Digital Nomad Diaries: Medellín, Week 1
Six weeks in Colombia, a coliving house full of strangers, and a city I'm already a little in love with.
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I'm currently traveling the world full time as a digital nomad, and this is part of my ongoing series documenting life on the road. The adventures, the slow days, and everything in between. This chapter starts in Medellín, where I'm spending the next five weeks before exploring more of Colombia.
Arriving late at night into a brand new city always has this particular feeling. Excitement at being back on the road after time at home, mixed with that low anxiety of uncertainty that comes with being somewhere completely unfamiliar. I didn't know a single street, didn't know the neighborhood, didn't know anyone. And it didn’t help that I arrived to find the door code to my house didn’t work, and I had to call the community manager at 12:30am to get let in.
Getting settled
My base for the next five weeks is a coliving house in Medellín. It’s a shared living with other digital nomads, which is one of my favorite ways to travel long term. You arrive as strangers and within days you have a built-in community, people to grab dinner with, people to commiserate with when the wifi goes down, people who just get it.
Once I was unpacked and oriented, I did what I always do in a new city. Took a free walking tour.
A free walking tour to start
Starting a trip with a walking tour is one of the best travel habits I have. You learn the history, you get your bearings, and you do it all without having to navigate solo through streets you've never seen. Real City Tours* runs a free walking tour of the Medellín city center that I'd recommend to anyone arriving here for the first time. By the end of it I had a lot more information about everything I'd be exploring over the coming weeks.
That evening, my housemates and I headed to Sala de Despecho in El Poblado for dinner. If you haven't been: it starts as a restaurant and slowly transforms into a full-on party as the night goes on, with singing and dancing that creeps up on you in the best way. A perfect first night.
Salsa, street art, and Son Havana
The rest of the week filled itself in naturally.
One night we went to Son Havana, which definitely earns its reputation. They offer free salsa lessons earlier in the evening, which is super helpful even if you show up knowing nothing, and then a live band takes over later in the night. The energy in that room is something else.
Another day, we did a graffiti tour of Comuna 13. If you know anything about Medellín's history, you know this neighborhood's story: once considered the most dangerous neighborhood in the world, it has been completely transformed over the past two decades into a vibrant hub of street art, escalators built into the hillside, and community. The tour with Casa Kolacha made it feel even more meaningful.
The rest of the week was a mix of exploring El Poblado on foot, more dinners with housemates, and honestly, work. That's the digital nomad reality. The adventures happen around the laptop, not instead of it.
The slow days
Here's what I love about long-term travel that a week-long vacation never gives you: permission to do nothing.
I cooked at the house. I got caught in unexpected rain and made it a cosy day home instead of fighting it. On Friday night, I watched the Olympics opening ceremony from the couch with my housemates. No guilt, no FOMO. That's not wasted time, it’s what it actually feels like to live somewhere instead of just visiting.
Medellín already has me. There's so much more to see, and I'm not in any rush.
Quick guide: Medellín Week 1
Free city center walking tour with Real City Tours*
Dinner at Sala de Despecho
Salsa lessons and live music at Son Havana
Exploring El Poblado on foot
This is part of my Digital Nomad Diaries series, where I document life on the road as a full-time traveler. If you want to see the video version, check out my Medellín Week 1 reel on Instagram and TikTok.
Some links on this page marked with * are affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use. Thank you for supporting Traveling Berri!
