The Medellin Effect
“Kathleen, my husband and I have fallen in love with this place. We’re staying on through next week, and we’re determined to find an apartment to buy before we go back home. We never expected to love it here as much as we do. I can’t describe to our family back in the States what Medellin is really like…”
“Kathleen, this is a real city. I mean, I know you’ve been writing about how sophisticated and cultured Medellin is, but, I have to admit, I didn’t really believe you. It’s hard to understand until you’re here and you see for yourself. This city isn’t at all what I expected, even after reading your accounts of it. Your descriptions don’t do it justice. But now I understand. It’s hard to articulate just how nice it is here…”
“Kathleen, you can tell this place isn’t your typical Latin American destination as soon as you arrive at the airport. Even the airport experience is pleasant and efficient. Then you drive down the mountain from the airport to the valley that is Medellin, and you’re dumbfounded. How did this city exist all this time without anyone paying any attention to it?”…
These were some of the parting comments from attendees at this week’s Live and Invest in Colombia Conference in Medellin. I’ve come to think of it as The Medellin Effect. You can’t properly describe it. You have to experience it for yourself.
Latin America Correspondent Lee Harrison, in the city with us all week, closed the event with what I thought was one of the most useful presentations of all. Lee and his wife Julie have spent the past 10 years as perpetual travelers in this region. They moved a decade ago from the United States, first to Ecuador, then to Uruguay, then to Brazil, and now they’re organizing another move, to Medellin, Colombia. Lee’s presentation for the group Friday afternoon compared and contrasted these destinations, all interesting for the would-be foreign retiree for different reasons, appealing in different ways.
As Lee explained, though, for him, “Medellin may be the pinnacle of my evolving retire overseas experience.
“I think this may be our last stop. Based on my 10 years of experience living and traveling around both Central and South America, it’s hard to imagine somewhere better than here.”
Kathleen Peddicord
