spanish - it is the most beautiful language in the world.

I don't think the only reason knowing a second language helps is direct similarities, though I'm through unit 1 of rosetta now and there are still enough of them. Taza/Tasse, bicicleta/bicyclette, etc. The numbers are close enough too, not that numbers are hard. That plus all the english cognates and it's pretty damned easy. I don't even think about the french/english word, it's almost instinctive. I suspect that I will pick it up very quickly. It probably helps that i tested ~95th percentile for languages when i was younger. I don't struggle with it at all and after a couple repetitions vocab sticks pretty good. I'm looking forward to starting my private lessons since talking is what really makes your brain work, I find.