“Why does everybody keep talking about Christmas lights?” we wondered.

It started almost as soon as we arrived in Medellín, Colombia and went to the Visitor’s Center to get a map. Google Maps is an invaluable directional tool, but Cynthia has always loved a full-sized paper map.

“How long are you going to be here?” the employee asked.

“Until December 10,” we said.

“Great! You must come to the river (the Medellín River runs through the middle of the city) to see the Christmas lights. They’re so beautiful!”

Gotta be honest—initially we didn’t share his enthusiasm. Cuenca also puts up a lot of lights along the Tomebamba River every year that are nice, but not remarkable.

It seemed like whenever we told someone our departure date, those darned Christmas lights would be mentioned again.

Finally, we went online to learn more. Turns out none other than National Geographic ranks the annual holiday lights...

You may think of Colombia as a dangerous country filled with violent drug cartels. Had we made a huge mistake coming to Medellín, former headquarters of cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar? That wasn’t our concern.

We were worried about the weather.

We knew October was part of the rainy season here. Cuenca supposedly has a rainy season too, but since nobody really seems to know when it is we hadn’t paid much attention.

Well…

It was raining heavily the evening we arrived. Our ride from the airport in horrible traffic took twice as long as it should have. In the days that followed “if” was not a question regarding precipitation. One was left to wonder only “how much” (buckets) and “for how long” (almost constantly).

Fortunately, the pattern shifted to rainfall during most nights, and as of this writing in early December the weather is absolutely glorious—sunny skies with high 70s during the day, mid-60s in the evening. And...

Showing up in a new foreign city for an extended stay we always wonder, “Will we like the food here?” Actually, Edd thinks about that the most.

Since several meals a day are going to be consumed over a period of months, it is a pretty important consideration.

The Colombian peso is currently taking a beating versus the USD, so we knew before our arrival in Medellín that prices were going to be low. A welcome relief after experiencing the runaway inflation taking place in the States.

Note:  When US$1 = 5000 pesos, transactions in this country involve a lot of zeros. For instance, a $500 monthly rent is 2.5 MILLION pesos! Believe it or not, once the shock value wears off, you get used to it.

“Cheap” doesn’t necessarily translate to “tasty,” though (looking at you, cardboard frozen pizza).

No country can match the abundance of food in the States. Would Medellín restaurants have a decent variety of different cuisines? What...

You’ve read our sunny, cheerful blog posts about us visiting cool places and having wonderful experiences. They’re all true, but as much as we travel, it’s inevitable that once in a while a horrible day sneaks in there.

Like our recent travel day from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Medellín, Colombia.

It didn’t start off that badly. Except we’re not in the habit of getting up at six in the morning. We’d arrived in Guayaquil the night before from Cuenca, enjoyed a good (although short) night’s sleep, and had an uneventful ride to the airport.

For some reason we couldn’t check in online for our flight the day before. When we arrived at the Avianca counter we found out why.

“Can I see your tickets for leaving Colombia?” the agent asked.

“They’re not booked yet. We haven’t finalized plans with our family to visit during Christmas.”

“You both have to show a ticket to board this flight.”

...

We were chatting with one of our daughter’s neighbors who we hadn’t seen in awhile.

She asked where we had been and where we were going next. When we told her she said, “Wow, I wish I was you. It must be great to have such freedom.”

We replied, “It is great. But we’ve had to give up a lot to do what we’re doing.”

Our answer surprised her. “Like what?” she asked.

We explained that after more than a decade living in a beautiful penthouse apartment in Ecuador, all our furnishings are now in storage there. While we keep some seasonal clothing at our kids’ homes, what we take from place to place are the contents of a roll-aboard and backpack each.

And as Edd told her, “You know that tonight you will be in your own bed in your own house. Well into the second year of this nomadic lifestyle, we realize that’s a luxury we hadn’t considered. It’s harder than you might think to constantly have to figure...