Roaming South America

Finding the Quiet: Why My Shortlist for a New Home Ignores the Coast

March 5, 2026

What is it about coastal towns that makes them pretty much always "messier"? I'm talking specifically about these countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Chile, and Uruguay. The vast majority of interior towns are almost always cleaner, friendlier, prettier, etc.

I'm not imagining it. This pattern shows up everywhere I've been, and that includes 7 countries and over 300 towns/cities (in South America), and it’s not a cultural coincidence. It’s geography, economics, and human behavior piling up in the same places.

Here’s the straight, unsentimental anatomy of why coastal towns skew messier, while interior towns often feel cleaner, calmer, and more human. The comparisons below are to be taken with a very general understanding.

Máncora, Perú - A Beach City for Beach Lovers, But Not Much Else

March 1, 2026

Máncora, Perú, is located on the north coast of Perú. It is considered a beach resort city, though it is a small city of about 45,000. The beach is quite nice, all clean sand for a long way along the coast. It's also a big fishing port. The town is loaded with seafood restaurants. They say this is an ideal surfing, watersports, and fishing area - the northern coast of Perú - due to the two major ocean currents - the Humboldt and the El Niño. According to Wikipedia, 51% of the population is foreign-born. Though during my visit, I came across no one who could speak English other than a couple of tourists from Sweden who were just passing through.
Reference: Wikipedia

Corrales, EC - A Small Piece of Coastal Unexcitement

February 25, 2026

Corrales, Perú, just a few kilometers south of Tumbes, which is 30 kilometers south of the border with Ecuador. I've visited Corrales once before, here's the blog. That blog has some of the history and my initial observations. The town hasn't changed in the last 3 years.

My South America Journey - A Brief Summary - Part 3

November 26, 2025

I’ve finally settled into Roldanillo, Colombia, where I’ll be for at least five months. Maybe longer, maybe not, residency is technically an option, but I doubt I’ll spend my days wrestling with immigration offices when I could be drinking coffee in the plaza. Besides, residency in Perú and Ecuador is easier than in Colombia. Before I get too comfortable, I want to rewind and share the trip that brought me here: a winding route through Peru, Ecuador, and into Colombia.

When “Adiós” Doesn’t Mean Goodbye

October 29, 2025

Today, as I walked down the street (here in Roldanillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia), an older woman stood in her doorway as she does every day. I walk this block almost every day as it is between where I live and downtown. She smiled, raised a hand, and said, ‘¡Adiós!’, same as she does every day. I waved, said, "buenas tardes," and then kept walking. This has happened in all seven countries I have visited in South America, not just once or twice, but consistently.