• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Countries Colombia

Reasons Why I Retired To Medellín In My Late 80s

An 80-Something’s Take On Life In Colombia

Kenneth Dolbeare by Kenneth Dolbeare
Feb 10, 2022
in Colombia, Lifestyle
0 0
0
Metro system in Medellin, Colombia with buildings in the background

Adobe Stock/Luis Echeverri Urrea

258
SHARES
3.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

To help me settle into this unfamiliar spot on the globe, I have invested in maps and tours. I’m trying to learn the local lore, histories, and, most of all, geography.

So much is different from North America. For you, Medellín might begin and end with Pablo Escobar, but that’s myopic. Give Medellín and yourself a break. Apply a wider lens that introduces context and culture.

My first insights into the heart and soul of Colombia was David Bushnell’s “The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself.” This may be the only history of Colombia available in English, and, as it was published in 1993, it is definitely aging.

Medellin City with the metro
Medellín is full of both tranquility and bustle…

Still, much of it reads as though it were written yesterday, and it is certainly describing the same country, with the same strengths and struggles, as today’s newspapers.

Colombia faces unique challenges as a result of its distinct areas, climates, and physical barriers that must be crossed to travel among them.

When you look closely at the geography of the place, it can seem a wonder that it has held together at all.

Medellín hosts one of the practical explanations for how Colombia is held together as one country—the nationally owned Satena Airlines. Based at the local (downtown) Olaya Herrera Airport, Satena has as part of its mission the task of calling at widely separated cities throughout Colombia in an effort to improve internal communications and transport. Profit is not the first priority. It is a quality system, nevertheless, with modern planes and excellent facilities.

First impressions do linger. Although it’s almost two years later now, I can still feel the shock of my first impressions of Medellín.

One was the volume and recklessness of traffic here. I knew from prior exposure to Latin American cities that this would be likely, but in Medellín it can be particularly striking for how it contrasts with the natural beauty of the setting.

Medellín is a very green city that is also increasingly hustling and bustling. I haven’t seen this many construction cranes at work since Berlin after the wall came down.

Yes, this contrast raises the prospect of air quality problems, and there are some signs in valley low spots. But, unlike many cities, Medellín has a firm and enforced program in place that effectively alternates car usage at key times of the week, and people abide by it, even at considerable inconvenience.

I think this behavior supports my main point: Colombians have to be among the world’s kindest and most generous people.

Get Your Free ​Colombia Report Today! ​​​

Learn more about ​​​Colombia ​​​and other countries in our FREE, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​​​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​Colombia: The World’s Next Top Retirement & Investment Haven

Let Me Give An Example From My Own Experience In Medellín…

A park in Medellin with a lot of people
This city has some of the world’s
kindest and most generous people…

I am in my late 80s, I walk with a cane, and my appearance screams “old gringo.” One day I was standing at a busy intersection while a torrent of motorcycles flashed by, followed by a steady stream of cars and trucks.

I was seriously reviewing my options when a young woman stopped her car, jumped out, stopped the rest of the traffic, and proceeded to lead me across the street.

Horns honked in her honor and in greeting to me. I waved my cane in appreciation, and normal chaos resumed in the street.

This was not an isolated example. Old age or a cane will get you special places or service anywhere here, and I can tell you from my own experience that the combination is dynamite.

But even old geezers have to try to help ourselves, particularly us foreigners. We are, after all, guests in some other folks’ country.

Speaking Spanish Gives You A Leg Up In Medellín

The best way I know is to make a real effort to learn Spanish and to use it whenever possible. It doesn’t have to be an expensive or academic exercise, unless that’s your style. You can pick up key words by asking or listening well, which is also a sign of respect. You will soon enough begin to recognize quirks of Colombian culture and practice that will make your life more comfortable.

El Poblado, Medellin is a neighborhood with many apartment buildings
No place is perfect… but Medellín sure
seems like it’s trying harder than
the rest of the world…

For example, don’t expect regular timeliness or complete dependability. They are just not part of everyday life, no matter how good your friendship may be with an individual. Remember the Colombian mantra:Tranquilo…

Most Colombians have a few words of English, and many have lived for some time in the United States, but that does not necessarily mean they have learned English or that English will work in an emergency. How you communicate will have to be worked out individually.

One moment that is truly dangerous is when you and your new Colombian friend have discovered that you share a few words of English and a few words of Spanish, and you try to make arrangements with your newly shared skills. Unrecognized misunderstandings can lead to serious embarrassments or missed connections. Try a six-day trip with no clothes or overnight equipment. A costly language lesson.

This is only to say that the single, absolutely indispensable ingredient of international travel and certainly of a move to a new country is a highly developed and flexible sense of humor…

So armed, you will win every time.

Kenneth Dolbeare
Full-time Colombia Expat

This article was first published in 2018 and has been recently updated.

Tags: Colombiaexpats in colombialife in colombiaRetire in Colombiaretirees in colombiaseniors in colombia
Share104Tweet64
Kenneth Dolbeare

Kenneth Dolbeare

A depression child (born 1930) and too young for WWII, Ken made up for his absence by living the war’s geography and literature. Ken went to college determined to live and write even better than WWII-era authors, then used his degree to qualify for real higher education: four years of international travel as a U.S. Navy officer out of Newport, RI. Ken logged 5 continents and 22 countries on that cruise, learned that the United States, though the boss, was far from the whole world. He then went to graduate school and came out a teacher. His country count is now up to about a dozen, he’s had a lot of fun, and learned a lot—mostly that people have to educate themselves.

Related Posts

iStock/espiegle
Lifestyle

Live On An Island Like Royalty For A Bargain

by Bart Walters
March 21, 2023
0

About 20 years ago, I made a trip to Vancouver, Canada, in February. It was cold, rainy, dark, and miserable....

Read more
View of the seaside town of Dunmore East, County Waterford, Ireland.

How We Made Friends While Living Abroad

March 12, 2023
Panoramic View Of Street By Buildings In Bogota, Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia

February 22, 2023
Tavira in Portugal

The 5 Best Places To Live Overseas In 2023

February 2, 2023
Cyprus: Better Than Your Neighbor’s Retirement To Florida

Life On Cyprus: The Secret Brits Don’t Want Americans To Know

January 26, 2023
A beach in Los Islotes, Panama

Los Islotes In Panama’s Pacific Coast—A Unique Community In One Of The Safest Havens

January 23, 2023
Ferragudo, Portugal

How One Couple Discovered A Great New Life In Algarve

January 20, 2023

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas ...

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Download your FREE report on

The Best Places To Retire In 2023

New Year, New You, New Life Overseas

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY