John and Susan are two expats who recently moved from Panama to Medellín. We interview them to find out about their experiences and challenges in moving.
John and Susan are originally from U.S. and they lived for three years in Boquete, Panama. They loved living in Boquete. Also, they made wonderful friends and had unforgettable experiences. But deep down they never expected to be in Panama long-term. And after three years they got the bug for a new adventure and decided to move to Medellín after three exploratory trips.
Two more huge drivers for John and Susan were the high quality and low cost of healthcare in Colombia with Colombia having 23 of the best hospitals of Latin America plus the overall lower cost of living in Medellín compared to Panama.
Note the above photo is John and Susan overlooking Comuna 13 in Medellín. Here’s the interview with John and Susan:
1. When did you first visit Medellín?
We first visited Medellín in July 2016. This was a city on our bucket list for a while. We visiting for a short four days and crammed in as much as possible in that short time.
Our impressions from our first visit included:
- It’s a bargain – for example, a fantastic filet mignon lunch for two in the southern municipality of Sabaneta, including a bottle of wine, was about $36.
- Medellín is incredibly clean – we rarely saw trash thrown anywhere in Medellín including the roadsides. Anyone who’s done extensive traveling in Latin America knows what a rarity that is.
- It’s pretty – Medellín lies in a valley surrounded by two mountain ranges so there are amazing views.
- The Metro system is fantastic – We rode the Medellín metro extensively and paid no more than $8 in our four-day visit. Medellín has one of the best public transportation systems we’ve ever experienced, anywhere.
We visited two more times including a 12-day trip in June 2018 that sealed the deal. During this June trip we stayed in three different neighborhoods. And we spent a lot of time walking around to get a feel for what life might be like in each.
Outside the Ivy building in Laureles where John and Susan rented a furnished apartment for two months
2. When did you move from Panama to Medellín?
We moved to Medellín in November 2018. So, we rented our house in Panama, sold our car, packed and got our dogs ready for the big move.
We arrived in Medellín on November 22, 2018 with 12 pieces of luggage and our two dogs in cargo.
The dogs went to a cargo complex at the Medellín airport. Fortunately, we had the assistance of a driver/helper when we arrived and found the three offices we had to find (yes, three – the shipping company, the agricultural ministry, and the customs office). And after a paperwork glitch we finally were able to see our dogs after three hours.
Also, on our blog we wrote about our arrival in Medellín.
A typical Laureles street
2. Where do you live in Medellín?
After spending time in three different areas in June – Sabaneta, Envigado, and Laureles – we chose Laureles as our first place to live.
We like Laureles which has a wonderfully European feel and is extremely walkable, with quiet leafy streets, large parks, and more restaurants than we’ll ever possibly be able to visit in one lifetime.
In addition, we chanced into a great temporary rental, a furnished two-bedroom apartment that allows pets. We lived in this furnished apartment near the Primer Parque in Laureles for two months to get our bearings while looking for a more permanent rental.
Apartment building in Laureles where John and Susan rented an unfurnished apartment
3. Did you find a more permanent rental?
Yes, we looked at upwards of 10 unfurnished apartments in Laureles before finding one we liked. We found an apartment of our dreams – a three-bedroom unfurnished apartment on the sixth floor of a building in Laureles.
However, we discovered that renting furnished apartments was easy compared to renting unfurnished. As foreigners to overcome the fiador (cosigner requirement) we found we needed to put down a large deposit in the form of a CDT (a type of CD, in U.S. terminology, that does pay interest) and/or pay several months’ rent in advance.
In addition, we wrote about our first three months in Medellín including our experience renting, getting visas and getting health insurance on our blog.
4. What has been your biggest challenge in moving from Panama to Medellín?
Learning Spanish has been our biggest challenge so far. But it’s a good challenge we knew about before moving.
Renting an unfurnished apartment was also big challenge for us. And we found knowing Spanish was important when looking for apartments. But we found a bilingual driver/translator to help.
The bottom line is the difference between renting an unfurnished apartment and furnished apartment in Colombia is like night and day. We found it’s much more difficult to rent an unfurnished apartment.
5. What do you think of Medellín so far and what advice would you give to someone thinking about moving to Medellín?
So far after about four months in Medellín, we love it. We wake up every morning, walk the dogs and say what a great day.
Our biggest advice to someone planning to move here is come and visit and actually spend some time here. Also, don’t come with a vacation mindset. Come to Medellín with a relocation mindset and spend time in neighborhoods to see what is like to live in different areas.
Meet John and Susan at the April Medellin Guru Meetup
If you would like to meet John and Susan and talk to them they plan to be at the April Medellin Guru meetup on April 23 at Mercado Del Tranvía in Envigado.
Join the Medellin Guru April Meetup
John and Susan at Machu Picchu in Peru
The Bottom Line: John and Susan Moved from Panama to Medellín
I want to thank John and Susan for sharing their story about moving from Panama to Medellín.
John and Susan are not the first expats I have met that have moved from Panama to Medellín. Over the past several years I have met several other expats who have moved from Panama to Medellín. But I haven’t yet met any expats the moved the other direction.
Also, we previously compared Medellín vs Panama City, which have been rated as two of the top foreign retirement locations. In our unscientific and somewhat subjective Medellín vs Panama City comparison of 21 categories, we found that Medellín wins if you equally weigh the categories.
Sign up for the Free Medellin Guru Newsletter – You can see all of the previous Medellin Guru weekly email newsletters and sign up here.
21 thoughts on “Expat Interview: John and Susan Moved from Panama to Medellín”
I would bet the real reasons for John and Susan to move is they are out of money and have not lived by the sea since they were in Boquete which is far from the Sea. Years ago people wanted to move to Panama because it was cheap like Medellin. Now they move to Panama for its beauty, services and its proximity to the Sea. I wish them tremendous happiness.
I see no reason not to take the couple at their word.
Good interview Jeff and a couple who are not negative about Panama…. noting they lived in Boquete tells me a lot. Yes they had friends but so many of those living in Boquete have the holier than thou attitude towards us Panama Nationals. They did not reflect that attitude, so I applaud them.
All the stories r great. Black in Medellin great and especially well written. Thanx for the share.
How to be in contact with John and susan ?.
Harry from Panama
Thank you
harrybrou@yahoo.com
Hi John and Susan,
I retired to David, Panama where I currently live.
I will be in Laureles in September 3 for the first time with 2 of my sisters
from the States.
I’m contemplating a permanent move to Medellin.
I would love to be in touch with you as you are also from Panama, for guidance
if you don’t mind.
Please fell free to send me an email so we can communicate about that and more.
I would appreciate a meeting with you in Medellin the first week of September if possible.
Thank you in advance
Regards
Harry
email: harrybrou@yahoo.com
I am guessing you Harry are not a person who enjoys the Sea since you live in David and are contemplating Medellin. i would also guess that you are not a person of many means so Medellin will probably be a good place for you! You might want to check Managua too which is even cheaper than Medellin!
You have the most informative and Professional Website about Medellín. Congratulations!
I have not found Information regarding moving household goods.
For example, how much would it cost to move household goods, paying taxes on importing goods (mostly electronics) and moving companies?
Do you recommend moving household goods or buying them in Medellín?
How about voltage? I live in Europe and most of my equipment is 220V. I am confident there’s possibility to have 220V electricity voltage. Am I correct?
Spanish is my mother language.
Thanks, Daniel
Hi Daniel, thanks. We haven’t covered moving household goods yet. Most expats that move here don’t move household goods and bring small items in suitcases and buy bigger items here. I have heard about problems encountered with shipping containers. We plan to cover moving household goods in the future but it will take time to research.
Voltage in Colombia is 110V, with a frequency of 60hz, and Colombia uses the same plugs as in the U.S. Most modern equipment like computers and cell phones will work with 220V or 110V but you will need to buy plug adaptors.
Thank you Jeff
Great interview. I have been following John and Susan since they first moved to Panama. Medellín sounds like a fantastic place for expats to settle!
Thanks for sharing your experience on moving. So crazy with the paperwork glitch that kept your dogs in cargo!
We enjoy learning about other couples who have found what we learned about Medellin. We came to Medellin for the weather in 2015 and stayed because of the people. The variety of experiences, the great public transportation, the feel of energy, the cleanliness but nothing has been a brighter spot than the people who go out of their way to help you. We have found Laureles to be so comfortable that is is one of our homes in the world. Thanks you for sharing your experiences.
Hello from Panama
I’ve been trying to be in touch with John and Susan as they don’t list a contact, I tried using this
publication to no avail.
I’m from David Chiriquí and will be in Medellin just for the week on Sept 3rd to the 11th and Stay in Laureles.
Please, try to contact me at harrybrou@yahoo.com
I’ll buy you coffee so we can talk about Boquete and my possible change of residence to Colombia.
I definitely would love to meet you in person as I don’t know of anyone yet in Medellin.
Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.
Nice article, when I visited Panama fortunately I met some expats that were moving to Medellín and they recommended Medellín over Panama. I hate the foreign retirement publications that keep pushing overpriced Panama with all the gringos there.
Be careful with CDTs, agencies use this as a ‘Ransom’ they will hold your CDT until you fix any problems in the apartment, even the small problems are not yours and you don’t really think about it when you first move in.. For example; a draw cabinet not working properly.
Also if the agency goes out of business or is not contactable, you won’t be able to get your CDT deposit back, without a major fight with the insurance company.
Yes. But to be safe make sure to get an inventory documenting any and all problems when you move in. And only rent from a larger agency that has been in business for many years.
Re: Sabaneta, Envigado, and Laureles
Could you give us an idea as to furnished Apartment rentals in these cities, and the monthly rental rates?????
Hi Russ, we surveyed furnished apartment rentals in Sabaneta, Envigado, and Laureles plus El Poblado and Envigado in January to find out market rental rates. See: https://medellinguru.com/furnished-apartment-rental-costs/
John and Susan welcome to Medellin. Thanks for the interview and hope to see more interviews on Medellin Guru of expats that have moved here to Medellin.
Hi David, thanks. Yes, we plan to interview additional expats who have moved to Medellín. We also plan to interview expats who have opened businesses in Medellín.
Comments are closed.