My Month In Medellín
All my ignorant self knew about Medellín prior to signing up for Remote Year was that in seasons 2/3 of Entourage, Vince goes there to shoot a controversial movie. I vaguely knew it had something to do with something in Colombia. While we were in Lima last month, I binge-watched season 1 of Narcos to attempt to learn some Medellín things, so basically I knew nothing.
Turns out Medellín is so much more than what is portrayed in Narcos and other drug cartel shows centered around the Pablo Escobar era. Yes, Escobar and the drug cartels were a dominant and devastating force in Colombia for a stretch of time, and pretty recently too, but there's a lot more to this place that deserves recognition and appreciation. As usual, too much went down throughout the month for me recap it all without writing a chapter book, so here's the highlight reel:
The People / History: From my experience to date, I've found South Americans to be generally extremely friendly and welcoming to tourists, and Medellín locals (called "paisas") continued that trend. Up until the last 20 years (when Pablo Escobar was killed), Medellin was one of the most violent cities in the world, with murders and kidnappings occurring daily. No one in their right mind would plan a vacation to Medellín.
In the last 20 years, the city has completely transformed and flourished to become a popular tourist destination. The paisas are thrilled to see more and more foreigners traveling to their city, and proud to share their homes and culture with visitors. The newly developed tourism industry has created business opportunities for Colombians who were previously hiding in their homes out of fear of the cartels and the guerrillas, or avoiding their home country due to safety concerns.
Now, saying the name "Pablo Escobar" in Medellín is equivalent to saying "Voldemort" to a Hogwarts student. His name evokes the city's tragic past that the locals are eager to put behind them, and they believe talking about him glorifies or glamorizes his life (which is the last thing anyone wants to do). As a month-long Medellín visitor, I became sensitive to the name as well. I'm even struggling with how much to write about him here. I will say that it's astonishing how drastically the city has turned around since the time of his death in 1993. Medellín's resiliency is one of the main reasons I came to love it there and appreciate it that much more.
The Hood: We lived in El Poblado throughout the month, which can best be described as bougie AF relative to the surrounding neighborhoods. Locals describe El Poblado as the "fancy" neighborhood, which also makes it the area that tourists and expats flock to. It is full of nice restaurants, bars, and our co-working space for the month, called Selina.
Selina could have it's own dedicated post: the venue featured a bar, cafe, hostel, meditation room, tattoo parlor (?), hair/nail salon, essential oil shop (?!?!) and more. Honestly I'm surprised it didn't have a skating rink and a water park. It was very central to everything and was for sure my favorite co-working space so far.
Also can't talk about Medellín without acknowledging the weather and the hills. Medellín is essentially a city built in the middle of the rainforest and April is rainy season, so rain it most definitely did. I think I experienced more rain in the past month than I did throughout my entire four years living in sunny San Diego, which really made me appreciate the sunny moments.
As for the hills, I was never not out of breath walking around El Poblado. Leaving my apartment and walking up my street felt like summiting a mountain, and I thought I would get used to it over the course of a month, but I did not. While the constant thunderstorms were fine and even fun at times, the hills are something I am happy to leave behind. I don't know how San Francisco peeps do it!!
My First RY Visitor: Gotta give the loudest shoutout to my lovely gf Erica, who came to visit me in Medellín toward the end of the month. This is going to sound dramatic but... at times I feel like by joining Remote Year, I gave up my pre-RY life because I feel so disconnected from my "old" world (or whatever you want to call it). Like I'm in some sort of Twilight Zone. Erica's presence swiftly destroyed that ridiculous notion, and hanging with her in Medellín felt so natural (@Erica you can join our program now, thanks).
We achieved a magical blend of activities: cool new experiences (paragliding), educational thangs (Pablo Escobar tour), fancy things (dinner with a private chef), down time (pool hangs and #robelife) and of course, partying (every night, obvs). It was everything and more!!
I'm so happy that I got to spend time in Medellín. It's a charming, gorgeous city that has weathered more storms than most (literally and figuratively) and is thriving in the calm after the storm. I'm looking forward to seeing how the city continues to evolve, and expect it to continue growing in popularity as a tourist destination.
And now onto Colombia's capital (and the coldest city I'll live in this year), Bogotá! Send warmth vibes my way please!!
 |
| Jon Snow and pre-Medellín me can relate |
Turns out Medellín is so much more than what is portrayed in Narcos and other drug cartel shows centered around the Pablo Escobar era. Yes, Escobar and the drug cartels were a dominant and devastating force in Colombia for a stretch of time, and pretty recently too, but there's a lot more to this place that deserves recognition and appreciation. As usual, too much went down throughout the month for me recap it all without writing a chapter book, so here's the highlight reel:
The People / History: From my experience to date, I've found South Americans to be generally extremely friendly and welcoming to tourists, and Medellín locals (called "paisas") continued that trend. Up until the last 20 years (when Pablo Escobar was killed), Medellin was one of the most violent cities in the world, with murders and kidnappings occurring daily. No one in their right mind would plan a vacation to Medellín.
In the last 20 years, the city has completely transformed and flourished to become a popular tourist destination. The paisas are thrilled to see more and more foreigners traveling to their city, and proud to share their homes and culture with visitors. The newly developed tourism industry has created business opportunities for Colombians who were previously hiding in their homes out of fear of the cartels and the guerrillas, or avoiding their home country due to safety concerns.
 |
| Tourist activity: climb the 650+ stairs of El Piedra del Peñol for quality views of Peñol, Guatapé and beyond (about 2 hours outside Medellín) |
Now, saying the name "Pablo Escobar" in Medellín is equivalent to saying "Voldemort" to a Hogwarts student. His name evokes the city's tragic past that the locals are eager to put behind them, and they believe talking about him glorifies or glamorizes his life (which is the last thing anyone wants to do). As a month-long Medellín visitor, I became sensitive to the name as well. I'm even struggling with how much to write about him here. I will say that it's astonishing how drastically the city has turned around since the time of his death in 1993. Medellín's resiliency is one of the main reasons I came to love it there and appreciate it that much more.
The Hood: We lived in El Poblado throughout the month, which can best be described as bougie AF relative to the surrounding neighborhoods. Locals describe El Poblado as the "fancy" neighborhood, which also makes it the area that tourists and expats flock to. It is full of nice restaurants, bars, and our co-working space for the month, called Selina.
 |
| Roomie mirror selfies / learning Tejo / private cheffing |
Selina could have it's own dedicated post: the venue featured a bar, cafe, hostel, meditation room, tattoo parlor (?), hair/nail salon, essential oil shop (?!?!) and more. Honestly I'm surprised it didn't have a skating rink and a water park. It was very central to everything and was for sure my favorite co-working space so far.
 |
| As seen @ Selina |
Also can't talk about Medellín without acknowledging the weather and the hills. Medellín is essentially a city built in the middle of the rainforest and April is rainy season, so rain it most definitely did. I think I experienced more rain in the past month than I did throughout my entire four years living in sunny San Diego, which really made me appreciate the sunny moments.
 |
| Rainforest life still included some fab sunsets (when it wasn't raining, of course) |
As for the hills, I was never not out of breath walking around El Poblado. Leaving my apartment and walking up my street felt like summiting a mountain, and I thought I would get used to it over the course of a month, but I did not. While the constant thunderstorms were fine and even fun at times, the hills are something I am happy to leave behind. I don't know how San Francisco peeps do it!!
My First RY Visitor: Gotta give the loudest shoutout to my lovely gf Erica, who came to visit me in Medellín toward the end of the month. This is going to sound dramatic but... at times I feel like by joining Remote Year, I gave up my pre-RY life because I feel so disconnected from my "old" world (or whatever you want to call it). Like I'm in some sort of Twilight Zone. Erica's presence swiftly destroyed that ridiculous notion, and hanging with her in Medellín felt so natural (@Erica you can join our program now, thanks).
 |
| <3 <3 <3 <3 |
We achieved a magical blend of activities: cool new experiences (paragliding), educational thangs (Pablo Escobar tour), fancy things (dinner with a private chef), down time (pool hangs and #robelife) and of course, partying (every night, obvs). It was everything and more!!
I'm so happy that I got to spend time in Medellín. It's a charming, gorgeous city that has weathered more storms than most (literally and figuratively) and is thriving in the calm after the storm. I'm looking forward to seeing how the city continues to evolve, and expect it to continue growing in popularity as a tourist destination.
And now onto Colombia's capital (and the coldest city I'll live in this year), Bogotá! Send warmth vibes my way please!!
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