Digital Nomad Diaries: Medellín, Week 4
Spa day, food tours, butterflies, football in the rain, and a city I keep finding new reasons to love.
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Last week was a lot. This week I gave myself permission to actually enjoy Medellín, and it delivered.
First things first: a massage
After the stress of the previous week, I decided the cure was a spa day at Celestino Spa. Not just a massage. The package included access to a rooftop pool and sauna with a view that made the whole thing feel a little unreal. Treating yourself to something genuinely lovely when you're traveling long-term can really reset everything. Highly recommend.
A lot of tours (maybe too many)
I may have overcommitted myself with Real City Tours* this week. Multiple tours across the city, back to back, which sounds ambitious on paper and felt even more so in practice. I have no regrets, but I will say that the ones involving food were significantly easier to show up for.
Colombian food and I are getting along extremely well. The cheese situation here is generous. The spice situation is almost nonexistent. This is my ideal combination, and I have been leaning into it fully.
One of the week's highlights was visiting a much less popular comuna than the ones that typically make the tourist circuit. Getting to see a different side of everyday life in Medellíin (more real, less curated) was the kind of experience that makes long-term travel meaningful. You stop seeing a city as a collection of attractions and start seeing it as a place where people actually live.
Jardín Botanico de Medellín (and the butterflies)
After one of the tours wrapped up in the right part of the city, I made an impromptu detour to the Medellín Botanical Garden, which had been sitting on my list. I spent the afternoon wandering around, keeping one eye out for the iguanas I'd seen signs for. No luck on that front. But the butterfly enclosure more than made up for it. Stepping into a room full of free-flying butterflies felt like a little bit of magic (though I was glad this wasn’t one of the places where they land on you. That’s not for me).
I also had ceviche at one of the garden's restaurants, Restaurante InSitu, because I will take any opportunity to eat ceviche, anywhere, always.
Lunch with a new friend (and her dog)
One of my favorite things about this lifestyle is the people you end up meeting.
I had lunch this week with a new friend and her dog. She’s from the Netherlands but has been living in Medellín for a few years. We talked each other's ears off about digital nomad life, the reality of it, the good and the hard. She runs Digital Nomads for Good, an organization that gives back to the local communities through volunteer work and donations. It's an amazing work and worth looking up if you're living this life and want to make your presence somewhere mean something more.
Football in the rain
I'll close on the most unexpectedly epic thing that happened this week.
I ended up at a football match*, Independiente Medellín vs. Liverpool, watching alongside a local fan base that had absolutely zero chill in the best possible way. Singing, dancing, and cheering at full volume, maximum energy, for the entire 90 minutes. We were soaked to the bone from the rain, kind of protected by our plastic ponchos, but it was worth it.
Medellín has a way of turning ordinary evenings into things you'll talk about later. This was one of them.
What's next
I'm heading out of the city for a few days to a pueblo in the mountains. I cannot wait. Stay tuned.
Quick guide: Medellín Week 4
Celestino Spa (massage, rooftop pool, sauna)
Real City Tours* for guided experiences across the city
Medellín Botanical Garden, including the butterfly enclosure
Check out Digital Nomads for Good if you want to give back while you're here
Catch a local football match* for an experience that cannot be manufactured
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 4 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!
