Dowtown Medellin
What an incredible year.
The end of 2013 marks the fifth full year of Medellin Living. Running this blog continues to be as fun for me, and hopefully as helpful for readers, as the day I started it.
Before we move on to my favorites posts of the year, I want to highlight a few key accomplishments for me and the blog.
In February, I released the first edition of the Medellin Travel Guide: Insider Advice from an American Expat in Colombia, which has gone on to sell more than 750 copies to date. I can’t wait to work on the second edition in 2014.
In April, Medellin Living underwent a massive makeover. The new design made it faster and easier to use on both desktops and mobile devices.
In June, we began organizing twice-monthly meet ups, which have been attended by more than 100 readers and friends.
In July, we launched a weekly email newsletter to deliver the best of the blog to readers’ Inboxes.
And in the last few months, we made further improvements by adding an Events Calendar and free Classifieds.
In 2013, we published 259 posts. Here are some of my favorites:
Holidays
From celebrating New Year’s Eve in a Colombian family’s home to dressing up for Halloween, and touring the city’s Christmas lights, celebrating the holidays in Medellin can be a lot of fun. And that’s not including all the public holidays, which often take the form of three day weekends.
Festivals
Medellin has a major international festival almost every month, but two of the biggest, and my personal favorites continue to be Colombiamoda and La Feria de las Flores.
Restaurants
Spending nine months out of the year in Medellin meant I made it a mission to catch up on my restaurant reviews. Add in Ryan’s recommendations, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a better source of food reviews for the city.
Cafes
There’s more to Medellin’s cafe scene than Juan Valdez. Check out some of these independent cafes.
Nightlife
Looking back, my party years were from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, I scaled back, and also spent more time going back to places I enjoyed, rather than trying new ones. Still, we managed to cover some new ground, including Medellin’s growing microbrewery scene.
Travel
Between Ryan and my travels, we covered a lot of ground in Colombia this year. In addition to the places mentioned below, I also took a few weekend trips to Guatape, Barbosa, and Bogota to apply for my business visa.
I didn’t make it everywhere I wanted to go for the year, but I’m already thinking about how to make up for that in 2014.
Obtaining a Colombian Business Visa
From June to early August, my attention was consumed by the application process for a Colombian business visa. The good news is I got it, and the rest is history.
Everything Else
A mashup of other posts that didn’t fit in the categories above.
Do you have a favorite post from 2013? Or are there specific topics or places you’d like to see us cover in 2014? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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Congratulations on another great year Dave! I always enjoy reading your new posts when they pop up in my email.
Thanks Luke, feliz ano to you too!
I have thorougly enjoyed all the posts and newsletters I have read so far. There are a lot I still have to catch up on! Thank you for sharing so useful and relevant information. I look forward to seeing you again at a meetup next year.
Thanks for reading Jennifer, and happy New Year!
Tank u david for all the information i got from u...it helps a lot,im now 90% sure i will come to life in medellin because im very tired of chiang mai. so, all the best,good health+good luck in 2014...
You're welcome Benno. I've met a lot of folks who've been based in Chiang Mai at one point or another. Medellin is an excellent alternative for those wanting to spend some time in Latin America.
I am starting my second year of blogging about Colombia and a mutual friend from GotoColombia.com recommended your page as a great blog platform and writing style. I must admit I am quite impressed, I like what you are doing in Medellin and I hope to do some similar stuff in Pereira so thanks for the inspiration and great site!!
Thanks Erin, glad you like the blog.