You are very welcome, it is always nice to see people commenting and getting inspired by my random ramblings on this blog.
The switch to Santiago was for several different reason, the killer for me was the rising Startup community that is forming in Santiago right now. You can read more about the switch in my post here: Adios Peru – Hola Chile!.

I cannot say what would be best for you, in your situation. At the moment it is worth watching the politics in Peru, as it can go all wrong with the upcoming election. (Both candidates are terrible, and looking at the history of both of them, it is not looking good for Peru)

I honestly can´t suggest you anything outside of Lima. As a city, I would not want to live too far from the good districts (Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja, Surco, etc) as you get much higher crime rates. Ofcourse if your mission is to help the poor people, it might be to your advantage; however I would suggest you to be careful. A word of advise is to never trust a 100% in anyone, doesnt matter if they are poor or rich. It counts in most of the world, but especially in Peru; I have seen many things in that country, and (again, no offense) most of the Peruvians are in general dishonest. (They even say so them selves, and always advise you never to trust anyone)

I’m not going to say much about your site – but keep working on it, practice makes expert. Read around on the internet and if you are not too technical, get someone to set you up with a WordPress – it can also be used as a CMS, and you can find many awesome themes (designs) for free.

Best of luck!
- Christian

I was excited to get your reply. So you moved to Santiago…hope your getting settled in. Why the switch? We were also thinking of Santiago Chile but keep coming back to the Peru option. We are coming with our two young daughters (1 & 2) to do missions. I work for a non-for-profit here in the states that has relationship with an agency working in Peru. Can you suggest any areas right outside of Lima that would be good for a family? My husband and I are professionals (him business/marketing, myself social work / program development) but want to branch out and serve and raise kids internationally. We have launched a website if you ever had a chance to give us feedback (I seen that you are in the website biz We have a long learning curve in front of us but are loving it! The basic structure is there but we are just getting started with items (50/50). We want to sell resale and t-shirts to help raise support for our causes and personal mission expences (although will keep job and work from abroad). Anyway, sorry for all the blabbing. Thanks again for any info on suggested areas and would love to hear about causes you support or are interested in.

kim
http://www.sbeautiful.org
don’t laugh at my site

@Kim:
I’m glad to hear you like my blog; however I don’t know how much I will be blogging about “living in Peru” in the future, as I recently moved to Santiago de Chile.

@F. Cullin:
Thank you; during my time I lived twice in Miraflores, and for about 6 months in Surquillo (the “good” part bordering with Surco/San Borja).

As you can read on the blog, I now live in Santiago de Chile – but your always welcome to write if you stop by Chile sometime. Though I still go back to Lima once in a while, since we still have our office and operations there.

Good luck with your adventures in South America.

- Christian

Your choice for a place to stay was good. San Miguel would also have been a good choice. Business is good in Miraflores but touristy and rent is high compared to the other locations nearby.

Glad to see you have the tax thing worked out too, lord knows that’s a biggie for all of us! Clearly Lima or just outside of Lima is the place to start. For me the biggest obstacle has always been setting up banking and payroll… but glad to see you got it under control.

I operate in Bogota and Natal in the S.A. region. I know it’s a struggle and the language and culture takes some time… but if you are a “hippy” like me – even at heart … you will enjoy it alot!

By the way… don’t know if this relates to your business at all… but don’t forget the heap of tourists on the cruise lines coming and going out from down e and 99% of people complete miss this one

Maybe I’ll check out your business sometime – I generally hang out in Miraflores when I am in Peru. “Son de Cuba” rocks! jejejeje buena suerta

@Michael: I would recommend you to look to the north. While I have not been there myself yet, they have some beaches and towns close to the sea, where it should be sunny pretty much all year long. I’d suggest you to take a visit to Mancora, Piura and cities like that in the north, to get a feeling if that is a place where you would like to stay.

Saludos, Christian

@Mike: Business is going well, but still starting up, so there is lots of work to do. You are welcome to give me a call or write me an email, if you come back to Lima. Best of luck with your projects.

@Luz Maria: Thank you. I just rented an apartment in Surquillo/San Borja, but thank you for your offer.

@Renate: That sounds very cool. Lets meet and have a coffee (or beer) one day soon. You can send me an email to ch@easy-web.dk or give me a call at 989 330 747.
Good luck with your business!

Best regards,