Water Cooler — The Passport

🌊 Water Cooler

Ozzy G. · May 14, 2026 Pinned

Start Here — Say Hello, No Pressure

Welcome to the Water Cooler.This is the easiest place to jump into The Passport Community. You do not need to have a visa question, a tax problem, a relocation plan, or a perfectly organized life abroad to post here.Use this space for the small human stuff:What city are you...

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Ozzy G. · May 14, 2026 Pinned

How to Make This Space Useful for Everyone

The Water Cooler works best when posts are easy to answer.A few ideas that usually get good conversations going:Ask one specific question.Share one short experience.Mention the city or country if relevant.Tell people whether you are visiting, relocating, retiring, working...

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Francis · Jun 17, 2026

Shipping from the US Without an Address

Hello. Apologies if this is the wrong place in the forum. I would like to ship internationally forwarded from my virtual mailbox in the US to here in Bogota. Does anyone have any suggestions how I can pick it up here in Bogota like at a public place ex. FedEx or UPS location...

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Gus Fleener · May 21, 2026

Favorite/Best Restaurants in Bogota

I completely understand that these will be subjective evaluations & that tastes vary, but providing opinions & reviews could very well be helpful to others (& friendly might be somewhat entertaining).Here is my list, so far:My favorite restaurant is Veccina. They have 2...

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M Matt · May 15, 2026

Which one makes Colombia feel like home first?

35 votes View discussion →

Rachel Brennan · May 14, 2026

Anyone else completely lose track of what day it is?

Working from Bogotá on Pacific time clients and I genuinely had to check my phone twice this morning to confirm it was Wednesday. The remote-from-Colombia time-fog is real.

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Marcus Williamson · May 14, 2026

What’s your comfort food when you’re far from home?

Living or traveling abroad makes you adventurous with food… until one random Tuesday when all you want is the thing you grew up eating.Could be mac and cheese.Could be arroz con pollo.Could be a very specific sandwich from a very specific place that nobody else...

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Ryan MacDonald · May 14, 2026

What’s a small cultural habit you picked up without realizing it?

One of the funniest parts of living abroad is when you suddenly realize the country has changed you in tiny ways.Maybe you greet people differently now.Maybe you eat dinner later.Maybe you’ve become more patient with paperwork.Maybe you now think walking three blocks is...

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Tyler Jansen · May 14, 2026

What’s your current “I can’t believe this is normal here” moment?

Every country has those little daily-life surprises that locals don’t even notice anymore. What’s one thing that still makes you pause and think, “Wait… this is just normal here?”For me, it’s how much life happens through WhatsApp. Appointments, landlords, doctors,...

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Pierre Gagnon · May 14, 2026

What’s one tiny thing that made you feel at home abroad?

It’s funny how “feeling at home” abroad is not always one big dramatic moment.Sometimes it’s finding a bakery you actually like.Sometimes it’s recognizing the cashier at your local grocery store.Sometimes it’s realizing you no longer need Google Maps to get back home.For me,...

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Daniel Rojas · May 13, 2026

Spanish-learning small wins — drop yours

I work with foreigners every week and the small wins are my favorite to hear about. What's yours from this week?I'll start, from the other direction: I finally watched a full episode of Ted Lasso without subtitles. Took me three years.

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Karen Stevens · May 12, 2026

Movies/shows that helped you understand Colombia better

Not "Narcos" (we all watched it, we all have opinions, let's move past it).I just watched Encanto with my niece visiting and was genuinely surprised how much Colombian texture is in it — the houses, the food, the family dynamics. Anyone have other recommendations?...

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