Digital Nomad Moving to Medellin? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
So you’re coming to visit us in Medellin, the city of eternal spring? Good choice, you won’t regret it! It took my girlfriend and me 10 months to get here on a motorcycle trip, but it was totally worth it. The quality of life here is unbeatable for the price. The people are so nice that our first week here, our apartment neighbors invited us for a 3-course lunch. And the views are stunning.
If you’re like me, you want to get grounded in a new city as quickly as possible. Before this, I lived in Nairobi for 5 years and San Francisco for 2 years, so by now, I’ve figured out how to get grounded in a new place quickly and efficiently so I can start the work on my business.
I know this might feel like information overload… that’s okay. Even if you do half of these things in the first 2 weeks you are ahead of me. Just bookmark this page and come back to it when you need it.
Before you leave the US
This may seem like a step backward, but there are a few things to put in order before you leave. Get an unlocked phone, and make sure you can still get 2-Factor Authentication SMS messages from your bank and any other important websites. I use Google Fi and Hangouts so that my SMS go to my Gmail inbox as well as my phone. Google Fi has the same data rates around the world and if you make phone calls by WiFi to the US they are free. Any unused data for the month is refunded. Use this link and we both get $20 off: https://g.co/fi/r/55P4PV
ATM fees in Colombia are about $4 per withdrawal in addition to whatever your debit card charges you. That adds up quickly! Sign up for an account with Charles Schwab. They refund all ATM fees. Use this link to get $100 credit. Note: I don’t get any credit for the referral, but having you save money is all the happiness I need ;-)
Getting the right travel health insurance is annoying so we’ve made it easy. Just get Genki. It is EUR55/month and much better than normal travel insurance like DAN, SafetyWing or WorldNomad.
Finding a place to stay
El Poblado is the place to stay. Other people will say Laureles or Envigado are nice neighborhoods, but El Poblado is where everything is happening. Start here. You can always move somewhere else. People say Poblado is expensive or touristy. There are more white people here than other neighborhoods, but still less than 1% and it’s like 10% more expensive here so it’s not a big deal.
You can use local sites or Facebook groups to find a short-term apartment, but to be honest, the local rental market is complicated. Just use Airbnb to find a place. Since you’ll be staying longer, ask the host for a discount. In our experience, they are likely to give you one.
Arriving
Taxi or Uber is COP 75,000 ($25)(Uber illegal here, btw, so you have to sit in the front seat) and takes 50 minutes to get to El Poblado.
Buses run every 5 mins for COP 9,500 ($3) to San Diego Mall if you want to save some money then $3 by Taxi to El Poblado.
Coworking spaces
There are 11+ coworking spaces in El Poblado alone and I hear there are 80 coworking spaces in the city, so you will be sure to find something for you. Most of them offer a free day pass (except WeWork).
- La Casa Redonda has the best vibe and even has workshop for artists with paints and drills.
- Selina is the best place to meet expats in tech.
- Seedspace I would say is the third best space as they have a few events. You can also live there.
- Map of all spaces
- Dave Hansford gives his review
- WeWork
Need to have a coffee meeting? Go to Velvet Cafe
Exercise
Gyms are everywhere (like this grungy outdoor public gym I love)
Go for a run up the hill
Sundays from 8:00 to 11:00 am, many roads are closed for runners and bikers
How to meet people
Here’s a challenge I gave myself. I’m a slight introvert, so meeting new people can be intimidating. I’m also a bit competitive. So I set a goal of meeting one new person for coffee/beer/etc each day for the first 2 weeks. I actually did it and made lots of new friends!
To meet new people do the following: Post on Facebook that you are going to be in Medellin and ask friends to make intros for you, reach out to people on the facebook groups below who seem like they are doing something interesting and most will be interested in hanging out. On days when I didn’t have anything scheduled, I’d go to a coworking space and inevitably meet someone. Or I’d strike up a conversation with a Paisa (a local) in the park.
Here are other ways to meet people:
- David Kadavy, author and podcast host of Love Your Work, hosts a dinner at Tienda Del Vino in Poblado on Monday at 7pm. You can just show up.
- Events at coworking spaces
- Language Exchange (see schedule below)
- Group language class (Toucan) or dance class/open dance night (Dancefree, it’s $30 a month for an unlimited pass… definitely worth it)
- Come to my dinner party. Every Saturday I cook dinner and have a lively conversation https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/38334
- Other Airbnb experiences
- Tinder (but you already knew that)
Facebook Groups to join
- Basketball
- Business
- Food
- Rentals I found Airbnb to be the best place to find 1–3 month rentals
- General Digital Nomad Group
Things to do
Now that you’re settled in you want to try out some fun things. First of all, sign up for these weekly email newsletters:
- Corriente Diez Dos (in Spanish)
- Catalyst (in English)
- Medellin Guru (in English)
There are a few standard things to do each week that I’ll list here:
Any day
- Real walking tour. This is supposed to be ridiculously good and you have to book a few days in advance to get a spot.
- Hike up to Parque El Salado to a waterfall through a creek.
- Take a Cable Car to Parque Arvi (personally I think it’s overrated, but the cable car is a novel experience for most people)
- Comuna 13 graffiti tour (totally worth it!)
Monday
- Language Exchange: Blink Spanish Slang 6pm
- 8pm Li LIngual Triva @barrio central
Tuesday
- Salsa: Eslabon Prendido
- Language Exchange: Toucan
Wednesday
- Salsa: Son Havana, Skybar, Tibiri
Thursday
- Salsa: Eslabon Prendido, Son Havana
- Language Exchange: Toucan
- Speed Networking (every 1st Thursday of the month)
Weekend
- Chiquita bar, a gay club that makes you feel like you’re at Burning Man all over again
- Got a date? Go to Alambrique
- On Saturdays we have casual dinner parties
- Missing Deep House music? Go to Salon Amador.
Classes
- Private Spanish and Salsa Classes with David Schafran
- Group Salsa: Dancefree ($30 for a month of unlimited classes) In my experience, after taking making group classes over many years, I learned 10x in just a few one-on-one classes with a male salsa instructor at DanceFree. He would lead me, then I’d lead him. It taught me how to lead, which is the most important skill in Salsa. Note: it’s WAY harder for men to learn salsa than women.
- Group Spanish: If you’re a nervous nelly Toucan School is foreigner friendly, but Blink has a way better vibe.
Visas and permits
I hear that if you invest $30k you can get a 1-year work permit and if you invest $157k you can get a 5-year residency which then allows you to apply for permanent residency. However, a friend who invested the required $30k was denied a 1 year work permit. It’s not automatic.
You can get a student visa if you sign up for a language class, etc.
A tourist visa is for 90 days which you can extend for another 90. This link shows you how to apply for an extension online. Otherwise you need to book an appointment and you might have to wait 14 days for that.
A friend referred me to Alan who can help with the process of getting a work permit.
Real estate
If you are looking to buy, Casacol has great content marketing on buying in Colombia https://medellinliving.com/real-estate-foreign-buyers-guide/
If you’re interested in buying land, please let me know. I’m going to buy some land off the grid in the next 5ish years to start a community with like-minded individuals… If that sounds interesting, follow my progress on twitter.
Thanks for reading this whole thing! If you have any questions just post them below.
