About me

I'm Gianluca Orlandi: I lived in Colombia for over six years, between Bogotá and Medellín. Here's who writes the colombia.io guides and how I work on them.

Gianluca Orlandi, author of colombia.io, by the sea wearing a hat and Colombia national team shorts

When I told friends and family I was going to live in Colombia, the reaction was almost always the same: are you sure? Isn’t it dangerous? In the end I stayed for more than six years.

My name is Gianluca Orlandi and I first arrived in Bogotá in September 2015. I went back several times, for about a year and a half in total, before moving for good to Medellín, the city of eternal spring, where I lived for almost five years. All in all I spent over six years in Colombia, between 2015 and February 2023.

I explored Colombia, but I also lived there: in a country so different from my own and so fascinating, dealing with lease renewals, haggling over taxi fares, Bogotá’s breath-taking altitude, the rainy season and the festivos that move public holidays to Mondays.

What you’ll find on this site

On this site I want to tell the story of Colombia my way, with practical information for planning an independent trip:

  • Destinations: guides to cities and regions, with what to see, how to get there, where to stay and what it costs.
  • Plan your trip: entry requirements, safety, transport, money, SIM cards and insurance.
  • Food: the dishes and drinks to try, region by region.

How I work on the guides

  • Official sources for practical facts. Entry rules, opening hours, park closures and fees change often: I check them against the websites of Colombian authorities (Migración Colombia, Parques Nacionales, Cancillería) and government travel advice, and each guide shows when it was last updated.
  • Regular updates. I review the guides periodically and whenever an important rule changes.
  • Transparency. Some links on the site are affiliate links and the site may show ads: they are always labelled, and you’ll find all the details in the affiliate disclosure.

My story

I’ve been living and working on the move since 2013; my story was featured by the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore among people who changed their lives. If you’d like to read the full story, it’s on my personal website (in Italian).

Get in touch

If you have a specific question that the site doesn’t answer, you can write to me at gianluca@colombia.io: I try to reply to everyone within a few days. You’ll also find me on Facebook and Instagram.

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