Travel Reminders & lessons from Colombia 🇨🇴

00:00:01: Do you want to live a life of

00:00:01: freedom and adventure?

00:00:03: Are you wanting more than the daily grind?

00:00:06: Me too!

00:00:07: Welcome to The Emma Lovell Show,

00:00:09: A place where we talk about living a life you love now.

00:00:12: I'm your host, Emma Loveell And my number one value is Freedom.

00:00:17: I've spent the last fourteen years running this business and traveling in toddler.

00:00:23: along with an adventure too It's possible that i know you can create a life doing what you truly love so much.

00:00:30: This podcast will inspire motivation.

00:00:55: Let's jump in and get dreaming.

00:00:57: This is a space for you

00:00:58: to manifest.

00:01:02: I would like to acknowledge and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place, now known as Australia.

00:01:23: Hello and welcome to the podcast today.

00:01:25: It is not going be the best audio, I can assure you that because i'm in the airport in Colombia!

00:01:31: I mean Bogota, Colombia... And next up is Panama City where we're going to embark on a cruise which was so exciting.

00:01:38: it's kind of the whole reason for the trip actually.

00:01:41: So um..I haven't done one on my phone in a while.

00:01:45: The video isn't gonna go amazing and the audio won't be amazing but I really wanted to do a podcast while i'm here in uh columbia so, gonna take my earring out because it's hitting the phone.

00:01:57: So welcome to the podcast!

00:01:58: Im your host Emma Lovell...I travel a lot.

00:02:02: this is my seventy eighth country.

00:02:04: um as ive been traveling since i was two years old and my son who is actually five year olds he has now been into twenty countries And ah..he s been on five continents....i said that hes been four.

00:02:18: My mouth's wrong and North & South America are different continents, so South America becoming his fifth continent which is a bit wild to be honest.

00:02:27: I think at that age i had been two three continents in maybe like five countries Which is still a lot for some people but travels very normally.

00:02:37: my family ,my parents English.

00:02:39: So I was on a plane too go visit the family in England.

00:02:42: Um...My dad also travelled alot for work.

00:02:45: He was in two different countries each year from kind of the time I can remember, and always brought us wonderful gifts.

00:02:51: So i like buying gifts from countries as well.

00:02:54: um have a little bit breathless.

00:02:56: that's because what I want to share on this episode is...I enjoy traveling with beginners mindset so open eyes not doing too much research especially if I know people in the country..i just go in learn them but it's probably a good idea to understand the climate and when there is something like altitude involved, its really a great thing to know.

00:03:23: So fun fact Bogota is one of the highest capitals in the world so they're at top ten capital cities.

00:03:31: bogata number five or six.

00:03:33: It's two thousand six hundred fifty metres above sea level.

00:03:39: I live very much at sea level.

00:03:40: I can walk to the water and we are flat, flat where i live.

00:03:44: um And although i've done a lot of tracking usually i prepare a little bit and i would take some medicine.

00:03:50: so top tip if you're coming here i would actually bring altitude medicine.

00:03:54: what altitude sickness does is it makes your breathless It makes you more tired Um...it can give you headaches..It can make your stomach funny.

00:04:03: So yeah like yesterday had a funny tummy in us Like oh that's probably just the richness being a bit tired.

00:04:09: and then I was like, oh altitude sickness.

00:04:11: Matthew had a headache yesterday morning.

00:04:13: um...and yeah just the shortness of breath it really takes you by surprise without exerting much Just walking through the airport.

00:04:21: Oh my gosh!

00:04:22: So excuse me announcements but we came to Columbia based on travel maths.

00:04:31: so We were in Mexico.

00:04:34: So we sort of did this trip in reverse.

00:04:36: We have this cruise going from Panama to Costa Rica, two places in Mexico back to LA.

00:04:42: so because when the dates were... I'm gonna talk about Cancun right now but we're goin' to Panama Because it's a date and then school holidays.

00:04:52: well..we are not gonna come back Australia for one week And take Finn out of school again!

00:04:56: So we are travelling five-and-a-half weeks Any time.

00:04:59: i am coming into his part on the world.

00:05:00: I will visit my cousin Bill and then also I was writing his book.

00:05:04: So, well we'll have the book launch in first week of April when we get there And i wanted to make it as soon possible because he's a hundred three.

00:05:13: We don't know how things are gonna go.

00:05:15: so...we planned this book launch for the fourth of april The first weekend that could be there.

00:05:19: uh..We left took Finn out of school little bit early.

00:05:22: I flew over a week earlier with Finn.

00:05:25: Then my husband joined me on the eighth of April.

00:05:27: So were in America two weeks had the book launched.

00:05:30: Then we planned to go to Mexico, which is something that wanted us do in twenty-twenty four.

00:05:34: Which would have been our one year anniversary because you got married on a leap year.

00:05:39: But it just didn't work out.

00:05:40: We nearly were going there again last year Just couldn't squeeze it in.

00:05:43: So I was like okay...we had to go.

00:05:46: then Again..we're in this part of the world Travel Maths!

00:05:49: For Australians if your already gone so far You may as well keep going Or add more in.

00:05:54: So....We went from Chicago To Cancun which was amazing as well, because I'm a Virgin Australia member and we actually had points.

00:06:01: So our flights returned to the US with four hundred dollars in taxes for three of us...which is insane!

00:06:08: And probably we spent about two-hundred thousand points.

00:06:13: it's very reasonable.

00:06:14: maybe even less work that out again.

00:06:17: and then I was able to use our points to buy the flight on United from Cancun, New Mexico.

00:06:22: So what would it cost us?

00:06:23: Nine hundred or a thousand dollars cost us three hundred dollars in taxes.

00:06:27: so that's all three hundred ninety like amazing.

00:06:30: um...so we had six days in Mexico.

00:06:34: We did.

00:06:36: I wanted to record a podcast there but i've decided...I will do one in every country.

00:06:40: so Costa Rica would be bit funny because we're only there for day.

00:06:43: But, We are going back to Mexico on this trip!

00:06:45: So..i'll do little podcasts from here.

00:06:49: Usually , I'd do a big review one....but I still haven't done my review.

00:06:51: one from America last year.....so it's better if im doing the short one.

00:06:57: understand that the audio might not be as good but it's fun to show you what its really like, to live this leisure life.

00:07:02: So we had our underwater photo shoot in Mexico because thats something we did at our wedding.

00:07:08: so it was anniversary reunion which is amazing.

00:07:13: and then were looking from Cancun to Panama and flights for like crazy expensive.

00:07:18: only a two hour hour-and-a-half flight direct which would have been great and then to fly via Colombia, um...to have one stop it was gonna be like two hundred or three-hundred dollars each.

00:07:33: So just you know we're talking about two grand versus six hundred dollars.

00:07:36: so but the flight times were horrible!

00:07:40: We would've got in at like one a.m.. To Panama And I was like i don't want really arrived to a Latin American country At One A.M It's hard for all of us with little ones and two flights.

00:07:52: So we looked at a stopover, but then we would have basically got to Bogota.

00:07:56: Got in the hotel working up in the morning and gone again.

00:07:58: I was like well if you're going on that way And it's actually funny because my husband hates spending money He likes being in place he doesn't like traveling too early and didn't like spending money.

00:08:07: so But he said Well If were going through there We may aswell stay here.

00:08:13: There is a stop over program with Avianca.

00:08:16: Unfortunately our flight wasn't showing us an available option.

00:08:20: I tried contacting Avianca directly but they're a little bit difficult to contact.

00:08:23: They don't really have an office in Australia.

00:08:25: so i reached out to my travel agent, a wonderful Brisbane Travel Centre, Tanya at Brisbane Travel Center and we booked the flight from via Columbia where you just had to sort of pay for the stopover.

00:08:41: So all up it was five hundred dollars each But we got to have a whole new country as opposed.

00:08:47: Yeah, so you're kind of like.

00:08:48: well we probably spent more Emma because she's been a hotel and he went out on that stuff.

00:08:51: And it's like if I travel now You know when were already here.

00:08:55: why not do it?

00:08:58: It was my husband idea So Awesome to book the flights through a travel agent for us when its little bit more complicated To make sure get the times in the flight that your want.

00:09:07: Then i reached up with my beautiful friend Carolina who is from Columbia said Do have any tips where should be stay Like what areas are good?

00:09:15: And she said, let me ask my parents because they live there.

00:09:17: She visits but she hasn't lived here for a long time.

00:09:19: She's living in Sydney.

00:09:20: we met through our wonderful business network Business Chicks and she has just become an amazing friend.

00:09:25: helped her work some freight, she helped me ship my books to the USA... She is incredible!

00:09:31: But it was beautiful heart.

00:09:33: Let me talk with my parents and she comes back.

00:09:35: okay so this area you're looking at good hotel.

00:09:39: We stayed in Usukuen or Yusukeuen This very cosmopolitan ex-part international area but also like got the Antigua, typical kind of structures and style that make you see what Columbia really looks like.

00:09:56: Because the city Bogota is quite modern in many ways so all hotels were looking at it looked very modern which was good comfort.

00:10:05: I want to see Colombia.

00:10:06: we only had two days anyway.

00:10:09: she goes okay.

00:10:09: So the air is good.

00:10:11: And now my parents they're going to pick you up from the airport and take you to your hotel.

00:10:15: They are gonna take you around on a day that you have here, And then go in and pick you back at their hotel.

00:10:21: I just wanted to cry!

00:10:22: Oh my god this is that hospitality paying it forward and that travel karma i love.

00:10:31: It's why i've been able to travel so much because i know someone and I get invited, or they say well welcome.

00:10:40: You know i've stayed in Bahrain In my Indian friend's house.

00:10:43: I stayed in Brunei when my friends were living there for a while.

00:10:47: I have stayed at home in Nepal Jakarta Indonesia England Scotland Just...I mean..I probably stay at homes more countries than I haven't so I just feel so blessed.

00:11:04: So we didn't stay in the home this time because they live a little outside, and then came to the city stayed at their son's house which is very near.

00:11:10: our hotel picked us up.

00:11:14: They don't really speak English Which was fine?

00:11:16: So i speak Spanish.

00:11:17: but obviously one of other things that I realised...so im gonna share few lessons on what I learned while Im here!

00:11:23: I'm so tired..I am so tired in Mexico and I guess we had big weeks in America.

00:11:29: We did book launch.

00:11:31: I'm so tired and then i realized when I landed here, oh my gosh.

00:11:34: My brain is working double time!

00:11:36: I am thinking in Spanish...I am speaking in spanish..i'm thinking English and spanish all at once And it's a really beautiful thing like that.... I can do

00:11:44: it!!

00:11:44: I've been speaking spanish since I lived in Mexico in two thousand nine and I learned Spanish while studying the university there.

00:11:51: The fact that I remember it so well The fact than I practiced over these years.

00:11:55: but like I don't speak regularly So its an effort I have to work different muscles in my mouth because you know, they pronounce words differently.

00:12:06: Erre is difficult!

00:12:10: But yeah first thing i'm thinking and the thinking myself...and i am thinking in Spanish which is an amazing level to get too but it's tiring.

00:12:19: So yeah, I was like oh my gosh.

00:12:20: I'm so tired and so i am the translator here And I think Finn reacts a little bit differently when im speaking Spanish.

00:12:27: If he finds it strange...I really don't look or seem like myself But he also wants me attention..and Im trying to listen and speak Then im trying to tell each other what they're saying.

00:12:39: It's a big job.

00:12:41: So hands off.

00:12:42: to anyone who is bilingual Who is a translator who interprets It's a big job.

00:12:50: So, I was tired but it is also amazing to be able communicate and share this experience with them.

00:13:00: As my friend Kirsten Pils says you have the beginner mindset like meditation or travel.

00:13:06: You act as a beginner everything new And i love doing that.

00:13:11: But um...it would've been good To know in Bogota The altitude is very high so there is possibility of altitude sickness.

00:13:21: Probably would have been good to do a little bit of research about how many people live here, I totally just was like where's the sea?

00:13:27: Like how far away from the ocean are we?

00:13:29: and Matt's like am i even I know?

00:13:31: Bogota has very central.

00:13:34: it would take ten hours to get to the beach.

00:13:38: So my husband looking for me he's looking at getting on the plane but I wrapped this up.

00:13:43: so yeah probably look good.

00:13:48: totally forgot that.

00:13:49: Colombia's in South America, which is just not good and a bad...a bad travel person.

00:13:56: I think because we're going to be in Central America so much or because we were in Mexico Which is North America And I wasn't picturing the area Because of flight went by here.

00:14:04: You would think it was on its way But no!

00:14:06: We went from Mexico down to South America.

00:14:09: So From North America, Mexico South America Columbia Up To Panama Central America.

00:14:18: So it's, you know.

00:14:19: You can understand why I thought that.

00:14:23: but also like look at a map.

00:14:25: and also Columbia is the entrance to South America.

00:14:28: so It was very cool to have Matt and Finn go on your continent Very cool to be in this part of the world.

00:14:33: But yeah just look at them out.

00:14:37: That would be good idea.

00:14:40: Any other things i wish i knew?

00:14:41: Maybe look up the currency.

00:14:42: The currencies are really high.

00:14:45: We had dinner with sixty dollars, one hundred and sixty thousand.

00:14:48: So like it's in the thousands, so its kinda hard to get your head around how much things are.

00:14:51: I'm just using currency exchange app and being very lazy.

00:14:55: Um...I am finding amazing this time at Amusing Chat to be Teethread To check my Spanish.

00:15:00: sometimes If there is something that i want to say differently or not understanding thats been really helpful Because I can read and pronounce Spanish.

00:15:10: Its a good little checker And help.

00:15:14: So that's been really helpful to have this time.

00:15:16: If you go to Google Translate, it is just a bit more clunky and takes longer.

00:15:19: so having thread was really helpful.

00:15:24: What else?

00:15:25: Yeah!

00:15:26: Just bring probiotics.

00:15:27: We forgot our probiotic.

00:15:28: I usually have Supriam which for my stomach as well And...I would just bring altitude medicine if i were coming again.

00:15:36: Totally had no idea so how high it was.

00:15:39: I didn't look into anything to see, i was just really happy to be led and happy to enjoy the company of my friend's parents...to enjoy some food!

00:15:47: So we had some empanadas ,we had a steak which is awesome, try some like the fresh fruits and things like that..so obviously there's so much more to see in Colombia.

00:15:56: this was just a taster.

00:15:57: ...this was just stopover.

00:15:58: ..so um very glad that we can say we've been here but i know will be back and we'll be back with.

00:16:06: It's nice to have family here now.

00:16:08: And I did pry my eyes out this morning, that was just because how kind and generous they were.

00:16:17: How Carolina wrote you know This is My new family Has not gotten met by a family So she's calling us family You know?

00:16:29: I live in Sydney.

00:16:29: She lives on the Gold Coast but we catch up when we can.

00:16:35: And then she introduced me to her family and welcomed us like that.

00:16:40: Like, I just think be open to generosity and kindness like that... ...and of course we are very happy to welcome them into the Gold Coast….

00:16:49: …and host them when they come!

00:16:51: And i know they'll come again but a blowed away.. ..and also felt really emotional because I now how Caroline is feeling seeing us here, very happy for us but also she misses her parents.

00:17:04: and I said to her is there anything you want me to get from Columbia?

00:17:07: Do you wanna bring anything home for

00:17:08: you?".

00:17:08: And she said yes my parents.

00:17:11: And i was like oh...I read that out to her mum and it was getting choked up because I understand the feeling of being so far.

00:17:19: It's SO FAR!

00:17:20: Colombia to Australia is SO

00:17:22: FAR!!

00:17:22: And its VERY expensive.

00:17:24: um..to travel.

00:17:26: It's difficult, but they're a very close family even with the distance and I'm really glad to now be included And we've had this experience.

00:17:33: So I'm just watching my gate.

00:17:35: I better go get on the plane so it don't miss the trip to Panama But I will do a podcast from Panama.

00:17:40: I'd love to have your questions.

00:17:41: if you have any questions about doing this trip About how we're doing multi-country multi continent Travel as a family Any tips?

00:17:50: You want I will do a longer more detail then to blog about this as well.

00:17:53: So, i'm trying get back into the blogging and share information.

00:17:56: that's helpful.

00:17:57: so yeah but top tip look at our map know your geography check altitudes because it really affects you!

00:18:07: Hasta luego de Colombia.

00:18:09: so goodbye from Colombia.

00:18:11: see later next time.

00:18:14: bienvenido gracias por tu atención and I might do a little bit more Spanish for you on another podcast.

00:18:21: All right, thanks for listening!

00:18:23: And i'll see ya next time.

00:18:24: this has been...I'm Emma Lovell.

00:18:26: This is the Emma Lovella Show and I'm living my pleasure life but hope you like too Want to stay connected?

00:18:51: Come and join the Live or Life in Love group on Facebook.

00:18:54: Or connect with me on Instagram, mllovell.au.

00:18:57: The same as my website but all of your details are in this show notes.

00:19:00: Lovely!

00:19:01: I'll see you next episode for more inspiration motivation and freedom.

00:19:05: speaking now go out there.

00:19:08: live a life here well.