If Someone You Love Goes Missing in Colombia: The Steps That Actually Find People
Every few weeks a post like it shows up in one of the expat Facebook groups. A son or a daughter, usually writing from another country, says their parent has not answered the phone in days. Someone owns a finca outside the city, drove out to check on it, and never came back. The family […]
Best Time to Visit Medellín
The quick version: Medellín is the “City of Eternal Spring” — around 22°C (72°F) year-round, with no real seasons, so there is no bad time to come weather-wise. What actually changes month to month is rain, crowds, and prices. The driest, easiest weather falls roughly December to March and June to August. The wettest stretches […]
No Dar Papaya: Common Scams in Medellín and How to Avoid Them
The short version: Most of the trouble foreigners run into in Colombia is not random violence. It is a con or an opportunistic theft that you handed someone by being careless, distracted, or flashy. Colombians have one phrase that covers avoiding all of it: no dar papaya. Learn the common scams below, keep your guard […]
Medellín Airport (MDE): How to Get From José María Córdova to the City
The quick version: Medellín’s main airport is José María Córdova (code MDE), and it isn’t in Medellín — it’s in Rionegro, about 45 minutes southeast in the hills. From cheapest to priciest, your options into the city are the airport bus (around 17,000–20,000 pesos), a shared colectivo taxi (around 32,000), Uber/DiDi or an official white […]
Exploring Provenza in Medellin
Provenza is the few-block stretch of El Poblado where most of Medellín’s recent international press has been generated. The Colombian singer Karol G named her 2022 hit “Provenza” after the place. Bad Bunny released a song after a night at one of its basement clubs. Time Out put it on a global list of the […]
Is Medellin safe? An Honest Guide from Someone Who Lives Here
Short answer: Yes. Medellín today is about as safe as a normal large Latin American city. Its 2024 homicide rate was around 11 per 100,000 — the lowest in 82 years, and lower than Bogotá, Cartagena, or Cali. The most common risk for a visitor is theft, not violence — with one serious exception worth […]
Time and weather in Medellin
The quick version: Medellín runs on Colombia Time (UTC-5) and does not use daylight saving, so the clock never changes. That puts it on the same time as New York and Miami in the northern winter, and one hour behind them in summer. The weather barely changes either: it is spring-like all year, averaging about […]
Prepagos Medellin Guide to stay safe
One of the most common questions I get from men planning a trip to Medellín is some version of “what about the prepagos?” Sex work is legal in Colombia, plenty of men come here with it in mind, and I am not going to pretend otherwise or lecture anyone about their choices. But I am […]