Venezuela
CAPITAL CITY: Caracas
POPULATION: 28,868,486
SIZE: 7th largest country in Latin America
DEMOGRAPHICS: 60% Mestizo and/or White, 23% Amerindian, 16% Black
AGE OF CONSENT: 16
CALLING CODE: +58
GDP PER CAPITA: $12,500 USD
LIFE EXPECTANCY: 74.31 years
DATING PROSPECTS: 6/10
QUALITY OF WOMEN: 8/10
EXPECT TO SPEND: $600-800 USD/Month
MY LATIN LIFE RANKING: #14
You may have seen some crazy shit on the Internet recently about Venezuela.
Mass protests, moves by President Maduro to rewrite the constitution and, of course, the perpetual food and medical shortages, crime waves and violence.
So, how did all this happen to a country that was once among the richest in Latin America?
Visas are a pain in the ass.
Fees, restrictions and local bureaucracy can make planning a headache. If you're not prepared, you may end up paying more than you have to, find yourself in trouble with local authorities or even being barred from the country.
The good news is that Latin America isn't as harsh as some regions when it comes to allowing Americans to stay for extended periods of time.
That being said, there are many nuances that you MUST be aware of being heading south, especially if your plan is to stay longterm.
What originally drove me to live in Latin America wasn't the sex, sun and salsa. Rather, it was a fascination with the politics, culture and society in this part of the world.
My interest started in university with a socioeconomics course. Insufferable Marxist indoctrination aside, it was an engaging class and responsible for igniting my enthusiasm for Latin America. I probably never would have bothered to take the jump to live in LATAM if I hadn't taken the class.
Credit where credit's due.
It's July of 2017.
Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets to protest President Maduro's increasingly oppressive rule and general incompetence. Mass inflation, food shortages and violent crime have seen the leader's approval rating plummet to about 20%.
Clearly, most Venezuelans think it's time for a regime change.
But how is it that - in a country that has been suffering so long, with many angry, gun-owning citizens - Maduro is able to hold on to power?
If you spend enough time in Latin America, you're going to meet a lot of Venezuelan girls.
Because the country has basically been a no-go zone for travellers the past 10 years, relatively little has been written about this topic.
Here are my observations.
When it comes to online dating in LATAM, there really aren't too many options.
Essentially, there are only two well-known options: Tinder and the Cupid sites.
I’ll talk about the latter - here is my in-depth Latin American Cupid review!
Before Venezuela dissolved into complete chaos, Merida struck me as a city where I'd like to live one day. You might think that it was the beautiful women and vibrant nightlife, but what actually seduced me was that, in a strange way, it reminded me of my hometown.
Although I was raised 6,500 km away, in a country and culture vastly different from that of Venezuela's, arriving in this city cradled by mountains gave me an incredible sense of nostalgia for where I grew up. Only this time, it was the Andes mountain range instead of the Coast and Cascade Mountain Ranges.
But enough about me.
Let's talk about the city.
I've compiled a list of what I believe to be the best cities for a tourist to visit in Latin America. The list is based on the criteria outlined on my cities guides, so you'll want to click on the link to the city to get a thoroughgoing breakdown on the destination to find out why it ranked the way it did.
I rank each city based on the following:
I'm quite a big fan of lists.
For your pleasure, I've gone and made a list, by city, of the best places to hook-up in South America (read: Latin America, but 'South America' gets more hits in Google).
Please don't take this as gospel - everyone's experience will be different. Whereas I might do better in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, you might do better in Brazil and Mexico. Someone else might do better in Chile and Argentina (although, it's difficult to imagine).
Hello, ladies and gentlemen!
Today, I'll be talking about some worthwhile Instagram accounts to follow from Venezuela, more specifically, Caracas.
Why Venezuela?
Well, it's a place...