We Came to Santiago for a Month. Everyone Asked Us “Why?”

We came to Santiago, Chile planning to spend an entire month — but several of the first people we met had the exact same reaction: “Why would you do that?” So what is it actually like to spend several weeks living in Santiago? In this video, we share our first-hand experience with the cost of living, safety, neighborhoods, weather, air quality, food, healthcare, public transportation, walkability, housing and more as we consider whether Santiago could work as one of our rotating retirement home bases. Our first impression wasn't great. Santiago was more expensive than we expected, our neighborhood wasn't the right fit for us, and for the first time during our South American travels, we weren't completely comfortable wandering around our neighborhood after dark. After our first week, we changed our travel plans to leave a week earlier than planned. But that's not the whole story. As we spent more time in Santiago, the city started to grow on us. We found excellent public transportation, good healthcare, a surprisingly diverse food scene, huge local markets and plenty to do both in the city and nearby. We also discovered that choosing the right Santiago neighborhood — such as Providencia or Bella Vista instead of Lastarria — could make a huge difference in the experience. We also compare some of our actual costs in Santiago with Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro, including what we paid for a month-long Airbnb and how much we spent on food. And Chile itself gave us plenty to like, from the Andes and local wineries to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso on the coast. This is our preliminary look at Santiago. In our next Santiago video, we'll put the city through our complete scoring system — weather, safety, healthcare, cost of living, transportation, food, housing, visas and overall vibe — to decide whether Santiago could actually become one of our rotating home bases if we did it differently next time, applying the lessons we learned. Finding My Retirement follows our journey through early retirement and full-time travel as we search the world for places where we might return year after year and live for several months at a time. If you're considering traveling, retiring, slow traveling or living in Santiago or elsewhere in Chile, we'd love to hear your experience in the comments. Did Santiago grow on you — or did you have the same reaction we did? 00:00 Why Are You Staying a Month in Santiago? 00:34 Santiago Weather & Air Pollution 03:37 Cost of Living: Santiago vs Buenos Aires 06:39 What We Actually Spent on Food 07:33 Did We Feel Safe in Santiago? 10:59 Why We Left Santiago Early 11:30 Healthcare in Santiago 12:42 Restaurants, Groceries & Food 17:17 Walkability & Public Transportation 19:08 Housing & Where to Stay 19:58 Chile Visa & Entry Requirements 21:14 Did Santiago Grow on Us? 22:49 Things to Do in Santiago 24:48 Day Trips, the Andes & Chilean Wine 27:21 Would We Give Santiago Another Chance?