• 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
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • 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 ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • 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

A Couple Living The Dream Life In Medellin, Colombia

“Before We Got Here, We Were Convinced This Place Was Crazy Dangerous… What Nonsense!”

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Jul 18, 2019
in Colombia, Lifestyle
0
View across Medellin from apartment building

Image Source: iStock/Nora-Elise Beck

221
SHARES
3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I’m writing from the San Fernando Plaza Hotel in Medellín where, bright and early this sunny morning, Lief Simon kicked off this week’s Live and Invest in Colombia Conference before a sell-out crowd.

We’ve been holding conferences in Medellín for nine years. The meeting rooms were far less full our first few years.

Today the world is catching up and catching on… and we couldn’t be more delighted. Medellín is one of the world’s best places to spend time, a land of perpetual spring, a Euro-chic brand-name city in the making that deserves all the attention she’s finally enjoying.

Hosts for this week’s event Lief Simon has invited all our top Colombia colleagues and resources to join us in the room and on stage for this big event. Expats and experts are here from Medellín, of course, but from other opportunity-filled corners of this beautiful country, as well, from Bogotá to Cali and from Cartagena to Popayán.

We’ve based our annual Colombia conferences in Medellín every year because, frankly, we look forward to any chance to return to this city. But we also recognize that Colombia has a great deal to offer beyond Medellín.

As well as the experts who’ve joined us here in Medellín for this event—from real estate attorneys to health-care specialists, bankers, and Spanish-language instructors—I’m looking forward to catching up this week with expat friends in this town…

Including Darren and Wendy Howarter.

For almost 20 years, the Howarters lived in the town of Oregon, Illinois (population: 4,000)… in their dream home… on a private acre of wooded land… supported by their small community.

They could have stayed in Illinois all their lives… but for one unwelcome visitor that made a return every winter…

Snow…

Followed by more snow…

For weeks on end.

One winter, after weeks of snow shoveling, Darren and Wendy agreed on a plan: no more winters.

 

A few years later, after trying a couple of other places on for size, the couple eventually set up home here in Medellín. They shared their full—and highly entertaining—journey with attendees this morning.

Darren and Wendy admit that, like most Americans, their pre-visit impression of Medellín—and of Colombia in general—was “crazy dangerous.”

In fact, the country wasn’t even on their radar until they came to our Retire Overseas Conference in Orlando several years ago. That’s when they decided Medellín was worth checking out.

Leaving behind their hometown, one of the couple’s biggest fears was losing the support of their close-knit community where everyone knew everyone else… and help was always at hand.

Luckily, despite its 2.5 million population, Medellín didn’t disappoint. The locals here, as Darren puts it, are “small-town-friendly.” And, as the couple planned their relocation, they had countless offers of help.

The year-round spring temperatures and their welcoming neighbors won the Howarters over. Wendy left her full-time career as an attorney behind and has taken up travel writing (including for Live and Invest Overseas!). Darren trades on the stock market. They’re officially “retired” but continue to bring in an income… on their own schedule.

The best part of the day, they both say, is coming together every evening on their balcony to watch the sunset—or a distant storm—over a glass of wine.

Of course, we’ve so many other experts and expats to hear from over these three action-packed days this week. Lief and our Colombia team will walk attendees through everything they need to know to, including how to:

  • Make the big move to Colombia (from residency and visa options… to bringing in pets… and finding a home to rent or buy)…
  • Settle in with ease (getting connected, paying bills, opening a bank account, learning Spanish, finding quality medical and dental care, and more)…
  • Take advantage of the current window of opportunity to invest in this country while the U.S. dollar is super strong and Colombia’s prospects are big… we’ll look at diverse investment opportunities from buy-to-rent condos to organic farming and timber options…

I’ll be your eyes and ears on the ground here in lovely Medellín all week.

I have to run now to get back to the meetings, but I’ll have more for you from the scene tomorrow.

Speak with you then…

Kathleen Peddicord

Comments

Share89Tweet55
Previous Post

What You Need To Know About Temporary Residency In Belize

Next Post

The History Behind The World’s Best Wine

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

Panama City Skyline from Cinta Costera Park, Panama City, Panama.
Investing

How Panama Became A Great Economic Success Story

by Kathleen Peddicord
January 19, 2021
0

Last week we held the biggest Live and Invest in Panama Conference in our history, with more attendees and more...

Read more
Refreshing Cocktail at beach in Belize.

10 Reasons To Reinvent Your Life In Beautiful Belize And 9 Challenges

January 17, 2021
Perfect tropical paradise beach with palm trees and hammock 350x250

Most Frequently Asked (And Not So Crazy) Questions About Retiring Overseas

January 10, 2021
Family watching sunrise on beach.

Moving Overseas Will Affect Your Family But It Can Be For The Better

January 5, 2021
Santa Catalina, Veraguas, Panama.

Starting A School In Panama Near Los Islotes

January 3, 2021
Couple Enjoying Beautiful Sunset Walk on the Beach.

9 Critical Issues To Consider Before Deciding To Live Overseas

January 1, 2021
Happy children boy and girl in costumes of superheroes in the outdoor.

Discover The Charm Of A Back-To-Basics Lifestyle In Belize

December 30, 2020
Next Post
A vineyard in Argentina

The History Behind The World’s Best Wine

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.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

how to retire overseas

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 2021

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

© 2008-2021 - 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

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.