Bogotá: Medi-Tourism and Vacation in the Midst of the Covid Pandemic

By Cameron Mostaghim

This book is an autobiographical account focusing on plastic surgery medi-tourism and travel in Bogota during the Covid pandemic that was part of a larger trip to Colombia in general. The book will be of interest to those interested in plastic surgery or medical services performed abroad at a comparatively lower cost to those in the United States. It also focuses on topics of usual interest to would-be travelers such as optimizing travel arrangements, recommendations, currency exchange and conversions, temporary telephone service, specific neighborhoods in Bogota, potential difficulties in pre-arranged transportation, alleged criminal schemes and personal safety, sightseeing in general, and possible tax refunds for substantial purchases abroad. In passing, it mentions the implications of travel during the Covid pandemic, which will be of interest during continued or possible future events of mandated medical testing as a prerequisite to travel in the midst of a declared public health emergency.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781737609803

Book preview

PREFACE

This e-book is intended to serve two purposes. First, it is intended to provide useful information on various topics of concern to those travelers who have considered or wanted to travel to the country of Colombia, and Bogotá in particular, for vacation or medi-tourism. Second, it is intended to provide some entertainment, in as much as leisure reading of an autobiographical account is able.

It is my hope that, rather than merely presenting information in a purely factual sense as one might encounter in a guide book, you might accompany me in my first non-fiction writing that is an abbreviated version of my travel and medical experience while in Bogotá, Colombia. To that end, the Table of Contents of this e-book identifies the main sections of this writing with subheadings that are intended to identify where, within this e-book, various topics of interest can be found. No page numbers accompany the subheadings as the topics referenced may be found in more than one section, but the subheading is intended to identify where that topic is discussed in the most depth. Although certain photos accompany this e-book, they are by no means a complete picture of my travel experience as it was not my intention to fully illustrate my experience with photos, but to simply use photos to highlight my experience and provide would be travelers with enough information to assist you in your own travels to Colombia while peaking your interests and curiosity for exploration. I hope you find the information in this e-book both informative, practical, and entertaining.

1. B ACKGROUND

It’s January 2021 and after having worked at my current job for over 15 months, it was time to plan a vacation so as to not forfeit accrued paid time off. Being 2021 and still in the midst of the government aggrandized Covid pandemic, I was forced to contemplate the soundness of an international trip or to simply travel somewhere local. Being in my mid-40s with only one international travel accolade to my credit, I set off to plan a vacation abroad and Colombia was the destination on my radar.

Perhaps the comical part, my interest in Colombia first started as a joke some eight years back in 2013 or so when I was seeking admission to the bar to become an attorney for the second time despite having passed the exam several years earlier in 2009. Although the basis as to why I was denied admission is too complex and involved for discussion here, for purposes of background information, suffice to say that I met someone online that lived in Colombia who taught English and, from what they said, they made a relatively good salary by American standards teaching English there. Hence, in the midst of that second bar admission process, I began joking that – if bar admissions did not work out – I might move to Colombia to avoid my student loans that would have no hope of ever being repaid and move to Medellin to perhaps teach English, though the joke was a bit more involved than that.

For me, my ideal vacation has always been a mix of some adventure or exploration followed by some relaxation. Anybody that knows me will attest that I love warm and clear ocean waters probably more than most. Naturally, that made the city of Cartagena a point of interest for the relaxation part of the trip. As it would come to pass, the adventure part of this vacation would be a medi-tourism excursion in Bogotá before turning to the relaxation part of the trip in Cartagena.

I first searched for direct flights to Cartagena and, at a cost of approximately $750, I discovered that a round trip flight to Bogotá, with a separate flight to Cartagena, could be booked at about half the cost as compared to a multi-leg flight to those cities. I booked my airline flight with a planned departure date of February 12, 2021 and planned to take advantage of the Presidents Day holiday weekend with a trip duration of just under two weeks. The plan, as it was, would be to fly into Bogotá, do some quick sightseeing for a few days and then travel to Cartagena for a week before returning stateside. Although my trip would in fact include Cartagena as part of my travels, for the dual purposes of brevity and highlighting my medi-tourism experience, this e-book is limited to my experience while in Bogotá.

Over the coming