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On my world tour I always meet people who manage to travel around the world for years and earn enough money to live on.
They call themselves digital nomads.
Medellín is also a magnet for these modern bon vivants.
Digital nomads are often start-up founders, creatives or people who are reorienting themselves professionally.
Clearly, they need to keep their expenses down before they can establish themselves in the market.
This works particularly well in Medellín.
A single room with bathroom is available in so-called co-living shared apartments from around 200 euros per month.
A nice apartment is available from 300 euros and up.
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Many foods, especially exotic fruits and vegetables, are dirt cheap.
Restaurants entice with lunch dishes including soup and drink for two to five euros.
You rarely get more for your money in a metropolis of millions.
But Medellín has even more to offer.
The climate is pleasantly warm all year round.
Recreational athletes can let off steam for free in the Atanasio-Girardot sports park or in one of the numerous fitness studios.
Party lovers will find clubs, bars and trendy restaurants in abundance in the elite district of El Poblado.
Those interested in education can learn Spanish cheaply in a language school or take a salsa course.
And nature lovers can quickly get out of the city by bus and enjoy the beautiful mountain landscapes and picturesque villages around Medellín.
What do digital nomads live on in Medellín?
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But what do the digital nomads work in Medellín?
I get to know Mayan in my first shared apartment.
She comes from the Philippines, spent the lockdown in northern Brazil last year and had to look for a new country after her visa expired.
“I heard that Medellín is one of the cities with the best quality of life and the best weather,” she says, explaining her choice of location.
Mayan works for a marketing agency.
She doesn't need an office for this.
In Medellín, she works in coworking spaces such as the "Semilla Café"
Source: Martin Lewicki
Mayan has been on the road for two years and works for an online marketing agency.
There is no office, the founder is Australian and also a frequent traveler.
The employees are recruited worldwide by Mayan via video call.
She manages this digital agency that advertises solar system builders in Australia for customers on social networks.
Now they want to expand into the US market as well.
It doesn't have to be there for that.
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Another example is the Swiss YouTube couple Sam and Tacha.
I came across them while researching Colombia.
They made emigrating from Switzerland to Medellín a business idea and on their YouTube channel “How To Expat” they answer all the questions a foreigner might ask about Colombia.
In less than three years, the couple has published over 250 advice videos.
They also help people who want to emigrate to find accommodation, obtain a long-term visa and all other problems that arise in Colombia.
Stranded in Colombia due to Corona
Marina had a completely different business idea.
At the end of 2019, the Serbian started her journey through Latin America and was quickly slowed down by Corona.
She stranded in Medellín and suffered one of the toughest lockdowns.
For almost seven months last year, she was only able to go out to the supermarket.
She had plenty of time to make plans.
A roommate in her shared apartment sold homemade guacamole online, inspiring her.
When he left Colombia, she took over and expanded his business.
She had high-quality labels printed for the glasses, diligently advertised on Instagram and added three more salsas to her range.
Their best seller is the Serbian specialty ajvar.
It is a sauce made from grilled paprika.
A small glass of this elaborately produced delicacy costs almost four euros, but it is worth it for customers from the middle class in Medellín.
The income from online sales is already sufficient to cover the majority of their living expenses.
An American gives tips for better sex
And then the other day a friend told me about Brian: American, late 30s, also a frequent traveler and currently in Medellín.
A few years ago he started working as a masseur until he turned a special skill into a lucrative business.
Brian helps women to female ejaculation with his hands.
In the Philippines he started giving women this special orgasm for a fee.
Not only that. With the consent of the customers, he films his service and publishes the videos on porn sites on the Internet.
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He earns more money by giving live seminars to men who are willing to learn so that they can give women this pleasure themselves.
Now he has over 87,000 followers on Instagram and, according to his own statement, his videos have over 100 million clicks.
You just have to be creative to make a living as a digital nomad.
Read more parts of the world tour series “One Way Ticket” here. The column appears every two weeks.
Escobar's forgotten hippos become a danger
Former drug lord Pablo Escobar smuggled hippos into the country in the 1980s.
These apparently also feel very comfortable outside of Africa and are proliferating.
In the meantime, the heavy animals are causing panic.
Source: WELT / Steffen Schwarzkopf