Life Doesn't Get Better Than This...
Discover How We Stumbled Upon a Secret Haven in Colombia That Practically Lets You Live a VIP LIFESTYLE on Less Than $1,500 U.S. Dollars Per Month
Dear Escape to Medellin Reader,
I've never seen anything like this in my life ... and although I'm living this VIP lifestyle, it's still hard for me to wrap my brain around how all of this is possible on so little money.
I'm living in a top-notch Penthouse in one of the most desirable cities in the country, with an incredible view ... I'm being chauffeured all over town for what amounts to about $2 - $3 bucks.
I got attorneys and doctors coming to my house to advise and treat my family ... Getting medical lab work completed for about $5 - $10 each...
We even have a housekeeper that comes by 6-days a week to clean, cook and keep our home in order ... which frees up our time to 'enjoy life and spend even more time together as a family'...
I don't say all of this to brag ... But I want you to know the quality of life you can have in a modern, first rate city in Colombia, for way less than you could ever imagine...
But before I get all into that, let me explain how we ended up discovering this 'hidden gem' of a life!
Let me start from the beginning...
Traveling abroad was a last minute decision for us. Our entire family talked about it briefly for years, but things didn’t really get set in motion until after our then 16-year old daughter applied and got accepted as an foreign exchange student.
She was initially destined for Ankara, Turkey; but then the military coup happened and they ended up reassigning her to the Czech Republic.
As I researched Ankara, and the Czech Republic, I became really excited as I started to read and learn about these amazing places. When it was time to take my daughter Kayla to get her passport, I went along and got mine too.
A few weeks later, we got passports for my wife and our 3 younger daughters as well. I figured we’d all need passports in the event there was an emergency that required us to go snatch our daughter out.
Once the passports arrived in the mail, we instantly realized we now had ‘keys to the world’, and we weren’t just gonna sit by and not take advantage of our new found freedom.
As I started to research places to visit, I started to uncover how much cheaper it would be to live in other countries. I started discovering how cheaper medications would cost. I started uncovering how much cheaper it would be to go see the doctor.
You see, for me, I didn’t do a good job saving, investing and planning for my retirement. While I made a ton of money with my online businesses, I certainly didn’t do a good job keeping much of it.
I was a consumer. I spent everything I earned. It’s quite shameful really, but as I started to uncover how well we could live in these other countries, it quickly dawned on me that this could be my ‘second-chance’ to get this right.
I could use this golden opportunity to get my financial life in order, while saving a huge amount of money … Plus we’d get to see the world and live an even more quality life than we were already living.
We could move to these places and save a boatload of money AND live a much better lifestyle than we already were for MUCH less…
I won’t say we weren’t already living a great quality life, because we were… It was just darn expensive to keep living the lifestyle. I had kids in private school. I had a business and staff that depended on me to make the right choices so they could take care of their families.
I had teenagers in high school, and every time I turned around, they needed stuff … I had money coming out of my bank account for everything imaginable. Foolish spending really … I had boat club memberships that allowed us to pick and choose boats to go out on any day of the week. And to top that all off, we lived on a freaking island (Amelia Island). You pay a premium fee for that…
The more stuff we had, the harder I had to work to keep money flowing through the business … It was a never ending cycle.
The fact that I could now ditch everything I owned, to start fresh in a new country, brought me relief. I could start over and reinvent a much simpler and carefree life, while learning about new cultures and live just as good, for much less…
Why not do it?
I started to get excited with each piece of new information I uncovered each day. In places like Thailand and Vietnam, I started reading stories of how people were living a super-high quality life for what amounted to practically pennies on the dollar.
As I started to uncover other places that offered a high quality lifestyle at an unbelievably high discount, I figured we’d go to those places first.
But when it came time to make a decision on which place to go to first, I freaked out.
I’d been in the United States for over 42 years and never left the confinements of our very own borders. Everyone else was excited, but I was too scared to ‘pull the trigger’.
Instead, I opted to play it safe. Instead of going to these far away destinations, we’d go to Canada first to test out the waters.
As I started to investigate Canada, I discovered the cheapest province to live in was Quebec. All of the other provinces were very expensive.
But Montreal, which was in the Quebec province, offered big promises in terms of saving money. As I started researching the pricing for rentals, I quickly realized we’d actually be saving a ton of money.
I mean think about this for a moment. I’m actually putting more money in my pocket by simply moving … It’s like getting paid to go visit and live in a foreign country for free.
As I continued to search, I found an amazing condo in the city for $1,500 per month. The rent included all utilities (electricity, water, gas), Internet and cable TV. I didn’t have to pay insurance or anything like that, so that equated to more savings. Even my car insurance rate would drop after moving out of Florida (more savings).
All in all, I calculated that by ditching everything we owned and moving to Montreal, I’d actually save about $900 per month just on living expenses (food was slightly cheaper, and with the stronger U.S. dollar, we’d save money on food as well, and we’d save a little money when we ate out … A bunch of restaurants were within walking distance; cheaper transportation options would also drop our cost down in fuel.
All in all, it’s easy to say we’d save over $1,000 per month when it all factored out.
This idea was insanely crazy to me … I couldn’t believe my research was real, but the numbers all added up. The U.S. dollar was stronger than Canada’s dollar and that meant I could get more in Canada with my U.S. money.
In addition to that, my wife has a bladder condition called Interstitial Cystitis. The medication she gets here in the U.S. cost $1,000.00 for a 30-day supply. She could get this same medication for about $130 bucks in Canada. Krazy … I know!!!
That alone would be worth the move. So with all of this data, I decided we’d hit Canada first.
Keep in mind, this was me playing it ‘safe’. I determined living in Canada would be like living in the United States. And since it was on the border, we could drive there … Which allowed us to have a car when we got there, and if we didn’t like it, we could simply hop in the car and drive right back across the border with practically zero problems.
So … Canada was it for us.
Everyone was excited (at least those in ‘our’ house). We had family and friends who were scared for us. Everyone had ‘what-if’ scenarios to repeat, and they were all genuinely concerned for our safety.
It came as a shock to everyone that we’d just sell and give away everything we owned (and we threw away the stuff we couldn’t sell or give away into a huge dumpster that was delivered to our driveway).
Our friends never personally knew anyone who just up and left with a last minute’s notice. Some thought we had gone mentally unstable.
But nonetheless, we left and got on the road to Canada on September 10th.
The plan was to stay 90-days, and if within that time we liked it, we’d apply for a visa to stay and live in the country.
We got to Montreal the following day. It took us about 20-22 hours of actual driving time to get there.
We grabbed our keys from the drop-box and walked into our suite. From the outside, it didn’t look like the pictures on the Internet. As we climbed five flights of stairs, with luggage in hand, we started to think we’d been taken advantage of.
It got worse with each step. When we finally made it to the hallway on the 5th floor, I really believed we been had. Based on the way the hallway was laid out, I convinced myself there was no way the condo we saw online could look the way it did with the building we were in.
We finally opened the door and to our amazement, it looked 10 times better than it did online … The outside building and the interior hallways did it no justice. We were relieved (and exhausted).
For those of you who don’t know, Quebec is the only province in Canada in which French is the official language. This was one of the reasons we were excited to go because we thought it would be a great opportunity for the kids to learn the language.
When we got into Quebec, I quickly realized we were in a foreign land. Many of the signs did not have an English translation on it and for the first time, I felt out of place.
We stopped to get some food, and again, I quickly realized we were out of place. I honestly did not like that feeling. We couldn’t speak, nor understand the language. It was very uncomfortable. In addition, the people didn’t seem to friendly.
As I started to explore the city more (me and my 8 year old … everyone else was laid up sick), I started to notice how ‘cold’ the people were.
No one looked you in the eyes as you passed by to make an attempt to say ‘hello’.
With me being from the deep South, that’s a common courtesy we did when passing someone on the sidewalk, or within close proximity. Not here in Montreal … They didn’t even speak.
I eventually had to force myself to stop saying ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ (or bonjour), and I found it difficult doing that.
The following day, my daughter and I sat in a park and I just watched as people passed by each other across the street. NO ONE spoke to one another.
I did not like this. As the days went by, I got more and more agitated. After about 5 days, I was annoyed and pretty much decided the night before that we’d be leaving in the morning.
I was not going to tie up all my money in a place I didn’t want to be. Of course the wife was upset and pissed off, but I wasn’t staying another day.
Without really knowing where we’d go, we packed up the following morning to plan our escape.
I made a post about it on Facebook and shortly after, my brother called to suggest I visit other parts of Canada. He convinced me other parts of Canada would be much warmer and kinder.
I agreed to give Toronto a try before bailing out of Canada altogether. So we made the drive to Toronto and immediately fell in love with the city and the people.
The culture and the diversity in Toronto was amazing. I never seen anything like it in my life. I’m seeing blue-eyed, blonde haired Muslims walking around in full dress garb. Not just a few, but a lot of them. I never seen that before.
I met a Chinese man who was dating an Indian woman from Bangladesh.
I saw a Vietnamese man married to a black Canadian woman. I can give example after example of this. I was in AWE.
I even saw a bunch of young men walking with turbans on their head and no one was looking at them. It was the most diverse group of people I’d ever seen in one place.
When we were in Wal-Mart, you’d see an Indian woman at cash register #1 … A Jamaican at the other register. A woman clothed in her religious veil at the other register, and all kinds of people from various ethnicities all working, talking and laughing.
It was simply amazing.
At this point, I was convinced we had to pull the trigger and get off of the North American continent to explore what this BIG world had to offer.
We attempted to stay in Toronto for at least a month. But when we arrived, there were a lot of festivities, activities and events going on. Every hotel was booked and it took us over 3 hours to find a hotel..
When we found one, we quickly started searching for a place to stay on AirBnB. As I continued to search neighboring cities, I realized the cost of living in Toronto was outrageously high.
The original plan was to move in order to save money and to live a better quality life with less. That was not going to happen in Toronto.
We stayed a few more days to explore the city, but after that, it was time to ‘dip’. Spending $200 - $300 per night on a hotel room wasn’t going to work out.
Fast-forward a few weeks, and we finally made it to Medellin, Colombia. I could not be happier than I am now. My only regret was not doing this earlier on in my life.
The quality of life afforded to us here is absolutely amazing … I wouldn’t believe it if I heard it from someone else.
We have a housekeeper that comes by our house 6-days per week from the hours of 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. She cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner. She cleans up each of the bedrooms (we have 4 + 4 ½ bathrooms). She does the laundry and puts them away. She helps us with our Spanish and she’s a delight to have around… Our costs for her services: $420 per month (it’s slightly higher because we go through an agency – I’ll share why that’s important in another newsletter – but know that this can come back to haunt you BIG if done the wrong way).
Housing is very affordable and the medical care is state of the art here.
I don’t know what your reasons are for wanting to move and/or retire to Medellin, but there are many benefits such as:
· To significantly reduce your overall cost of living
· Enjoy spring-temperatures year round
· Enhanced quality of life
· Improve your health
· Affordable healthcare options and lower-priced medicines
· And much more
Medellin offers all of this, and much more. In the upcoming blog posts and e-mail, I’ll reveal how you can live the good life in Medellin Colombia for less. Your quality of life greatly improves by simply moving here.
I’m talking 2-hour spa experience with full-body massages … complete with covering your entire body with chocolate (or fruits) … including a mini-lunch with drink … $35 bucks.
Taxi rides to practically anywhere within the city ranging from $1.75 - $3.95 … Clean, safe and modern bus and metro train rides for .60 cents…
Low cost real estate and rentals … Many with swimming pools, fitness centers and playgrounds for the kids (or grandkids)…
A housekeeper coming over 2-days per week, for 8-hours each day … $170 per month. 4-days per week … $320 per month. 5-days per week … $388 per month.
So far, I’ve painted a rosy picture about living in Medellin, and all of its true. But Medellin is not for everyone.
Not everyone will like Medellin. My reasons for wanting to stay here may be very different from yours. There is NO perfect place or country that will have everything you want or need.
Which is why you have to determine what’s important to you.
Perhaps it’s difficult to live on your retirement or social security. Many retirees are now having to depend on their adult children to get by.
If you can’t afford to stay where you’re at, then move somewhere else. You’d be amaze at how your quality of life could significantly improve.
I discovered that we would save $1,000 by moving to Montreal. But by hopping to the opposite side of the map, and making our way towards Colombia, the monthly savings could easily be $2,000.00 - $3,000.00.
While we opted for a more expensive place in Colombia, the fact of the matter is that we could easily find a place that would accommodate all of us comfortably, in a very nice neighborhood for about $700/month. Far cheaper than the $1,500 rental in Montreal.
So for us, our need to drastically cut down our living expenses was very important so we can play catch-up for retirement. We wanted to be somewhere where we could invest in startups and real estate so we could generate additional income sources.
We wanted to be in a place where transportation was cheap and widely available. We wanted cheap healthcare in the event we got sick. We needed a place with reliable and steady Internet and quick access to the United States (and cheap access).
Medellin was perfect for our needs… Maybe it will suit your needs just fine, or maybe not.
Escape to Medellin and Upgrade Your Lifestyle Overnight…
Get all the critical information you need to reinvent your new life in Medellin, Colombia. I could have never imagined how possible it would be to live like this. If someone told me this prior to my arrival here, I honestly would not believe it. I would have thought they were flat-out lying. But I’m seeing it with my own eyes … It’s possible your own Internet connection from the United States could be filtering out the ‘real search results’ that I now see as a ‘local’.
I’ve been here for nearly 3-months and I still have a hard time processing this through my brain. I’m saving sooo much more money, and I have sooo much more free time. So much more free time that I’m the one homeschooling my 3 daughters. I could not imagine this happening just 3-months ago.
And the weather … It’s awesome. It’s literally like spring – everyday.
The weather was great where we lived in Florida, but we’d get about 2-months of cold weather. And during the spring and summer months, the humidity was just unbearable.
That’s not the case here ... No more winters … And no more humidity!
If You Don’t Think You Can Afford to Upgrade Your Lifestyle … Think Again!
$1,500 per month is about the entry-point you’ll need to live very comfortably. And that could include having a housekeeper coming by to tidy up your place 2-3 days per week, and cook breakfast and lunch.
If you don’t have source that could provide you an incoming stream of $1,500 per month, I can share some ideas and concepts with you that could get you to a point of earning that kind of money within 12-18 months. It’s gonna require hard work on your part, but the reward for making this happen is enormous. You get to upgrade your lifestyle and live much better than you are now on just $1,500 per month.
Get your $1,500, move to Medellin and continue to build on your business so you can continue to bring in more revenue … But you won’t have to work as hard now that you’re not having to crank out 40-60 hour work weeks… and still not having enough money.
Join my monthly Escape to Medellin Newsletter.
This is a premium, members only newsletter for those considering a move and lifestyle upgrade in Medellin. While I’ll continue to send free tips to our e-mail subscribers, our premium newsletter members will get more detailed information to prepare them for the move abroad.
Our goal with our Escape to Medellin Newsletter is to introduce you to the best places and neighborhoods to live in and around Medellin. We’ll provide you with the information you need to know about each area, which visa and residency options are best for you, dental and medical options, buying versus renting, how to find other expats, where to learn Spanish, places to visit, things to do, etc.). If you need help bringing in additional supplemental income, we’ll present you with options to help you do so.
I’m currently living in Medellin and have built up a network consisting of local Colombians who are from the area, attorneys with specialties in a variety of areas such as visas, family and business law, local real estate professionals, local expats currently living here, translators, and many more.
My team and I, will work together to provide you with all the essential details you need to know before ever touching ground in Medellin. No city in the world is perfect, they each have their own faults, and that’s why I want to make you aware of what you’re about to step into … with the least amount of stress and drama.
Whatever your needs are, the goal of my monthly premium newsletter is to provide you with all of the information you need to determine if Medellin is the right place for you and/or your family.
In our upcoming monthly newsletter issues, I will breakdown the good and the bad about the various neighborhoods and cities.
I’ll share tips and strategies for bringing your cost of living expenses way down … The locals here don’t focus so much on ‘stuff’ like ‘Western countries’, they focus more on family and quality of life.
I mentioned earlier that I have access to a local attorney who will breakdown the details on which visas you should apply for, along with the pros and cons of each. He’ll even work with you to get your paperwork processed once you arrive.
There are a lot of clinics, hospitals, dentists and specialists in Medellin. We’ll report on the various options available to foreigners in Medellin and how you can save BIG.
Subscribe right now for just $27 per month – Your first issue will ship to you on January 10th...
*The price will increase in the new year, so hurry...