One Month Solo in Medellin, Colombia
Medellin will always hold a special place in my heart. I first visited in January 2020 when Clay and I were backpacking South America. Medellin was our first stop in the 3 month trip. We loved it so much that we stayed there for about 3 weeks.
The second time I returned to Medellin was December 2023. My mom, Clay and I spent the holidays there, then extended the trip through January 2024. It was truly an incredible month.
When we got home from the trip, I was really inspired to jump into a digital nomad life abroad but Clay was still very rooted at his job in Omaha and training for a CrossFit competition in May 2024. It was a hard decision, but Clay and I decided to take a 3 month no contact break. At the time, we had very different visions for our future and no matter how we planned - it seemed that one of us would be sacrificing a lot to make the other happy.
We felt that an uncomfortably long 3 month break would help us figure out what we really wanted for ourselves individually, and as a couple.
As I was already set on pursuing my “digital nomad” path in order to have as much location independence from work as possible - I challenged myself to spend a month abroad solo to see how it felt, how much money I could make and what limiting beliefs I needed to dismantle before going all in on this lifestyle.
Since Medellin was a special place for Clay and I (and I was missing him a lot), I was naturally drawn back there. It provided me a lot of comfort to revisit places we discovered together.
As far as accommodation, I first stayed at a hostel in La Manila (my favorite neighborhood) to get my footing. Once I got there, I searched local facebook groups for housing and found a girl who was renting out her spare bedroom for a month for $350. I jumped on the opportunity, met her for a tour and committed on the spot.
Her apartment was about 1 mile from La Manila so it was a nice walk to and from most of the places I frequented on a daily basis.
My mom was nice enough to watch my dog at her house, back in Omaha. It was really relieving to have a month of freedom. I love my dog so much but the break allowed me to focus on the gym, building a remote income foundation and time to meditate on my future (and how Clay fit into that).
My daily routine was basically the same everyday in Medellin once I moved into Melissa’s spare bedroom. I’d wake up and get ready at the apartment, then walk 1 mile to my favorite cafe.
My order was also the same - an americano and a cacao smoothie bowl. The staff started remembering me, which made me feel so welcomed. Each day, they would just say “the usual?”
I’d journal, eat and work on my laptop there until late morning. Then, I’d walk down the street to the gym. I was able to get a one month membership for about $30 USD.
Although the gym didn’t have AC, they had a lot of equipment and were open late 7 days a week so it was a very good value.
After the gym, I’d walk the 1 mile back to the apartment to shower and reset for the second half of the day.
Depending on the day, I’d either go shopping, go to another cafe to work, or some sort of self-care appointment like a facial, massage, nails, dentist, etc. Since the value of the US dollar goes pretty far in Colombia - I could get these services for $40-$50 each.
For dinner, I rotated between about 4 favorite spots - a vegetarian burger place, a nice Italian pizza restaurant, a Mediterranean hole-in-the-wall, or I’d uber to this incredible vegan restaurant in a neighborhood about 15 minutes away.
By the end of the month (April 2024), I was enjoying my lifestyle there so much that I decided I wanted to commit to relocating there once my lease was up in Omaha (end of July 2024). Living at Melissa’s was super affordable but I knew that to really enjoy my life there in the long run, I would want my own place with more amenities.
I found an incredible luxury apartment complex that was furnished, had a gym, on-site cafe, on-site rooftop pool and restaurant, weekly cleaning, and was dog friendly. You actually had to apply to live there - not just financially, but socially! They asked for my social media handles, industry, relationship status, etc. I had never experienced something like that but I was thrilled when they approved me.
I told them I had to go back to Omaha for May and June but would love to reserve July-onward. Sadly, they were already booked for July but wrote me in for August, September and October. I was super excited about this opportunity but also like UGH, how am I going to wait so long?! But I still decided to go for it so I left a large suitcase worth of items at Melissa’s apartment she agreed to hold onto it all until I came back in August.
Ultimately, I didn’t want to be in Omaha (because of my loud neighbors) so I ended up “waiting” in Tulum” from June to July… which led to me choose moving to Tulum over Medellin.