My Journey to Cartagena
Hola!
My name is Adam McConnaughhay.
I first came to Colombia as a volunteer teacher in 2011 with WorldTeach. I was placed in the tiny town of Santa Ana on the island of Barú, about an hour south of Cartagena and near what was at the time a lovely stretch of unspoiled beach known as Playa Blanca.
Like Colombia’s travel pitch says, the only risk is wanting to stay, and, well, stay I did.
After that initial year, I got a job in the city, then another job and another job where I got some promotions and spent a long time working as a history teacher and then led the implementation of the IB Diploma Programme at the Colegio Británico de Cartagena.
During that time, I met my lovely wife Susana, and we got married in Cartagena in 2016. She translates some of the writing on the site into Spanish and is also a wonderful elementary school teacher. I have loved traveling all over Colombia and even a few other places in the world with her. She’s also a much prettier model for photos!
I started Cartagena Explorer in mid-2018 as a side project for writing and sharing my experiences in Cartagena and Colombia. I hope you will find it to be a useful resource whether you’re planning just a short trip to Cartagena, planning a larger trip to multiple places in Colombia, or, like me, decide you want to live in this fascinating place for a while too.
Susana and I made the decision to move semi-permanently to the US in my hometown of Columbia (yes you read that right), South Carolina (do check out my other site South Carolina Explorer by the way!). However, Cartagena and Colombia will always have a special place in my heart, and I know we will be returning for frequent visits.
I will also keep this site updated and strive to always make it the most informative guide to Cartagena online!
With the advent of AI, I see more and more poor quality information about Cartagena, Colombia, and just on the internet generally. So I really appreciate you taking the time to read the content I produce. Everything on this site was written by me or Susana and based on our experience. I also try to give advice that I myself would want and follow. So please do share this site with friends and family who may also be interested in visiting
I’d also love for you to sign up to my mailing list where I share with you some of my top tips in a series of emails as well as occasional updates as well as give you a free planning checklist.
If you have any issues, comments, suggestions, or requests for content on the site please don’t hesitate to contact me here.
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