I recently spent 4 days in what was once considered the most dangerous city in the world, Medellin, Colombia… and wow, the people, culture, history, and the recent influx of backpacking tourists pleasantly surprised me. For the first time during my travels I decided to stay at a hostel. It’s something that I have been avoiding since I started traveling, for no good reason other than I had this preconceived notion that hostels were dirty, and full of creepy thieves… Staying at a bed and breakfast in Cartagena near the backpacking district, I was totally blown away by the social element that I was missing out on by not staying in one… so I made it a point to stay in one in Medellin… I am SOOO glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to stay at the Happy Buddha Hostel. Contrary to what I believed about hostels I had an amazing time.. I met some incredible people, who were traveling for months at a time and had amazing stories…. Most of the people there spoke 2-5 languages, they were interesting, young, and ready to see the world… these were people who looked at the world as I did.. as one big playground…This experience reassured my desire and passion to see the world and learn as much as I can about the places I visit, the people I meet, and myself.
Mountains of Medellin, Colombia
Group of friends from around the world that we met while on a walking tour of Medellin.
I met a cool guy from Australia, we instantly connected on our shared experience of a Birthright trip to Israel (www.Birthright.com)… He was in week of 3 of his 6 moths adventure around South and Central America and Europe… Turns out he is fluent in Mandarin, he studied it for 4 years and plans to start work in Hong Kong after he finishes his travels later this year….
Friends from London
I also met two girls from London who were on a 4-month trip around South America.. they told me an awesome experience they had at a Colombian village with a Shaman… turns out this Shaman travels the world from village to village curing people of ailments.. they told me that he went around and created a special mixture that was meant to cleanse the body…EVERY person (including the two girls) who imbibed this magic potion instantly vomited.. some several times…
It is these kinds of experiences that most people will not have or care to have, yet I am somehow drawn to them… I feel like in life there are only several things that separate us from one another… One is our life experience and how we grow from those life experiences, and the other is our possession of stuff… In our consumer based society we value each others worth based on the stuff we accumulate… I chose to live my life-experiencing people, cultures, and places rather than owning stuff.
The one thing that stood out to me during my trip is the continued resilience of the Colombian people. . Here you have a city that not too long ago was the most dangerous place on earth, arguably more dangerous than the middle east… yet the people here move on as if that part of their lives hadn’t existed.. they wake up everyday, go to work, school, run businesses, live their lives with the notion that This Too Shall Pass… and that, to me, is one of the coolest take-aways from my trip… Depending on where are you are in life it is a great reminder to enjoy the present moment if you are happy, because it too shall pass.. and, regardless of how difficult your life seems to be.. it too will pass and a new day will come..
Thieves Market.... This place is quite interesting... it spans about one mile underneath the Metro... It is a flea market of stolen goods... you name it.. they have it... and theres a good possibility you may find something you thought you "lost".
Snake-Oil salesman selling cures to anything and everything in the middle of the park... He was actually pretty good..
““This Too Shall Pass””