Why I Feel Safe in Colombia

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Many people question the safety of living in Colombia, but Andrew's experience tells a different story. Having spent several weeks to months each year in his home in Bogota for over a decade, he can share why he feels safe living there. In this video, we delve into his personal experiences, examine some key statistics, and address common misconceptions about Colombia’s safety.

00:00 Start
00:23 Personal Experiences in Bogota
3:39 Weather and Safety Preferences
5:52 Statistics on Safety and Comparison with Other Countries
7:20 Responding to Comments
11:27 High-Profile Concerns and Experience of Others

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[freyagrayden]

I am a well travelled (65 countries) single woman. I stayed in Colombia and absolutely loved the country and people. I however, did not feel entirely safe there. It would not stop me going there again but it is one of only a handful of places I've been where my senses were on constant alert.

[cliftonpfleger]

As a retired Gringo (Foreigner) living in Colombia for over 5 years in and outside Bogota, I have not had any issues with other people, homeless people or other tourists.... And I have worked and lived in the UAE, UK, Europe, Asia and the USA. A happy man.

[COLOMBIAFRANK]

I have been living in La Candelaria, Bogota since 2015. I drive all around the country, I take public transportation everywhere and I also film with expensive equipment and I also use my phone on the street. This is my personal experience, but I never had one single issue.
We will start publishing videos in July again and I will also publish a video about safety in Colombia (not only Bogota).
cheers
frank

[FinancialFreedomLifestyle]

Been travelling to Colombia for 10 years now and never had a problem. Of Course, just like most big cities you have to be smart and not be too flashy, but the same thing is to be said in many cities in the US and Canada now as well as London.

[donnapartow]

Bogota is one of my favorite cities in the world...and I've been to hundreds in 40 countries on 6 continents. It is so beautiful and the people are incredibly kind. "Don't dangle a papaya!"

[tiomoidofangle]

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity." I like that.

[funu]

Having visited since 1990s, lived there since 2010s and married to Colombiana, Let me simplify. It is a class system with zones of safe and unsafe within city. The wealthy have security, servants, private schools, private doctors, delivery, and stay in safe zones. The middle class are DIY on social healthcare system, and are both in safe and unsafe zones. The vast majority, the poor, live day to day to survive, high crime, and stay in unsafe zones and barrios. My middle class degreed wife experienced lots of theft and physical assault using public areas during day before we met. She always warned not to look rich or show expensive electronics or jewelry in unsafe zones (public areas). The constant lying and cheating of some was tiresome. Never could let your guard down. To escape crime, we had to buy a home in upscale bubble safe zone and primarily stay in that area until her death. Gates and window bars on ground floor. There were a few attempted break-ins while we traveled. We did not have cameras, security or servants. I always carried weapons in public. I have not visited Colombia since her death in 2017. It is safer and more expensive today than 1990s for sure. My experience was there were cheaper and safer areas overall than Bogota in Colombia and the world. Every country has bad areas some more, some less.

[davidlea-smith]

I have been almost everywhere in the world including Syria (before the civil war) and Colombia, and the city I felt most unsafe in was central Washington D.C (suburbs are not too bad). Have not been to San Fransisco and these days have no desire to. Thanks for educating people about the world.

[theprogen]

I have a buddy living in bogota right now. His only complaint is that they are doing rolling water shut offs every ten days. So every ten days you will have no water for 24 hours. Other wise he feels safe, but he doesn’t drink, occasionally goes dancing and not getting any hookers, lol. He has been on dates with one or two women who have him weird vibes, but nothing other than that. He’s also built a great social circle in a couple months of being there.

[sanexpreso]

The perception that foreigners have of Colombia is based on Netflix series, I have seen more foreigners obsessed with Escobar, Colombians no longer care, there are more cities to go to, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Ibagué, Armenia which in 1999 suffered an earthquake that completely devastated it and now it has recovered are undervalued destinations

[dutchgirl]

We lived in Colombia for 5 months and the population is so motivated on moving in the right direction that they are all on the same page.

[azdbuk]

Never been robbed in Central Am, MX, China, US, UK, but was robbed in Mongolia at an outdoor swap n shop. Ironic thing is the Mongolians are some of the sweetest people I have met anywhere, MX close second.

[BarfieldFinancial]

I worked for the federal government for over 20 years and spent about 15 of those in Colombia. All over the country--nice parts and the....not-so-nice parts. This video is a very good, balanced and accurate depiction of what Bogotá is today. I LOVE the city. To me, it is far better than a city like Chicago, or someplace like that. The good far overrides the bad in Bogotá. By a long shot! Unlike so many cities in the world, Bogotá is getting BETTER. You can't say that in many places in the U.S.

[camilospataro]

Rule #1: No dar papaya
Rule # 2: Be distrustful of strangers talking to you in the street, even if their apperance looks harmless (if you're going to interact, keep some distance)
Rule #3: Dont go to places you shouldnt go, especially at night.
Otherwise, you're fine, just ask the locals about the dos and donts
This advice is valid for everywhere in public, although the nicer the neigbourhood the less you have to worry about it.
I'll elaborate a bit with what I've learned living here my whole life, it might be interesting for some of you:
Thugs, or the people who would mugg you, live in a different reality than most watching this video. They are incredibly streetwise and are atuned to things we are not. Their world paradigm is very survival-centric, which means they think in terms of prey and predator (literally). This means that they are sensitive to particular behaviours that would indicate someone would be an easy prey with minimal risk to themselves (they are very risk averse ironically). Their sense of morality works somehow like - if you gave me a reason to mugg you then its youre own fault, not mine.
Practically, this boils down to walking down a street with body language that is too distracted, not aware of the surroundings, showing an item of value, lost, etc... If you walk with purpose and are generally aware of whats going on around you, you reduce the probability of catching their attention significantly. If anyone wierd talks to you, don't be overly friendly or hostile - be quick, direct, to the point, and get on with it. Don't show fear. In fact, ignore if you can, dont engage/open a communication channel in the first place. Now, if a thuggish looking person asks you for the time... hahah game over its very likely that youre about to get mugged, thats like their move.

If youre going to get mugged, just comply, dont make a scene, give them youre phone or watch (which is what they usually ask), and even if this sounds horrible, try to be friendly about it. Its better than getting stabbed. This is incredibly rare though, you have to be hanging out somewhere you shouldnt be hanging out in the first place and then making a scene.
Hope this was interesting!

[xrunner]

My first trip to Bogota was completely by chance. I was on a business trip for my government employer to another country and a coworker tasked to Bogota got sick and I had to take over. I loved the place. It was nothing what the old timers said. I later was told that they made a mistake sending me because too many young people realize that their are other options. I am going to check it out more and might move. I saw a nascent tech scene and see some opportunity.
I live in Baltimore and I can say I felt safer in Afghanistan.

[jancovanderwesthuizen]

A lot of this transfers well to South Africa.

People worry about the murder rate being something like 30/100, 000 but I always say there are basically no areas where it actually is 30/100, 000k. There are nice, wealthy areas where it’s probably <1/100, 000 and then there are townships and squatter camps where it’s probably >50/100, 000 but I would never set foot in those townships let alone live there. I like what he said at the end, “I know I can build a safe life anywhere”

[Trazynn]

I live in the Netherlands adjacent to a bad neighbourhood and there's sirens and police helicopters zooming over my house on the daily.

[Kenny-Ross]

I been talking about this with one of my buddies over the last week. Safety in Georgia vs Colombia. I tell him, yes, there are certain parts of Colombia that may dangerous to be in but I'm not in those areas and have no reason to be. I've spent a lot of time in Colombia and never once did I feel uncomfortable in any city I was in except for Barranquilla. From certain parts I saw in Barranquilla. But I was only there for 3 days. But besides that, I've been all over Colombia. From the northern coast (Cartagena to Santa Marta, Rioacha, Cabo de la Vela) to Medellín to Bogotá to Bucaramanga to Cali and Popayan in the south and have always felt safe. Use your common sense wherever you go. Ironic but the third week of being here in Tbilisi I was assaulted while going down the escalator at one of the metro stations. And Georgia is considered one of the safest countries in the world. It shocked the heck out of me that that happened. Never would have thought that would happen here.

[wildcsgotactics]

I lived in the wealthy part of Bogota for a month and felt super safe. However the day I left someone got shot dead a few meters away from where I always had my coffee.