Lief and I are counting down the days until our chance to return to Medellín, Colombia, next month. It’s been far too long since our last visit to this city we fell in love with at first sight a dozen years ago. When I think about Medellín, it’s the clear blue skies, warm sunshine, colorful gardens, and red-brick buildings that come to mind first.
The City Is Lush And Green…
Medellín is so committed to keeping itself as green as it is that it requires developers to invest in parks and plantings along with their housing communities and apartment towers.
For me, arriving in Medellín has always felt like coming to rest after a sprint. As a rule, Lief and I are up before dawn to check emails before dialing in for the daily round of morning video calls… Then I hunker down to draft this dispatch before a hurried lunch… Afternoons are focused on longer-term writing and business development projects. Go, go, go… push, push, push… That’s our day-to-day. We don’t have many opportunities to decompress… but Medellín has always forced us to slow down.We Recognized This Medellín Effect From Our First Visit
We’d taken off for our initial scouting trip to Colombia feeling typically frazzled and fatigued. Then, after we’d arrived in Medellín and were walking out from the airport, Lief looked over at me and smiled.
“I don’t really understand why,” he said, after we’d loaded into a taxi for the drive down the mountain to the city, “but I suddenly don’t feel as tired as I was feeling this morning… “ “Yes,” I said. “I know what you mean. I feel like I can breathe easier… better. “I feel brighter… lighter, somehow.” Kathleen Peddicord Founding Publisher,Overseas Opportunity Letter