In 2018, I made the decision to start living in Medellin, Colombia full-time. I stayed for six years.
That decision changed everything about how I think about money, lifestyle, and what it actually means to build a life on your own terms. If you have ever thought about living abroad, or you are curious what six years in one of South America’s most talked-about cities really looks like beyond the Instagram highlights, this one is for you.
Why Living in Medellin Colombia Made Sense
When I first landed in Medellin, the city already had a reputation as a comeback story. A place that had reinvented itself completely. The infrastructure was modern, the people were warm, the food was incredible, and the cost of living made it possible to live very well without burning through savings or sacrificing quality.
As someone who thinks carefully about money for a living, that last part mattered a lot. Medellin let me stretch every dollar while experiencing a level of life I honestly could not have afforded in Miami at the time. A great apartment in El Poblado. Dinners out almost every night. Weekend trips to Cartagena, Santa Marta, the Coffee Region. All of it was accessible in a way that forced me to rethink what “expensive” actually means.
The City That Grew With Me
From 2018 to 2024, I watched Medellin transform in real time. The city was already building itself into a tech and innovation hub when I arrived. By the time I left, it had fully arrived. Co-working spaces were everywhere. International investment was pouring in. Neighborhoods that were quiet when I first got there had completely changed character.
I lived in a few different areas over the years. El Poblado was my home base in the early years. It has the international vibe, the nightlife, the cafes where you can work all day on a laptop and no one bats an eye. Later I moved to Laureles, which felt more like the real Medellin. Calmer, more residential, better for actually knowing your neighbors and finding a daily routine that did not feel like a permanent vacation.
That shift taught me something important. There is a difference between traveling through a city and actually living in one. Once you stop being a tourist in your own daily life, you start to see a place for what it really is. Medellin, at its core, is a city of incredibly hardworking, resilient, proud people who have rebuilt something remarkable.
The Financial Reality of Living Abroad
The financial case for living in Medellin Colombia is one of the strongest I have seen for any major Latin American city. I am an accountant. Numbers are how I experience the world. So let me give you the honest version.
Living in Medellin as an American with dollar-based income is a genuine financial advantage. The Colombian peso has fluctuated significantly over the years, and there were stretches where the exchange rate was exceptional. Rent, groceries, transportation, dining out, even travel within South America costs a fraction of what you would pay in the United States.
That gap between what I earned and what I spent gave me something I could not have gotten working the same job and living in the US: room to invest. Room to build. Room to think about the long game instead of just keeping up with monthly expenses. Living abroad was not just a lifestyle choice. It was a financial strategy that genuinely accelerated where I am today.
If you are thinking about this kind of move, the practical side matters. Get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees before you go. Learn the banking landscape. Understand how to move money internationally without losing chunks of it to fees. These are not complicated things, but they make a real difference over years, not just months.
What Six Years Teaches You
Living somewhere for six years is different from visiting for six weeks or even living there for six months. You go through cycles. You have bad stretches where the city grinds on you. You have moments where you cannot imagine being anywhere else. You build real friendships. You learn the language in a way that classroom Spanish never prepared you for. You develop opinions about neighborhoods and restaurants and which parts of the city to avoid on certain days.
You also learn about yourself. I learned that I am someone who needs roots even when I am far from home. I found a community in Medellin that was genuinely mine, not just a collection of fellow expats passing through. That community made the difference between an extended trip and a real chapter of my life.
I also learned that the fears people have about living in Colombia are largely outdated. Yes, you take the same common-sense precautions you would in any major city. But the Medellin I lived in for six years was safe, functional, vibrant, and full of opportunity. The transformation that city went through is real, and being there to witness it firsthand was a privilege.
Why I Left and What Comes Next
By 2024, it was time for the next chapter. Six years is a long time, and I had built what I came to build. My career had evolved. My perspective had expanded in ways that were impossible to fully plan for. And there was more I wanted to see and do.
Medellin will always be a part of my story. It is where I figured out that living well and building wealth are not opposing goals. It is where I learned that location is one of the most underused financial levers most people never pull. And it is where I confirmed that the world is much more accessible than most people believe.
If you have more questions about what living in Medellin Colombia actually costs and how to structure your finances as an expat, check out my post on fractional CFO services. And if you are thinking about making a move like this, whether to Medellin or somewhere else entirely, I am happy to talk through what that actually looks like from a practical and financial standpoint. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I do not say that lightly.
More stories from the road coming soon.