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I just arrived to Medellin and did not anticipate that no one would speak any english at all. (I’m used to Asia where everyone knows the basics)
I need a SIM card, I found a place at the mall where they sell them, but it’s not a simple transaction and I don’t speak Spanish.
Any thoughts appreciated.
This might help giving some context: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Colombia
Btw. google translate creates pretty meaningful short sentences / expressions in Spanish. Ask them to write their reply to Google translate 
This is actually very easy if you know what to do. Almost any cell phone case store will sell SIM cards for < $5. Just say “SIM card” and point to the side of your phone. If they say “no”, say “donde es?”. Usually there will be another shop nearby.
I’ve bought them in Medellín at a cell phone store on Calle 10 just West of Parque Poblado and in the basement of the mall – there’s a cell phone repair place in the parking garage next to the escalators.
After you get a SIM, you’ll need to put minutes on it. Go to any GANA window in the city. They’re all over the place. Say “recargo” and show them your phone number. She will give you options for what you want to add. Just do something like “3 GB” and point to it. Don’t just put $$ into your account here because you won’t have the app or data needed to apply it to your data or minutes. Get actual data. Should be like 30 mil pesos. ($10)
If you’re staying longer, go to TIGO in the mall but take your passport. They will give you an official SIM (the others are actually black market), but it has to be registered to your name.
In both cases, once you have a SIM, you can take your phone to any TIGO store and use the self-serve kiosk to put money into your TIGO account. Then you can use your balance on the TIGO Shop mobile app to buy more minutes or more data. I usually put $50mil in if I’m by the mall and see the balance is low just in case.
Ok, after typing that out, I realized it’s not so easy. But I pulled it off effortlessly when within the first hour or two of landing in Medellín the first time I visited. It sounds harder than it is. Hope that helps!
I've heard travel to CO from USA is blocked until September. Any news on this and may this change anytime soon?
Hi! I want to relocate to Spain and I was wondering if someone can recommend a SIM card with a good data package.
Thanks
Hello everyone,
I will come to live in Colombia for one year.
What is the best solution with the Visa?
I thought to have a Visa for tourists for 3 months and renewal the visa for 6 months. Is that hard to renewal a tourist Visa in Colombia?
Thank you for your help.
Best,
Julien
Hi there!
I’m looking for international sim card services. I looked for other posts, and I know there are other alternatives, but I’m interested to have an international sim-card with only data plan, just to be used while I get a local one.
Alternatives:
¿Any experience using any of these services?
thnx!
Over the next few weeks I’m visiting:
I am British and was assuming I would use my giff gaff sim as that has free EU roaming.
But I have been in Mexico for six weeks and giff gaff emailed and said if I didn’t use my sim in the UK soon they would start charging their normal expensive roaming rates.
So… Can anyone recommend a pre-pay data only sim/package I can use in all of these countries? Ideally which I can pick up in Prague?
I’m looking to spend 1-3 months in Alicante or Valencia this fall and would like to take a Spanish class there.
Hi All! I’ve heard Spark and Vodafone are the best. I plan to move around, so I care mostly about having good coverage, and all I’ll need is around 1 GB of data or so.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
I live in Budapest but have started traveling around a lot through Central/Eastern Europe as a nomad, but I need a local SIM to work-does anyone have any suggestions/advice for the best SIM for Romania? Preferably with lots of data and the option to tether?
Admin note: post edited to confirm with community guidelines.
I am trying to figure out three things. An average of how much data everyone uses per month, a low end of how little data is used, and a high end of how much data can be used? I am not interested in your methods of acquiring data. I am just interested in how much you use as a whole. This includes both work data usage and your personal data usage.
Going on 3-6 month #vanlife trip throughout the USA and Canada, and setting up my data connectivity to be able to work on the road. Without going into depth (unless you ask), I’m trying to figure out options for cell service as a US citizen in Canada, and looking for everyone’s input:
(1) Project Fi: any experience or feedback on how Fi works in Canada? I’ll be almost exclusively in British Columbia.
(2) US Carriers: any feedback on AT&T or Verizon?
Thanks, all!
I have a friend who is a UNAM graduate in Philology (I know, wow, a Renaissance Woman), who has been creating textual translations between Spanish, English and sometimes Russian for writers, poets and journalists in Mexico City. She is very good at what she does, and has a client base, and just recently gained a client in the US. I want her to be able to take advantage of digital means to reach potential clients in the US and Canada, especially in regions where there are not a lot of Spanish speakers already present and active in this work locally. What are some good resources to find these sorts of opportunities? Yes, we’ve beaten the proverbial bush to find Indeed listings, Craigslist (so sad what has happened to CL lately), and LinkedIn, as well as Upwork.com and Freelancer.com. We found mostly bupkiss. Any tips/hints/admonitions? Thanks in advance! 
Hey all,
I am planning to move over to South America next year, and in preparation I want to start learning Spanish.
I have started working with Duolingo, but would love to hear some advice from others in the community as to resources (apps, podcasts etc) that will help with this? Does anyone else have any suggestion as to what worked for you?
I am under no illusion that an app or podcast will probably not make me speak the language particularly well, but it will at least place me in a better position than if I made no effort to learn the language.
Once I am between native speakers and have more opportunity to practice I am sure I will improve a lot, but for now I am looking into getting a bit of a jumpstart.
Thanks 
I heard from an American friend that he has several cards similar to the APEC Business Travel Card (link to Wikipedia ) that allow him to get priority treatment at immigration line in certain countries.
I was very intrigued and quickly checked up on the card, but it seems to be only available to citizens of APEC-member nations.
I was wondering if anyone here uses such cards, what your experiences with them are (specifically, I’m interested in cards available for Europeans/Germans).
I know that when you become a digital nomad you have to become somehow a minimalist. But if luggage space and weight were not problems. I would like to know what items would you miss traveling with. I certainly would carry. A guitar, a set of good knives, a pair of Hiking shoes, (they are sooo bulky), a good camping tent.
What about you?
Hey guys!
We love Mexico. We’re excited to find outstanding towns to live in for 2-12 months at a time. We’re also open to Central American gems.
We especially appreciate learning about those smaller towns that are lesser known but amazing. Personal favorites!
Here are some of our interests:
Here are lesser-discussed towns that caught our eye — we’d love impressions of these and more that come to mind:
Thanks so much, guys!
I use a mobile internet stick that gives me 1 gigabyte of bandwidth in a 24-hour period. If I use it all up in half that time (easy with print jobs) I have to either wait it out or use another stick. What are some of the things I can do to keep bandwidth from being used without my knowledge? (macbook pro / Yosemite) I looked in the activity monitor and safari seemed to be using a lot so I keep it off now when I’m not using it, and I paused synching on dropbox and creative cloud until I’m hooked up to wifi. Any other tricks?
What’s up nomads!
What do you use to get internet for work when you travel? I’m trying to figure out the best option to get internet when I’m traveling. For now mostly in Europe and mostly for conference calls with screen sharing. I’m willing to spend $200-300 per month.
I need to:
My US carrier is Sprint Wireless. I have unlimited data, which I can enable globally at no extra charge but it’s supposedly 3G, but doesn’t really work. Sprint also has a plan called Sprint Global Roaming, which offers high speed internet, but it’s $30 per 1GB which can add up to $500-$600 per month given my usage.
I’m not always close to WiFi or Co-Working spaces. I’m looking for a solution that would basically allow me to get on a Google Hangout or GoToMeeting call on my laptop from my car.
Any experience with gadgets like SkyRoam or similar ones from Verizon or AT&T? How good and reliable are those?
Any ideas? What do you use?
Thanks,
Alex
Hi everyone. I am new on this forum and will post in the introductory thread when I have some more time. My question is:
What’s the best mobile-data option in Brazil for nomads?
background info to the question: I bought a vevo (vivo?) sim the other day and charged up around $7US on recharge.com. it seems now that I can only send text messages but cannot call other people or get internet. I will be in brazil for min 5 weeks max 3 months. sorry if I’ve posted this in the wrong section.
I’m planning a visit to Chiang Mai and Bali starting in April. I have a Google Nexus which has worked flawlessly in Mexico at least. Assuming it will work just as well in CM and Bali? If I decide not to work in a coworking space, but rather Airbnb w/wifi and/or Coffee shops wifi, would a dedicated 4g sim card device be worth spening $75 USD to purchase, plus local sim, plus potential SIM hassle, or just rely on Nexus hotspot + airbnb and coffee shop Wifi?
Hi,
I wondered how everybody deals with getting data on their phone in each country they travel. Is there a way around it? It is always such a pain having to buy and activate sim cards everywhere. I have tried the company “worldsim” and had an international sim for a while, but they where terrible and ended up to be super expensive.
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