Travelling solo through Central America, Venezuela, Colombia and then the mad parties at the World Cup in Rio had fully burned me out, I was supposed to be traveling for almos ten months on this trip but I was only four or five months in and I had hit the travel wall. I was feeling jaded, behind in work, letting my partners down with biz commitments – I had to change something. My superstar assistant then fixed it all with one email.

IMG_4214
The living room

“Johnny, you should stop traveling for a couple of weeks, study Spanish and stay in Medellin, Colombia. You can recharge and catch up. I’ve found you a perfect place to stay, check it out”

It was International House, Medellin. The concept of this place is something that I can see growing a lot in the next decade, and in fact, I’d be keen to start something similar in my home base of Thailand. Basically, it’s somewhere between a hostel and an apartment.

You have a kitchen to prepare meals, social areas to have real conversation with people who will be sticking around. It felt so good to not be asking “So where are you from, where have you been and where are you going”. The same hostel questions can be a killer when you’re on the road a lot. This was a breath of fresh air.

IMG_4216 IMG_4217

International House, Medellin allows you to rent a room, or dorm, in a small apartment complex, complete with communal areas, all apartment mod-cons, and of course with other people who you can meet and socialise with. It has a different vibe to a hostel in that the people are often staying much longer than a couple of random nights, often people stay for months on end. It gives you a great base to explore the gorgeous city of Medellin, study Spanish, make new friends and, for me, take a break from hard-core, fast-paced backpacking. It was heaven.

IMG_4349 IMG_4351

I stayed a few extra nights actually because the prospect of leaving was so tough. Each night on the top floor, people would gather for drinks, and the view from the balcony is unreal.

Screen Shot 2014-11-15 at 3.31.42 PM Screen Shot 2014-11-15 at 3.31.51 PM

The location is pretty good – it’s not in the heart of Poblado, where most foreigners stay, so it gives you a real Colombian vibe. The neighbourhood is quite plush, so safety is less an issue here than in many places across Medellin. There are supermarkets and bars nearby too, so everything couldn’t be more convenient.

Room rates can be worked out nightly, but this place is truly special when you treat it more like home. Staying a month would be perfect, although with my ‘every country in the world’ plans, I can’t spare the time. Rooms run around $329 per month, which is insane value when no contract, deposit etc are involved. If you guys are keen to study Spanish, and live it up in South America’s coolest city, hit up Joel on    joel.goleburn@gmail.com.  Just be prepared to stay longer than you planned 😛

IMG_4375

Partying with friends from IH
Partying with friends from IH

Remember, never travel without travel insurance! And never overpay for travel insurance!

I use HeyMondo. You get INSTANT quotes. Super cheap, they actually pay out, AND they cover almost everywhere, where most insurance companies don't (even places like Central African Republic etc!). You can sign-up here. PS You even get 5% off if you use MY LINK! You can even sign up if you're already overseas and traveling, pretty cool.

Also, if you want to start a blog...I CAN HELP YOU!

Also, if you want to start a blog, and start to change your life, I'd love to help you! Email me on johnny@onestep4ward.com. In the meantime, check out my super easy blog post on how to start a travel blog in under 30 minutes, here! And if you just want to get cracking, use BlueHost at a discount, through me.

Also, (if you're like me, and awful with tech-stuff) email me and my team can get a blog up and running for you, designed and everything, for $699 - email johnny@onestep4ward.com to get started.

Do you work remotely? Are you a digital nomad/blogger etc? You need to be insured too.

I use SafetyWing for my digital nomad insurance. It covers me while I live overseas. It's just $10 a week, and it's amazing! No upfront fees, you just pay week by week, and you can sign up just for a week if you want, then switch it off and on whenever. You can read my review here, and you can sign-up here!

sep-icons
teach-blog

So if you’re ready to…..

1) Change your life
2) Travel the world
3) Get paid to travel
4) Create a positive influence on others
5) Be free of offices and ‘real world’ rubbish

Then Sign Up Below and Let’s Get Started!

Follow me on Instagram @onestep4ward