Wherever you may be in Europe or North America people always ask me why I left Medellin, Colombia.
In this post I’m going to compare Medellin, to where I am now in Panama City.
First I’m gonna go over a lot of the wins of Medellin and then I’m gonna go over some of the comparisons
The Wins
One of the wins was, people were super friendly, I noticed it right off of the bat. I really really did enjoy the people also if you stick to your areas El Poblado, Manila, Laureles. There’s a lot of different areas for Expats with some beautiful architecture, it’s also super safe. ( In areas )
Comparisons Panama City to Medellin
When I’m comparing Panama to Medellin, I’ll start with infrastructure. Infrastructure in Panama you have to watch where you walk. You might end up in a pothole that’s 4 feet deep covered with a piece of cardboard covering the hole.
In Medellin, I didn’t notice any of that. Medellin has beautiful infrastructure, amazing walkability with sidewalks everywhere. The walkability score in Medellin is definitely a win for Medellin.
Fitness
I’m a guy that loves cycling, so when it comes down to cycling, you’ve got some great cycling routes in Panama, but it’s also 33 degrees and like 90% humidity. So your either going cycling at 6am or not going to bother. In Medellin the weather is 24 to 27 Degrees and on Sundays they close a major road, that stretches miles and miles. It even stretches into areas that I was told not to go to as a foreigner. But when your cycling with a lot of people, it seems to be ok.
For me cycling and running in Medellin were all wins for me. The weather was a breath of fresh air, literally.
Right now it’s 31 Degrees in Panama City, it’s 9am. I’m sweating beads as it’s 85% humidity. I feel like I am swimming everywhere I go. Multiple showers everyday kind of sweat. In Medellin, yes it’s green and beautiful which means one thing. Yes it rains. But it only rains for 20-30 minutes a day. Which isn’t much when your coming from a place like Vancouver, Canada.
Clothing and Culture
It’s always good to do homework on places that you are visting. When i was doing my homework, I found out that you’re supposed to be wearing trousers most of the time, because it’s part of the Colombian culture. You’re not supposed to be wearing shorts, so it makes it a lot better when it’s 26 to 28 degrees to wear pants versus 33 degrees here.
Time in Medellin
I’ve spent a good eight months or so on and off because of visa restrictions in Colombia. I had to come in and out of the country as you do anywhere in Latin America without residency.
Real Estate
When you’re comparing real estate, in Medellin the real estate is stunning you’ve got different options, it’s a very Tulum vibe it’s very architecturally cool. Lots of greenery, the apartments can be really really wild. I’ve done many different videos on this channel about Medellin HERE.
Also you can see my Medellin listings HERE
There is a lot of different areas in Medellin. It’s a quite a large city. You’ve got El Poblado, Manila and Laureles as the main ones, then as you go up the hill you enter in Las Palmas, and into Alto de Las Palmas. Which is where you will find gated communities with some amazing modern looking luxury homes.
You can also turn a very good profit in Medellin by flipping homes. I know quite a few people that do it they buy in at $180,000 they put 150,000 into it. Total $330,000 and they rent out for $3300 dollars a month.
Now you’re making at least 10 to 12% every single year back on your investment year after year, after year.
Panama has you the largest economy in Latin America, reliable banking. So just a yes. yes. yes. It’s also got beach properties which are literally an hour away starting at $175,000. It’s got mountain properties like Boquete. There is tons of Canadians and Americans in Boquete.
Medellin is just basically amazing views and you’re in the mountains. They’ve got luxury houses, they’ve got luxury mansions, they’ve got luxury apartments. There is a lot of options in Medellin. But your in a city in the mountains vs. a city on the coast line of the Pacific Ocean.
You’re asking yourself, why didn’t you stay in Medellin?
Yes it sounds like I am pumping the tires of Medellin. Why did you leave?
It’s time for storytelling.
At about month five and a half, I ended up going to Rufus du Sol in concert. It was chaos. Unorganized chaos. I bought VIP Tickets because it was at the front and I thought I would get in quicker. To this day I have no idea why I spent the extra money. People everywhere, everyone was pushing and there was a massive push from people that I don’t think even had tickets towards the front gate. No Police in site.
This might have been the only organized thing at the event. When people were pushing, people were also pulling and snipping purses etc. Good bye iPhone 14 Pro. To this day I have no idea how they got it through a zipper pocket.
That wasn’t the worst of it. The “digital ticket” was on my phone. So when I got to the gate. They said first the ticket was already claimed. Which is impossible. Then the story changed to the ticket actually was never purchased. So I purchased another ticket at the gate, a regular and I was at the back of the event. It became a very expensive night.
In the morning, I went to StubHub, told them what they said. No Response. I followed up a few hours later, while this was fresh. The customer service said my ticket was valid and the event is over. That was that.
In Medellin they have places to buy phones… But
The next day, my real estate agent & friend suggested that I go to a mall that sells tech. Her and I went to the mall, and we looked at buying an iPhone 13 Pro. The store was all used phones. Many Colombian friends told me that is the best place for used phones.
So I purchased the phone. Got a receipt, seemed very legit.
2 weeks later. The mobile service provider tells me my phone is stolen. Of course it is. Then a lot of back and forth. Anyways I got a phone in the end, that was verified not stolen.
That’s Medellin…
You just have to be very careful. The thing is, in the end this happens in any city. When you go to London, there’s bad areas. When you go to New York, there’s bad areas. You go anywhere around the world there is going to be a bad area, but this is in the tourist area so you would expect there to be an extensive amount of police protection.
I really do like Medellin, I really did try to stay. I filmed a lot of real estate and the people were great the weather was great. There’s lots to do and the restaurants and going out in Medellin were some of the best in Latin America.
I tried to stay
I applied for a Digital Nomad Visa with a lawyer. I paid $600 to the lawyer and $600 for “Sura life insurance” that you had to have to apply.
I waited and waited and waited and then got denied. So I tried again. I waited and I waited. Only to get denied again. I asked for an explanation. My lawyer told me that I was importing people into the country. Which is bizarre because I always travel alone. I don’t know what to say. $1200 dollars gone and I wasn’t allowed to come back for 6 months.
So it just really left me with a sour taste in my mouth, so when you break it down the most important part for me is when I am living in a Latin American country. It has to be reliable. No matter where it is or if I have to pay more, it has to be reliable. It’s our hard earned dollars.
After this, some of the deals that I had going, started to not answer their phones, and that was the end of Medellin for me.