Medellin Reports

[JjBee62]

I thought all the American tier 1 providers like T-Mobile and at&t have international rates of US $0. 25 or so per minute in most countries beyond the USA Probably more important is the WIFI calling feature. Modern smartphones give users world wide inbound or outbound calling at no cost beyond the monthly service fee when the phone is connected to WIFI. Last week I heard a couple of women in a restaurant comparing mobile plan costs between Canada and the USA Both mentioned they pay a daily add on fee for a lower per minute rate.

I use Verizon. For Canada they provide, at least on my plan, 0. 5 gb per day of 4 G data, calls and texts are free. An additional 0.5 gb costs $5. I'm in Toronto twice weekly and usually the 0. 5 gb is enough for each time.

In other countries pay $10 per day.

[Knowledge]

I thought all the American tier 1 providers like T-Mobile and at&t have international rates of US $0. 25 or so per minute in most countries beyond the USA Probably more important is the WIFI calling feature. Modern smartphones give users world wide inbound or outbound calling at no cost beyond the monthly service fee when the phone is connected to WIFI. Last week I heard a couple of women in a restaurant comparing mobile plan costs between Canada and the USA Both mentioned they pay a daily add on fee for a lower per minute rate.

I really like Google FI for its international coverage, going from one country to another without worrying about the rates changing but it is not meant to be activated outside of the USA and a person has to use a workaround to accomplish this:

https://graydonschwartz.com/how-to-a...utside-the-us/#Google-Fi-Activation-Outside-the-United-States.

I also have read that Google means for their customers to use the service primarily in the USA and that buried in the "Terms Of Use" it says that if they determines that the usage is too extensive outside the USA than they may cut your service:

https://community.nomadgate.com/t/be...he-us/15835/11

[JohnnyO]

Unfortunately things have been very un-predictable in Colombia, and a lot of things kind of defy logic in a sense. Such as the protests that started a month ago wrecking havoc all over the place, and a few days ago there were protesters protesting the protesters in Bogota all wearing white, begging for the blockades and violence to stop. I hope all of this protest madness is over. I think most Colombians are very fatigued about it and it will subside until the politicians come up with another ill timed idea.

However, the elephant in the room is COVID. Right now the infections are the highest they have ever been, yet everything is being opened back up full steam ahead. Doesn't make sense to me that there not instigating any more weekend lockdowns like they did before and the ICU's are still very full.

Regardless, with Medellin being wide open with no weekend lockdowns, at least for the time being, now's the time to come and enjoy. Probably the best place to be for mongering right now on the planet, way better than Mexico, however I don't know about Brazil. And you can forget Asia, the place is toast.

Sorry you cancelled your trip.

One thing thing that makes me think. I live in a nice peaceful part of Laureles with a friendly local feel. I look out of my balcony and watch people just going about their business as well as the shops and restaurants getting ready for the days trade. I read about and saw lots of videos regarding robberies, protests and violence in Medellin but on my balcony it just looks any normal suburb in the world, but here's the thing, that normality can change in a heartbeat. In one single day I witnessed a mob running after a lunatic with a gun and all out war on the streets. Never ever let your guard down here or get complacent no matter how normal things appear to be.

[Surfer500]

You guys should not change your Medellin visit outlook at the drop of the hat. Who is going to pay for my non refundable ticket and other costs I sunk in to cancelled trip, you or JohnnyO.

Just kidding! LOL.

Unfortunately things have been very un-predictable in Colombia, and a lot of things kind of defy logic in a sense. Such as the protests that started a month ago wrecking havoc all over the place, and a few days ago there were protesters protesting the protesters in Bogota all wearing white, begging for the blockades and violence to stop. I hope all of this protest madness is over. I think most Colombians are very fatigued about it and it will subside until the politicians come up with another ill timed idea.

However, the elephant in the room is COVID. Right now the infections are the highest they have ever been, yet everything is being opened back up full steam ahead. Doesn't make sense to me that there not instigating any more weekend lockdowns like they did before and the ICU's are still very full.

Regardless, with Medellin being wide open with no weekend lockdowns, at least for the time being, now's the time to come and enjoy. Probably the best place to be for mongering right now on the planet, way better than Mexico, however I don't know about Brazil. And you can forget Asia, the place is toast.

Sorry you cancelled your trip.

[Mojo Bandit]

I agree on many of your points. My concern is, I guess, if I could buy a new phone in MDE (assuming it was stolen) and activate my T-Mobile e-SIM. I think I could be ok, as I was in Panama and was able to get customer service to help me fix some things. I use a dual-SIM so that DiDi, Rappi, putas, etc. Don't have my personal cell phone number. It also helps with being able to make / receive local calls when necessary. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. Hopefully, no report to follow! Thanks to all for the responses.

And maybe AT & T and GoogleFi will allow you to remove the SIM card and put it into a international phone and it work. T

I really like Google FI for its international coverage, going from one country to another without worrying about the rates changing but it is not meant to be activated outside of the USA and a person has to use a workaround to accomplish this:

https://graydonschwartz.com/how-to-a...utside-the-us/#Google-Fi-Activation-Outside-the-United-States.

I also have read that Google means for their customers to use the service primarily in the USA and that buried in the "Terms Of Use" it says that if they determines that the usage is too extensive outside the USA than they may cut your service:

https://community.nomadgate.com/t/be...he-us/15835/11

[Knowledge]

I use a dual SIM phone too for the past 15 years. It's a real dual SIM phone (the kind that accepts two physical SIM cards) not an iphone. There are several iphone workarounds. You will be OK, no worries.

I agree on many of your points. My concern is, I guess, if I could buy a new phone in MDE (assuming it was stolen) and activate my T-Mobile e-SIM. I think I could be ok, as I was in Panama and was able to get customer service to help me fix some things. I use a dual-SIM so that DiDi, Rappi, putas, etc. Don't have my personal cell phone number. It also helps with being able to make / receive local calls when necessary. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. Hopefully, no report to follow! Thanks to all for the responses.

[PolloNegro]

I agree on many of your points. My concern is, I guess, if I could buy a new phone in MDE (assuming it was stolen) and activate my T-Mobile e-SIM. I think I could be ok, as I was in Panama and was able to get customer service to help me fix some things. I use a dual-SIM so that DiDi, Rappi, putas, etc. Don't have my personal cell phone number. It also helps with being able to make / receive local calls when necessary. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. Hopefully, no report to follow! Thanks to all for the responses.

And maybe AT & T and GoogleFi will allow you to remove the SIM card and put it into a international phone and it work. The one service that I know for a fact will not work after a phone crashes or breaks, is SPRINT. Thank God that T-Mobile has bought Sprint and those problems no longer occur. With T-mobile's Magenta Max plan, which is much cheaper than SPINT's best plan was, allows me to use whatsapp exclusively without ever being charged a fee due to unlimited data. The last time I was in Medellin, I did not worry about running out of data and looking for a store to top up my data, I just used my T-Mobile phone and that was it. As for burner phones, as long as the phone is unlocked and it comes from Metro-TMobile-ATandT-Cricket and the phone is older than 6 months old, you can have the phone unlocked and it will function in Medellin without a problem. As a matter of fact all American phones that function on a 4 G level, function much faster in Medellin than many of the phones you will buy in Medellin as most Colombian phones still function on a 3 G network. So if spending about $125 for a burner phone is too much, then good luck. You can always play tag with girls on facebook via computer, but if you can't leave your location with your main phone, and you do not want your main number exposed to a home life you have back where ever, you have to make some sacrifice. Nothing is complicated in Colombia other than buying property, cars, or trying to get services in your name. Everything else is very tolerable if you know what you want and you already have a game plan before arriving. Pollo Negro is out!

[Lou32]

I did a search of the forum and looked in a couple of other places off the forum but I can't find a lot of info about Edificio Portalegre II in Laureles. Anyone stay there and have any experiences about the place they could share?

[SlapShot10]

Slapshot you can likely afford to replace a lost or stolen phone. No amount of money will replace your foreign phone number but a spare SIM card will. My two part advice is back up your phone content and keep it simple by using the same phone you use in Mexico, North America or wherever else; part two is get a spare SIM card so you can activate your phone number on it via the Internet or by calling your provider. It's a personal choice but I decided years ago I would not sweat material things I can easily replace. I'm not completely reckless. I don't carry my life savings in a backpack while I'm crawling around Centro. I used to use a generic phone cover so my fancy phone doesn't stick out. Now that I have one of those multi lens phones I keep that covered with my hand the rare times I use it out in an open public setting in Centro. When it's in your pocket a stick up guy is not going to make a distinction between a cheapo Opera Mall knockoff or a US $1300 Samsung S21. For me the convenience of my phone is worth more to me than $1,300. I know it's counterintuitive coming from a Centro rat who rarely breaks the 50 K COP barrier chica plus room included but it is how I roll.

I agree on many of your points. My concern is, I guess, if I could buy a new phone in MDE (assuming it was stolen) and activate my T-Mobile e-SIM. I think I could be ok, as I was in Panama and was able to get customer service to help me fix some things. I use a dual-SIM so that DiDi, Rappi, putas, etc. Don't have my personal cell phone number. It also helps with being able to make / receive local calls when necessary. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. Hopefully, no report to follow! Thanks to all for the responses.

[Knowledge]

I like Miraflores for authentic Peruvian food. There are so many restaurants it's hard to go wrong.

I'm so fucking excited to be going back! I've added about 100 WA contacts from SA in the last 2 months, since leaving. Looking forward to newbies & repeats, alike!

I'm kind of writing-off my first week, as it's just filler until I move into my long-term apartment. I'm considering staying in Envigado, just for a change of pace. Anyone stayed there and have a recommendation as to any smaller pockets that are good areas to be, or any specific apartments? I'd prefer to be by La Calle de la Buena Mesa (CL 30 Sur). Any restaurant or bar recommendations in the immediate area?

[SlapShot10]

No more weekend lockdowns on the horizon, only a curfew midnight to 5 AM according to the news.

Medellin is wide open, and I think people are getting burned out on all the protests.

So with that being said, right now is a good time to be in Medellin.

Just read that Medellin curfew and lockdowns all go away June 8. I'm not certain about pico and cedula for shopping. Midnight curfew will continue this week.

I'm so fucking excited to be going back! I've added about 100 WA contacts from SA in the last 2 months, since leaving. Looking forward to newbies & repeats, alike!

I'm kind of writing-off my first week, as it's just filler until I move into my long-term apartment. I'm considering staying in Envigado, just for a change of pace. Anyone stayed there and have a recommendation as to any smaller pockets that are good areas to be, or any specific apartments? I'd prefer to be by La Calle de la Buena Mesa (CL 30 Sur). Any restaurant or bar recommendations in the immediate area?

[SankarShetty]

No more weekend lockdowns on the horizon, only a curfew midnight to 5 AM according to the news.

Medellin is wide open, and I think people are getting burned out on all the protests.

So with that being said, right now is a good time to be in Medellin.

You guys should not change your Medellin visit outlook at the drop of the hat. Who is going to pay for my non refundable ticket and other costs I sunk in to cancelled trip, you or JohnnyO.

Just kidding! LOL.

[Knowledge]

Slapshot you can likely afford to replace a lost or stolen phone. No amount of money will replace your foreign phone number but a spare SIM card will. My two part advice is back up your phone content and keep it simple by using the same phone you use in Mexico, North America or wherever else; part two is get a spare SIM card so you can activate your phone number on it via the Internet or by calling your provider. It's a personal choice but I decided years ago I would not sweat material things I can easily replace. I'm not completely reckless. I don't carry my life savings in a backpack while I'm crawling around Centro. I used to use a generic phone cover so my fancy phone doesn't stick out. Now that I have one of those multi lens phones I keep that covered with my hand the rare times I use it out in an open public setting in Centro. When it's in your pocket a stick up guy is not going to make a distinction between a cheapo Opera Mall knockoff or a US $1300 Samsung S21. For me the convenience of my phone is worth more to me than $1,300. I know it's counterintuitive coming from a Centro rat who rarely breaks the 50 K COP barrier chica plus room included but it is how I roll.

Well I missed you in Puerto Vallarta and was there about ten days ago. Some things to consider about staying in Medellin longer than 180 days in a year. Technically speaking you become a tax resident after being in Colombia more than 180 days in a year, but I don't know if there is an exception for students.

Perhaps where your getting your student visa can shed some light on this, and something you should check into. The Colombian IRS called DIAN is getting more and more sophisticated, and there are several expat's living in Colombia who don't file Colombian taxes and could be in for quite a shock sometime in the future, so just something to check into.

As far as a burner phone, meaning not a smart phone, if that's what your talking about I recommend a Nokia. Lots of knockoffs but the real ones have a long battery life and are about $ 25 USD. But you can also get a smart phone for as low as 200,000 Pesos and it might be a better route for you as you can get data for like 2,000 Pesos a day. As far as Whatsapp on two different phones with different numbers, I tried that as I have two American cell numbers here, and they wouldn't allow it. My American cells stay inside my place, and I only go out with my burner phone.

[Knowledge]

I haven't noticed pico / cedula enforcement. Maybe I shop at places that are too down market.

Just read that Medellin curfew and lockdowns all go away June 8. I'm not certain about pico and cedula for shopping. Midnight curfew will continue this week.

[Paulie97]

I have been watching the State Departments Travel Alerts for 4 years now and Colombia has been at Level 4 the entire time. I agree, it is very good advice right now due to the protests and the lockdown.

El Mechanico.

I'm sure I've seen it at Level 3 a number of times during that time frame.