Kurt Kaz, supposedly experienced and savvy traveller almost getting himself robbed, and maybe murdered by two obvious junkies [https://youtu.be/RAgJnDGitVk?t=1804](https://youtu.be/RAgJnDGitVk?t=1804)
I’m honestly amazed he hasn’t experienced worse. Definitely super savvy but he’s nonstop exposed to potentially meeting the wrong group in a LatAm street way more than the average traveler.
… with expensive cameras
The cameras are a small issue now. The real risk is they know he has some serious money now, from his youtube career. Back in the day, he could probably have got out of most situations just giving up wallet and camera. Now he's seriously likely to get kidnapped, or beaten until he gives up some serious cash. Especially casually telling people he has 2 million subs.
Thank you for sharing this.. Kurt has bigger balls that I will ever have. I have been on some sketchy neighborhoods in South America and I have never had so many red flags and sirens blaring in my head as I saw with his little trip down that alley. And ma boy sticks out like a giant money sign anywhere he walks lmao
What’s being willfully ignorant got to do with courage? It’s not an admirable trait to court danger for views, wrapped in immense privilege, pretending to be a baddie.
A large part of me thinks Kurt was aware, but letting it run for a bit for the views. I thought he was savvier, and frankly you don't need to be very savvy to see what's going on here. I get sketched out even in much more obviously benign situations, when meeting people travelling. I always have my guard up to some extent, even in the safest places and least suspicious people.
Having said that, Kurt does seem a little naive at times. And he has some serious andrew tate/incely moments, where he reveals his immaturity and lack of worldly experience. So it's hard to say. Either way, I hope he was either aware, or is studying this moment he almost ended in deep shit, because it's not going to be his last, and he might not be so lucky next time.
It's actually really weird to watch the Medellin stuff play out in real time in this sub. People post horror stories and news like this, then like clockwork a flurry of posts talking about "just don't be a target" (lmao) and how safe it is there, especially compared to other places. As though it matters how much more dangerous other places are.
Like who are those people? Locals who don't want to lose tourist and nomad dollars? Criminals hoping for more dumb targets? The Colombian government not wanting to tarnish the reputation further? Could even be other nomads hoping to dilute their own probability of being attacked.
Suuuuper weird.
There's a very strong pressure within every travel community I've been a part of to signal that you're *not* like other tourists who are afraid to leave their country/resort/safe spaces, because it is seen as almost a duty to prove to those types that the world is good and safe. It's almost like a form of performative antiracism in the end.
lol my Colombian husband is so vigilant when we’re there. We’re not terrified but to act like it’s all fine and dandy everywhere is stupid and borderline paternalistic
For sure. Travel subs are weird about this.
Same thing happens when a woman asks about safe travel to a country like India. Actual local women will say “Heck, no. At least not in X part of the country. We get harassed all the time.” But then a bunch of Western tourists get on a soapbox.
The same soapbox is supported by an army of online shills posting out of China, which first grew in significant volume around the time of the 2019 protests.
No offense, but unless you are looking to party with cheap girls and cheap rent and cheap cost of living there appears to be little reason to be in Medellín. But really cheap girls ("respectable" Colombian women wouldn't be caught dead being mistaken as a Gringo's hooker, thief, murderer, etc.).
Few historical sights, forgettable cuisine, limited access to nature, crime even the locals are mindful of. Locals who think all foreigners are conniving sex and drug addicts. And losers back home to the point their lives are meaningless for a few bucks.
Does not seem worth the hassle to me.
Literally every comment below is like “oh it’s only American men because they’re sex tourists”. I’ll reiterate that I was a married 30 year old woman in Colombia for a work conference and have never felt so unsafe in my life. Whatever the equivalent of a pick me girl is for tourists and DN, that’s these folks
Exactly. Don’t wear a watch, don’t take a taxi, don’t go out at night, don’t go to bars, don’t date anyone, don’t take your credit cards, don’t use your phone in public. Let’s be serious here.
It’s almost like there is a group of propagandist promoting Medellin as a truly safe place to instill confidence in foreigners to visit the city, when Baghdad and Kabul sounds more safe at this point. Like they are part of the conspiracy to lure foreigners to their demise.
The entire country should be boycotted by expats/immigrants and digital nomads. This will hurt them economically, and force the government to try and clean up corruption that allows extortion and robbery. This would also cause foreign investments to dry up, and real estate values to lower, furthering the pressure on city/government to change. Works for any location that has a tourist driven economy, or significant foreign investment.
For people claiming drug lords are the problem, Mexico’s resort areas (like Cabo) are still cartel owned, but they cleaned up the crime to ensure they still make money. On top of all that- most of the crime against immigrants/vacationers/expats is not organized crime, it’s small time people that aren’t major gang affiliated.
Oh I know, I know!! Let’s just have the Colombian government fix it! I feel so much better now; surely they’ll put their best people on the case…problem is practically solved. Why didn’t we all think of that?
The Colombian government is like Switzerland’s, but more honest and functional. That’s what they’re most famous for, helping the Common People. Every government loves and cherishes foreigners, famously. Top priority!
Literally had the opposite once. Someone was citing the crime statistics in Saint Louis vs Manila. I don’t believe the crime statistics in Manila.l to say the former is safer. The police don’t get called for every fight and theft like they do in the USA and even where you’re 2X more likely to die by cop that anywhere else in the USA we still have more trust in the police. If you believe the statistics I can show you a country that has no rape!
You’re absolutely right and these “all is well” posts ring hollow. The recent wave of crime against foreigners is worrying. That being said, if you are careful, you will most likely stay out of harm’s way. I am not saying it can’t happen, but I think the comparisons below (not yours, in all fairness) with Bagdad are completely unwarranted.
Be careful. Take precautions. Don’t do stupid things. But Medellin isn’t Kabul.
most people who go to kabul would be fine too. even in an incredibly dangerous, stupid-to-travel place, the vast majority of people would be fine. people live literally their entire lives in these places. there’s nowhere on earth that one is more likely than not to have crime committed against them — even on the most dangerous street on earth, most times you walk it nobody will mug, stab or shoot you.
so the idea that one had nothing happen to them when they were in medellin shouldn’t be used, like it tends to be, to convince onself that they “did it right” and were just better than everyone at not being a target.
dangerous places are dangerous, and there’s a good chance it will come for you in certain places, no matter how little of a mark you make yourself.
I have been a staunch defender of Medellin over the years. I first visited with my Colombian gf (that I met in the states) in 2017.
Definitely some rough edges and it’s a city where you need street smarts, but my experience was pretty much only good, and I’ve spent a combined like 9 months in the city since then, mostly before 2020. And most importantly, even though it was a flawed city, it felt like things were improving year over year because they actually were.
I went back in early 2023 and it felt very different. And my local friends also say things are getting worse and worse since the pandemic.
It’s a multi-factored thing.
Firstly, COL crisis since the pandemic is effecting most countries, and Colombia as well.
Secondly the shit situation next door is bringing in a massive wave of Venezuelan migrants. Now of course the majority are good hard working people looking for a better life. But there is also a noticeable portion that are criminals, whether by trade or necessity. And some of these criminals are a shoot first ask questions second type.
I’m not saying that the only criminals are Venezuelans lol. There are tons of local criminals as well. But talk to any Colombian and they will know what I’m talking about.
Thirdly, because Colombia has exploded as a tourist destination and more and more “rich” (literally or relative to the locals) gringos are coming down, it’s basically like chum in the water to criminals.
Fourthly, there is an ever growing disdain for gringos in the country. And this is probably the most complicated part of the equation. Now, tons of tourists go down there and behave perfectly fine but there is a very sizable portion who just come down for drugs, objectify their women, and throw cash around. Colombians literally hate these people.
When a foreigner gets robbed, injured, or in the worst case killed… the natural inclination of many Colombians is to just kinda shrug and say he must have been doing something stupid. The complicated part is that, a lot of the times, that is the case. Guys go down there not knowing the culture, not doing any research on safety, invite some tinder woman and “her friend” over at 2am like a moron and get robbed.
The problem is that nowadays there are more and more stories of people getting robbed or mugged not even doing risky behavior.
I know someone who was at a cafe sitting outside at midday. Not on his phone or anything (he lives there full time and knows better).
Some Venezuelan dudes just walked up to him with knives and robbed him of his phone and wallet. In a “tourist” neighborhood in broad daylight.
————————————-
A few years ago I was seriously considering Medellin as a long-term home base option but now I’m not anymore.
That's a different situation. The heavy militarization of the Colombian police effectively pushed the main cocaine cartels down to Ecuador who in the past didn't have the same need for excessive police militarization
It's both. Yes, a big reason is that the drug trade moved further south and Ecuador became a transit point but I know many Ecuadorians here in NYC and the ones that have family who still live in Ecuador, have been talking about the rise in crime in Ecuador caused by Venezuelan migrants. This has been going on for a few years now. Initially I thought they were just being prejudiced and hypocritical but now I'm noticing it in NYC as well.
In my almost-exclusively LATAM neighborhood, several immigrant-owned businesses have been attacked by Venezuelan migrants. Happened as well this weekend at a restaurant where I know the owner and he showed us the footage of the incident taken by a customer. The Venezuelan guy comes in, demands money from other customers he says is to buy food and some people give him money and another one buys him food. He then goes to the girl behind the counter and demands money and she asks him to leave. He throws the food at her and runs behind the counter to attack her. The male workers and a male customer step and they start fighting because the guy doesn't want to leave. Owner gets there and gets him out but the guy keeps coming back to attack. Police get there but no arrests are made because there are no hospital-grade injuries so there is no point. Guy keeps trying to attack owner saying (in front of the cops) he (the migrant) is super Venezuelan and the owner will pay with his life.
My friend's parents own a home in the area and the NYPD is constantly stopping by to get CCTV footage of violent crime they're investigating. On the footage they've seen stabbings, gun point robberies and even attacks with machetes and axes. The cops told them that because of all the press the area gets for having a lot of LATAM businesses, esp food cart vendors, migrants come from shelters all over the city to the area to hang out & do their shit. The perpetrators are often Venezuelan, although not exclusively. I remember reading a few months ago that guys showed up on bikes and just started shooting into a laundromat in the area. People who live there and have for decades, are genuinely scared.
As for Chile if you look at their sub there’s lots of complaints about Venezuelan refugees perpetrating crime and homicides in Santiago. I was just there it’s extremely dangerous at night to the point that I didn’t go out after dark and was warned about daylight muggings multiple times in Centro. When I arrived and saw all the desperation and graffiti on all the buildings I decided to take more precautions than in Buenos Aires. Nothing happened but testing this would result in being a victim of crime.
Santiago used to be such a safe place (in comparison to most of Latin America). But yes, last year I met Chileans that said their entire apartment buildings are now overrun by Venezuelans. I even got my phone stolen there in Santiago one year ago and overall it felt WAYYY more dangerous than before all over the place.
This is so sad. I spent two weeks solo there in 2017 and it felt incredibly safe. I took the metros everywhere and walked at night with friends. I was even thinking of returning with my family for a visit but not now.
Yep. My first time was 2018 also! I liked it so much that I returned back for a month last year. And what I found out is it just simply is not the same place as it was. Another story:
When I was there last year, there was a tourist from USA that arrived staying near the Barrio Yungay area (not a good area). He went out at night and took a picture of what seemed to be a drug house. 3 guys came across the street took his phone and then shot and killed him. Granted, he did everything he wasn’t supposed to do… fast forward 3 months and the police raided the spot and caught the criminals who were all Venezuelan.
https://abc7ny.com/amp/eric-garvin-chile-shooting-travel/12734958/
The extent of this problem trickles all the way to USA as well. Thousands of migrants are crossing the Darien gap every week to try and make it to USA for a better life (I don’t blame them). In many cities in USA, they are literally kicking people out of homeless shelters to make room for the migrants that have fled mostly from Venezuela. It’s really crazy how everyone else is suffering from corruption and greed from the people at the top of just one country.
In Europe, yes, in Argentina, no. Of course there are many that come to work, but they're not usually middle/upper class.
Quite a few causing problems here in Buenos Aires. And I have nothing against Venezuelan people, I've met a lot of amazing human beings from that country, but I wouldn't say the "good" ones come to Argentina, generally speaking.
>I know someone who was at a cafe sitting outside at midday. Not on his phone or anything (he lives there full time and knows better).
I mean, if using your phone outside a cafe at midday in a tourist area, is an unwise thing people should know better than to do, then that place is not a place anyone should be going to.
Exactly but they will make it seem like this is normal. Better not be on your phone. You are making a huge mistake and broadcasting to everyone that you are rich and a easy target. How dare you take a phone call or use google maps, you should know better!
Colombians tend to be welcoming and social and if you’re not completely awkward you can make some normal friends, but when you go online dating or looking for “dates” in a random bar in el poblado those are all hookers waiting for the guy with the broken Spanish. Hookers are not more part of the culture any more than they are in the states it’s simply more readily available because they know clueless gringos are coming in with the money. They know that, their boyfriend, brother, cousins knows that and they all noticed you... Imagine going to nyc looking for drugs and the cheapest hookers in town and then being surprise when something goes wrong
Sadly, I saw a lot of gringos treating it like a drug/sex playground when I was there in 2019 too. I'll never forget telling a taxi driver how much I enjoyed the country and he looked at me curiously and asked why. When I explained I loved the music, history, art, culture etc, he sighed and said he wished more people came for these reasons instead of narco tourism.
The only people I met (and they were almost always younger men) who got into trouble were those were trying to get coke and sleep with sex workers all while being wasted, having little Spanish and no awareness of much else. It's a shame and I don't doubt things have gotten worse since the pandemic for all the reasons you explained.
This is ridiculous. A guy going dating online and going home with a woman is not “doing something stupid”.. this is perfectly normal behavior in 99% of the developed world. Of course anyone should take normal caution when they meet people they barely know but I hate how you guys make it seem like these guys are doing anything illegal, immoral or otherwise when they are dating in Colombia. Even if they are buying sex it is perfectly legal and a part of the culture of the country. So again, where else in the world is something legal and considered normal by locals but oh btw don’t do it because you might get murdered. The total blame should be put on the criminals who brutally threw a guy out a 17 story window. I don’t care what the guy did, clearly he did not deserve that. You guys are ridiculous.
> The total blame should be put on the criminals who brutally threw a guy out a 17 story window. I don’t care what the guy did, clearly he did not deserve that. You guys are ridiculous.
And it always come back to this dumb argument. It's not "victim blaming" to say that people are doing risky behavior.
> A guy going dating online and going home with a woman is not “doing something stupid”.. this is perfectly normal behavior in 99% of the developed world.
In Colombia it is. That's the problem. People go down there and don't understand the culture. I will copy and paste a snippet of a comment I made a few weeks back: https://old.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/19ehcrw/a_hazard_for_visitors_to_colombia_devils_breath/kjdy18c/
"Another problem is that the vast majority of people who go down to Colombia don't understand Colombian culture.
Colombia is a "low trust" society. You can see it in the way they socialize and date. When "normal" Colombians go out to bars/clubs they do it in a big group and stay in that group. It appears "cliquey" at first glance but it's rooted in safety. When Colombians date they generally date: friends, classmates, friends of friends, coworkers, etc. AKA, people who have social proof to them.
There is not nearly the same culture of dating random people that there is in the US, and dating apps are not popular. Realistically the vast majority of women on dating apps in Colombia are "lower class" women for lack of a better term.
So essentially when guys are going down there and meeting tinder chicks they are basically meeting hood women.
And even if a "normal" Colombian woman was on a dating app. There is almost no culture of first date hookups in Colombia. A "normal" Colombian woman would not go back to your apartment on the first date. End of."
Yup. Two of my roommates got too excited when two girls at zona T seemed interested and brought them home, only to get drugged and robbed. It just doesn't happen in Bogota that a girl will come to your place the first night.
I was hanging with an American buddy and he wanted to invite some girls to my place, the girls asked for our IDs (and still didn't come). Colombians don't trust strangers and rightfully so.
This is very true. Low trust culture probably goes all the back to Colombia’s bloody civil war between the left and the right. It predates narco craziness.
Those interested in Colombian ideas about dating and expectations of “female purity” can check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ book “Tale of A Death Foretold”. It’s dated for sure but it still shows some insights into the attitude of familial “honor” being tied to female “purity”.
Hell, there’s even Colombian salsa songs from the 80s that deal with wanting to get revenge with a guy who turned the singers’ daughter into a “sinner” by starting a sexual relationship with her.
A culture can simultaneously revel in dress that is sexually revealing and designed to attract while also having very conservative standards of sexual behavior.
Yes that is part of it. The way Colombians go out and party/socialize is deeply rooted in safety.
You go out in your group of friends, coworkers, and mutual friends, and generally stick to that group.
That's not to say Colombians aren't friendly. They are.
But there is really just not a culture of bringing someone random over to your house hours after meeting them.
Colombia is the one place in the world where men need to be as cautious about online dating as women are about it everywhere else.
Colombian women who actually want to have meaningful relationships or safe hookups avoid dating apps like the plague. Using a dating app down there is like sticking your dick in a gutter. What would you say to a guy who was trying to insert his dick into a sewer grate? Is that REEEALLY not his fault?
>Colombia is the one place in the world where men need to be as cautious about online dating as women are about it everywhere else.
100 percent. Men (who date women) are not used to having to be concerned for their safety, much less be in fear of being murdered.
But every guy who is murdered is not meeting women on the dating app also. There have been stories of guys who was dating a woman he met normally for months and he ended up getting set up. That said, it’s 2024. Online dating is normal pretty much everywhere in the world. What’s not normal is making excuses for criminals. You are making out to to be normal because a guy was thrown out a 17 story window for (allegedly) using tinder. Tinder is one of the most downloaded apps ON EARTH.
You're ignoring what /r/GarfieldDaCat said. Normal people don't use Tinder in Colombia. It's almost exclusively downloaded by people who are looking to prey on foreigners. My colombian roommate was shocked when I told her to download Tinder here in Canada, because nice girls didn't use it back home.
All I can speak of is my experience the last 6-7 years in Medellin. I've actually had great dates off of Tinder. I'm cautious and assume the worst of everyone but to say that there are 'no normal people' on the app is incorrect. Maybe you've had a different experience.
Exactly bro there are plenty of normal people on there it’s not only for criminals or low class people at all. Also, there is a lot of other nomads there as well. It’s a normal and viable option for dating.
It’s perfectly moral for me to go home from a bar with a man I don’t know. Nothing wrong with that.
But I don’t do it because it’s high risk. And if I did it and got killed there would definitely be a number of people who’d blame it on my lack of judgement. This is the reality
Yup, but it’s been this way forever. I nearly got date raped by a bad man in the US. I met him for the date in a bar. Date went well, we made out.
When it was time to go home I wanted to walk but he kept trying to talk me into accepting a ride home from him instead because it was raining.
Against my gut instinct, I got into the car. He turned on me and said he had a gun, punched me in the face, said he was going to take me and rape me. Through my wits I tricked him into letting me open the window to smoke a cigarette and then I jumped out and ran for my life!
I never reported the incident despite having his contact info because I knew making out with him in the bar would be seen as some kind of consent to be sexual with him and the assault would be my word against his.
I was also ashamed about my lack of judgement. Dude was a creep but I made some bad choices that night. Not my fault per se, but I still should have been more careful for sure. I’m lucky my poor choices didn’t get me killed or raped
Let’s be real here. People that travel to Colombia for a limited time and hop on Tinder are not looking to seriously “date” or meet someone. They want cheap easy sex without the hassle of waking up to the hooker in public so Tinder is the quick digital way to try and get what they want.
It’s basically escorting without the exchange of money. Yes people do that here in the U.S. but they generally don’t get robbed or drugged or thrown out of windows.
I think it’s clear that cheap easy sex via Tinder in Colombia is a pipe dream and a good way to get robbed or worse.
And if they did, we would all agree that it was totally not cool. But let’s be serious here, if you are in any group associated with Colombia, there are so many rules here don’t have your cell phone out, when you go out take a burner cell phone, don’t take your credit cards with you, only have the cash you need etc etc etc. At the end of the day the place is just not safe. It has nothing to do with dating. For some reason they are murdering the American men but let’s not act like this is a safe place for locals or otherwise. People get robbed there all the time. I was out in Colombia with a gold necklace (nothing fancy just a normal small necklace that can barely been seen and is worn under my shirt) and was asked to take it off because it’s not safe. I was told not to use my cell phone in public because it’s not safe. But somehow they will try to convince you that this is normal and you’re just a moron for not knowing the “culture”.
The bottom line of this is very simple. You guys are only attributing this to online dating, but all of the cases have not involved online dating. That said, it’s clear that this country is not safe for tourists. People tell you don’t wear a watch, don’t go out at night, get a burner cell phone, Don’t take a cab only take Ubers, don’t take your credit cards out, and finally don’t date. So you’re telling me if I take a taxi instead of an Uber and I am robbed or murdered that’s my fault? And that’s normal? Give me a break. If all of this is true then the country is simply not safe and anyone defending it is part of the problem why it exists. The criminal just gets to walk away and do it again and again because all of the blame is put on the tourist for “doing something stupid” aka taking a taxi.
It is not normal for Colombian women to go on Tinder dates with strangers; it´s too risky. Proper Colombian girls would not risk it. These girls using Tinder are hustlers at best and criminals at worst, and the gringos are making it too easy for them and their gang banger boyfriends to rob and kill them. Colombians meet their partners through strict social circles. No decent middle-class and Colombian girls will be on Tinder.
Legality doesn't make something ethical. Sex trafficking and child prostitutions are huge problems in Colombia and there is a very good chance that a prostitute (prostitution is technically illegal outside of brothels in Colombia) has a handler that is engaged in those activities, so these men intentionally or not are funding these illegal activities indirectly.
Also prostitution is not a part of the culture, what a terrible thing to say. Prostitution isn't aspirational it is driven by poverty.
Western men go to Colombia to sexually exploit their women and often, also revel in the drug culture, and then you're surprised that a) Colombians are deeply contemptuous of most gringos b) that some of those Colombians decide to rob you or worse.
This is a country that has been notorious for supplying the world's cocaine and has had the expected crime and brutal gangs to go along with it.
You can't just go wherever you want and whatever you want.
This is something women learn and understand from a very young age.
Passport bro culture is disgusting and exploitative. So is prostitution. It's inherently exploitative. Stop acting like these men are innocent little lambs at the slaughter. They're not.
It’s insane how many Venezuelans have entered the country. I’m Colombian and when I went to visit Cartagena it was so apparent. It kind of ruined my experience a bit because every 50 fucking feet there was a panhandler asking for money
Btw, this has been going on for decades, i even remember watching a scam tv show with a guy visiting Colombia and meeting the so called "black widows", this was maybe 15 years or more ago.
I don't know, I think since covid lockdowns and remote work, a lot of Americans have taken opportunity for wrong intensions in Colombia making them a target.
Apparently with the collapse of Venezuela, it has gotten significantly worse recently, which has coincided with the rise of digal nomads. From what I understand the Venezuelan gangs are very organized and targeting foreigners right now through dating sites and bars. For a brief time, just before COVID, Colombia was improving and there was a lot of hope and progress there.
South American here. Madura was releasing gang members from prison and kicking them out of the country in 2014-2016, at the same time several countries in South America were taking hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans a year, I mean they Peru (for example), took 3 millions in 3 years and Peru has only 30 million people so that was an increase of 10% in their population!.
Venezuelan gangs are brutal and comparable to the Mexican cartel. Most native criminals in Peru were shy and would snatch and run or mug you without a weapon but the Venezuelans absolutely replaced the native criminals by intimidation and killing in very brutal ways.
Now you have a local population with lower wages, housing goes way up because of massive demand, food goes up because demand, not enough jobs and bad economy to the point in which you can get a 18 years old sex worker for a whole week for $500 (for comparison, in the US that’s barely for 1 hour).
Right now it’s a bit hard to do the digital nomad if you are white or clearly a tourist but if you can pass for a local and are street smart, you’d be fine.
I spent a month in Colombia in 2019 with 2 weeks in Medellin and it really was on the come up. I’ve felt more unsafe at American gas stations at night than at any point in Colombia. Breaks my heart tbh bc to me it really is a special place.
Is it safe for people who don't intend on going to dating sites and bars? Stuff like that just seems like a bad idea in countries like Colombia anyway.
Husband and I have been multiple times. It’s a beautiful country but we’ve seen some of the wildest shit there. Just right out in the open- like beggars with drugged, rented children at stoplights or underage prostitutes lined up on display in the busiest tourist district of Cartagena. Last time we were in El Poblado we saw two robberies happen right in front of us in the span of like 10 minutes. One of the thieves was pretending to walk a baby in a stroller. They got close to a tourist and pretended to reach for the “baby” and instead snatched the handbag of the person walking by and took off. The stroller was empty lol.
We both speak Spanish fluently and my husband is a physically imposing guy (6’5” 300 lbs), but we don’t mess around in Colombia. Ie dress down, old shoes, zero jewelry, phones never come out. Basically look like broke backpackers. We stay in tourist districts and keep away from the party scene, or if we do go out, we don’t drink.
Colombia is a lovely country, but you definitely need to travel smart while you’re there.
Colombia is never and nowhere super safe, but the actual level of safety will depend from your wallet and common sense. If you stay at places where the middle upper class (or above)Colombian families stay, it means good hotels, respectable apartments, restaurants, areas, use Uber, check the area you go to before etc., you are gonna be relatively safe. Avoiding areas with high percentage of all the charming refugees helps too - this it’s not a controversial thing in Colombia.
On the other hand, if you think Colombia has to be cheap, and you stay in some murky airbnb in a shitty area and have the great idea to do some dating at night, preferably in cheap bars by yourself alone; while inviting strangers to visit you, this is when the risk factor really goes up.
So it’s not like you gonna see someone getting robbed every day, it’s not a warzone. It’s still a place of law and order where most people follow the rules.
At the same time you can’t act too carelessly because the place isn’t completely stable yet, and the crime rate is way above of the western countries.
By the sounds of it, Colombia is just a place you need to take your safety seriously in. It's not like Europe where you can go out, get drunk and walk home at 4 in the morning (which I've done plenty of times...) - if you're not sensible and cautious about your safety, bad shit is much more likely to happen to you.
I don't see the appeal of staying there for an extended period of time but for a week or 2, it sounds like it's not too bad.
No. You have to know what you’re doing, and even then there is still no guarantee of basic safety. Even locals get robbed and drugged. I personally know a native who got robbed and beat so bad he had amnesia for a short period of time. Every local can tell you a story either their own or of a family member or friend
Yes, why did I have to scroll down so far for this post?!! We wouldnt warn You about something if neither US nor a close relative hadnt gone through it.
Depends on what you define as safe. I was there 1 month with my gf and had no problems. Met many others who also had no problems. But ‘safe’ is hard to define… you definitely need to take precautions that you otherwise probably wouldn’t in your own country.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, I recommend not going. I say that as someone who’s married to a Rola, owns property in Bogota, and loves the country. If I didn’t have guidance, family, and my wife’s lifetime friends, Colombia would be overwhelming.
This, lol. I even argue with lots of people defending fucking Colombia saying it's not all that bad. One dude literally said he was fucking ROBBED in pure daylight but was still like "its still a great place you just gotta me smart". Really?
What blows my mind is how they think it's perfectly normal when describing the bat-shit insane security measures you're supposed to take in order to be smart. Like locking up your date's phone in a safe the moment they walk in the door.
I wish I could give you 10 upvotes. You nailed it!! I spent 7 weeks in Colombia last year, and while I met some really friendly people and saw some beautiful nature, it is not high in my list to return. Like how could people defend the country and claim it's safe, but then say it's safe if you....have a burner phone, leave your wallet at home, change your nice clothes for a 10 dollar outfit from Walmart, etc. Who the hell goes on vacation or wants to nomad somewhere, where you need such insane precautions? Especially when there are cities and countries around the world that have good weather, just as Good or better nature, and are cheaper than Colombia and these precautions are NOT needed!!!
What normal human that doesn't deal drugs wants to own two phones or have a burner phone for travel? Absolutely ridiculous lol
Wow, congrats on having such an amazing adventure. One of the hiking videos the guy was explaining how it was perfectly safe, that you just have to be smart about it and only go on the weekends when it's heavily populated and leave before sunset, stay away from remote areas, and bring friends if you can. Thats.. that's not why I go to these places.
7 years too. French. You're pretty much not safe anywhere. You just choose to accept that every window in the country has metal bars, that half a million people work as private security guards and that if you get your phone out in any street, a motorcycle driver can come and rip it off at any moment. Este país no tiene arreglo.
Nah.
Don't go to home with hookers, don't do drugs, avoid wandering out when it's dark.
Get drunk securely inside a hostel bar with other tourists rather than out at some unknown venue.
In certain destinations like this, I'd avoid Airbnbs altogether and stick to a private room in a hostel if you need your own space. Safety in numbers, infinite friends to be made in common areas. Win-win.
Source: worked in hostels for years, including in South Africa. Saw tourists regularly suffer pickpocketing/theft, smash-and-grabs, druggings, attempted rape, and one kidnapping.
Still hoping they'll find the body of [Nick Frischke](https://capetown.today/the-disappearance-of-nick-frischke-a-grim-tale-in-beautiful-cape-town/) one day... :(
Learned a lot of lessons over those years.
That's all great advice. I just don't want to be somewhere where you constantly feel like you need to look over your shoulder. Really sucks the fun out of things, you know?
>I just don't want to be somewhere where you constantly feel like you need to look over your shoulder.
Avoid 3rd world countries. I'm sure Colombia, South Africa and other similar countries are very beautiful... but it's still a wild west out there.
That's your call and depends on your goals.
I think a variety of both is good. It gives you perspective and you'll see more of the world. Medellín was one of the most awesome landscapes I've ever seen and the people were so warm. Would be a shame to miss out on that.
If you only go to cushy safe developed counties you don't learn much about the world and how different people live. I've been traveling way too long to stay in that bubble - it gets boring.
This is good advice but my sense is that most of these guys aren’t being killed by women who are overtly doing sex work, but rather by women who use dating apps to get access to gringos with wallets.
One should probably avoid dating apps and avoid dating women who aren’t employed or educated, who are way younger or generally far out of the guy’s league in terms of looks.
But I went there last year and it was the best city in the world. No dar papaya and you will have a great time "dating" in the nightclubs and on Tinder.
/s
I’m in Medellin right now and the sentiment towards foreigners is the worst I've seen.A bit of background
1. This is my 3rd time in Medellin in the past 4 years
2. I don’t drink, take drugs or participate in prostitution, I live in Laurales, and only leave the house during the day now
3. I’ve been living as a DN for 4 years in countries all over the world
4. I’m a solo female traveler (and from St Louis MO, a very dangerous city in the US)
I was walking down Calle 80 last weekend on a Saturday holding a tea and my ripped canvas tote bag I carry so I “didn’t give papaya” and despite this being a ‘safe’ neighborhood, I was chased down by a person carrying a brick. I’m not exactly sure what they were planning to do but I started screaming and they ran off. The worst part was, there were people everywhere just carrying on with their days. The bursts of violence scare me, but what troubles me in the long run was the fact that no one seems to care. People give me dirty looks, shake their heads at me and just generally display looks of disdain when they come across me. I try to be friendly, I speak enough spanish to have a conversation and have always been polite and respectful. But the attitude towards foreigners here is just so bad right now, I am planning to leave as soon as possible. (waiting for my expired passport to be renewed at the embassy)
It’s sad, this city was wonderful, and there are people who are kind. But the fact that I can still be targeted, with no phone, no credit cards, no jewelry, ( I had 1000 pesos on me when the guy was chasing me down which is 25 cents lol) carrying a ripped bag down a busy street in a safe neighborhood in the middle of the day?
I have nothing to prove by staying here, I don’t need to tough it out, I can simply just leave. And honestly, if you’re thinking of coming here, I'd reconsider. There’s a lot of wonderful safer cities all over South America to visit. Give Medellin some time to sort it out.
Ya, I spent the last 3 winters in Medellín. I won't walk more than a block from my house in Laureles after dark. Don't carry my wallet or my real phone. Still got pickpocketed on the 70 once.
It was fun during covid when there were few tourists. But the skyrocketing crime, cost, douchbag steroid junkies, sex tourists, etc..., I'm def over it.
"Problem" is that I have the best girlfriend a guy could ask for in Envigado. I may consider a barrio in south like Sabaneta or even down to Caldas.
No chance I'm living in Medellín anymore.
Yeahhh that’s a wrap on Colombia. I’m good with not going there. Too many shady stories this past year. There are so many countries that I can visit that don’t require you to constantly look over your shoulder or keep your hands in your pockets.
A lot of victims blaming here. These are murders, I don’t get it.
Prostitution in Colombia is legal, regulated. It’s also legal in Las Vegas. The difference is the murders.
Look, I get going out and getting drunk in a foreign country can be dangerous. But man… some of these comments are crazy.
Right?
Some people just don't want to hear that their country has a serious problem that isn't going to get solved anytime soon so it's easier to dismiss it as the victim's fault.
Victim blaming has been part of the culture for a long time: "no dar papaya". When you have been around it for so long it's harder to realize how fucked up a mentality it actually is.
Yeah right? Some of these comments: "*bro just come to Chicago*"
There's a difference when Americans are being specifically targeted in a foreign country, vs indiscriminate crime in US cities.
Whether people agree with the sex tourism in these countries or not is besides the question.
Yet I’ll bet these same bros make write these crimes off when they happen in the low income, high crime neighborhoods of their own cities. The cognitive dissonance is wild in here.
Last I checked prostitution isn't legal in Las Vegas. It's legal in the state, but the county has banned it. That said, it's obviously all over Vegas and the cartels (even the mafia) have no real foothold in Vegas these days like they do in Columbia or much of Latin America.
I got downvoted on a previous thread for saying it wasn’t a victim’s fault they were kidnapped… this is such a horrible attitude and makes me feel ill. There is something deeply, deeply wrong in a city if the value of human life is so low.
It’s pretty wild to read about people getting straight up murdered for shit I was doing every weekend about 12 years ago. Granted I lived with a local friend and went out with her and our friend group but I stumbled my drunk ass out of the clubs in Parque Lleras and took a taxi home to sleep off all the aguardiente without ever experiencing violence, I feel sad that people can’t experience that anymore, it was a fun time :(
I’ve been all over the world. Colombia is the only country where I haven’t felt safe as a solo female traveler. My spidey senses kicked in from minute one. I was there for work and stayed at a nice hotel and still felt like I could have gotten murdered any minute, not even being dramatic — from the chef and manager who came into my hotel room while I was inside of it and unclothed without knocking, to security guards everywhere I went clocking me as foreign and telling me I shouldn’t be there alone, I never felt okay in Colombia.
I am a 28 year old man and I felt basically the same way haha, so I can't imagine how much worse it was for you. Got my phone stolen + food poisoning and no desire to return
Yeah I got downvoted and trolled by some racist guy below but I said I’ve spent a ton of time in Mexico City and feel fine there, plus other parts of Latin America. Colombia is the only time I’ve ever felt this unsafe
I have been to the Middle East but admittedly neither Morocco nor Egypt. I have been (and am returning to) India. All not great places for women. Still felt like I was going to get murdered in Bogota and I have never felt that way anywhere else (even when I was afraid of sexual assault)
Been in Colombia a month now, about a week in Medellin. I heard lots of horror stories from other travellers who were robbed. One from her AirBnB while sleeping (inside job obviously). Others, more violent. Usually because they would not give up their phones. Did I have a great time? Yes. Did I feel like I escaped Medellin with everything intact? Also yes. I was once out with a group of gringos for safety in numbers when I told one of the group I was taking a girl to make sure she got in an Uber okay and would be right back (a good precaution - never let anyone go alone inebriated). I got back 10 mins later and they all had fucked off, leaving me alone. Sucks, because I was having a good time! But, I did the wise thing despite my condition and got an Uber straight back to hostel. Other places like Jardin were very chill and safe. If I have one place to recommend is to go to Providencia. Take a flight from San Andres. Caribbean paradise. So safe. No crowds, just great vibes. Just be careful in Medellin. I have a friend who has lived his whole life there and he says it’s changed too much in last couple years and wants to leave. Lots of negative opinions especially around American visitors. I’m Canadian and can sound and look American, so I’m happy I’ve moved on. Another month in Colombia to go!
Saddened to hear this. Traveled to Colombia around the later pandemic days (late 2021, early 2022), and I'm not even a Spanish speaker, and it's by far my favorite country in the whole world. Easily the friendliest people.
However, there are a few things:
oen thing, I traveled with a Spanish speaker - not everyone can have this advantage so I feel luckier in this way. Also, we traveled all over Colombia and tried to meet as much friends we can over there.
Biggest advice from anyone I know, even locals, who understand Latin America culture: It's much more dangerous than your typical Southeast Asian backpacking trip. So you need to always travel smart and vigilant, if you stay this way, you'll be safe. Safety cannot be guaranteed even in Paris or New York. So all in all, it's all about the way you travel.
One of the things we advice everyone, and something we follow even as Spanish speakers, is to "stay simple" in Latin America. There is still a widespread ( I don't want to use the word hate, but there it is) thinking about "Gringos". It's a bit cultural, so it's difficult to remove. In South America, you need to stay simple, and not be flashy with using your cellphones and carrying them in your hand, expensive clothes, watches, jewelry. Sad but it's true. My partner backpacked and hitchhiked straight for 9 months in South America. I was there for 3-4 months. Yes even Medellin, Bogota, Cartagena.
This next advice is hard, especially for the younger ones, we are in our mid 30s, but we avoid being outside too late in the night. We do public transport and we walk in neighborhoods (we don't travel around in taxis, maybe unless it's a big move when carrying all luggage), so we don't stay drunk at night and go around too late in the dark. In Medellin, beggars will try to get anything. I was holding a pack of sanitary napkins while waiting for some take out dinner, and a beggar went close to me, to ask for my things. I tried to even ask her what she wants, and I was in complete disbelief she wanted the napkins. Locals can easily see I'm not Spanish (maybe because I tried to entertain her), and told her to leave me alone. We really try to stay away from places that will be full of pickpockets and more dangerous people, and it's hard because El Poblado is the heart of partying and well you know what else, but we avoided staying there, but we did visit a few times.
Tough because I know foreigners go to colombia for the cheaper partying and drugs but there's a way to enjoy it while trying to stay vigilant. I'm still looking forward to my next visit there!
That’s fine and all, to each their own, etc.
But to live life in fear that a slight mistake such as having your phone out or wearing a watch can get you in trouble is enough for me to say it’s not one of my favorite countries. It can be beautiful, the majority of people great, but most Americans would be better off visiting other places that are safer
I spent 6 months travelling solo around Colombia in 2012 and had no bad experiences myself, but did meet a couple of other foreigners who had been robbed (not drugged). These were basically street crimes. My feeling at the time was that Colombia had rounded a corner and was opening up economically and due to a peace deal with the FARC guerilla group it was also becoming much safer. I also had the feeling that tourism by foreigners was something new and exciting for the locals, i.e., they hadn't become habituated to them. Fast forward ten years and Colombia has been flooded with Venezuelan refugees who cannot find work so resort to crime, and the locals have finally gotten used to the wealthy gringos whom they now see as easy pickings i.e., 'papaya', or as we'd say 'low hanging fruit.' Couple that with the fact that Colombian women are renowned for their beauty and a burgeoning sex trade and you've got the situation we have now. I was there again in 2017 for about 2 months to reconnect with a Colombian girlfriend in Bogota and didn't have any dramas then either. However, locals told me things had gotten much worse since I was there in 2012. My now ex-gf, who I met in Australia, was from a well-to-do family of lawyers who lived in a gated community on the outskirts of Bogota, and I spent most of my time in her luxury apartment in an upmarket neighbourhood. So, I didn't have cause to stray into the sketchier parts of town at night trying to hook up with some random chica from a social media site. I love Colombia and the Colombian people, not just the women, but my experience is quite different to the average western guy hoping to get jiggy with a hot latina. For the record, I only spent a couple of days in Medellin the first time I was in Colombia, and found it to be boring, for the same reason that most foreigners seem to like it. I think that a greater number of foreigners are settling in Medellin and that may also be attracting the kind of predatory criminals who are perpetrating these evil crimes.
I’m Colombian American, when I travel back to Colombia I am extremely careful, mind you I blend in perfectly. Don’t sugar coat it, Colombia, generally speaking is a dangerous place. It’s charming, beautiful and filled with culture but it is dangerous, Colombians are violent people, 65 years of Civil War, number one producer of
Cocaine in the world and you guys really get fooled by the cheap rent? The passport bro movement has really made average dudes in America think they can go ball out in a developing country with no consequences. Not victim blaming, lol medellin’s bubble is going to pop soon enough and they are going to lose out on the money that the digital nomad movement does contribute but I see a lot of careless tourists and nomads in Colombia that put themselves in positions that a local would never and think they’ll be fine because they are Americans.
How dangerous is Medellin vs. more touristy areas like Cartagena or Bogota? I really would like to visit someday but now I'm a little put off. I'm generally a smart traveler and don't drink heavily/do drugs.
I went to Colombia in late 2021, Medellin for a week by myself. I went to Cartagena October of 2023 with w friends. My Spanish is intermediate. I’m well traveled and didn’t get hurt in Colombia. I’m also from ATL and have street smarts. The thing is that from what I saw, there were lots of middle aged and older men on drugs and drunk, barely can stand talking to hookers. Those are the ones that are more than likely to get setup. I dressed normal, wasn’t flashy, used my Spanish 99% of the time and met some really cool people. They liked me more because I respected their culture and didn’t be flashy and stuff.
I’m not dismissing the crime that’s going on but it’s certain types of people that are setting themselves up to be robbed, etc.
I was just on Medellin. It has people of all origins and nationalities, and somehow, the ones killed are always American men at the hands of drugs and hookers. No American woman has died, and I saw plenty.
In my hotel, there were GERMANS, IRISH, JAPANESE, CANADIANS, MEXICANS, ARGENTINES, ITALIANS , A RUSSIAN, A SWISS. and they were all ok.
Then you head into the nightlife areas, and it's full of drunk, drugged up American men hanging out with hookers.
It's ironic so far. No female tourist, including American women, has ever died because they got drugged by hookers.
I am clearly still alive, but I was robbed at gunpoint while just eating at a high end restaurant in Medellin. Men with guns barged in and the rest was history. A restaurant on the same block was robbed the following weekend in the same manner.
I also witnessed two armed robberies during broad daylight. I myself was not robbed in these two robberies though.
I spent a total of 6 months in Medellin. Your chances of dying are very, very small (not worth even considering unless you live a risky lifestyle) but your chances of some thug with a gun robbing you are bigger. I didn't have a single Colombian friend in Medellin that had not been robbed at gunpoint at least once in their lives - not one. They were often even more paranoid than I was about the simplest things - for example, my closest Colombian friend would take an Uber to the nearby mall instead of just walking there in broad daylight. And this was not a dangerous area in my view.
Let’s see if they’ll be able to victim blame you for that…
Better travel to Asia. Where you can walk around the poorest neighborhoods in a suit and you won’t get robbed.
Can confirm. Am Irish and had great time as did all my Irish friends.
I will say this though, Americans are targeted a lot more than Europeans. Especially in Cartagena. Once they find out your not American they drop the act a bit and leave you alone
Americans can be very pompous, loud, lack a sense of self awareness.
Europeans are more street smart.
A European wouldn't head to a shady park in the middle of the night , while Americans would March right into it.
I blame, American suburban sheltered up bringing, paired with American education brainwashing kids into believing they are the best, the greatest, the strongest, the smartest etc.
Hence you have tons of people completely lacking in self awareness.
However big city Americans are different.
You drop yoyr average Joe from Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta in Medellin, they'll likely be ok.
It's the suburban, never been to a big city type the ones that fall prey.
> Americans can be very pompous, loud, lack a sense of self awareness.
>
> Europeans are more street smart.
There's probably also a bit of selection bias at play here.
The segment of European travelers that are mainly going for "cheap booze, drugs and women", they go to to Asia instead.
For people in that group, Colombia is only the easiest destination if you are North American.
I assume that skews the perception of foreigners in Colombia.
Apparently, they don't teach statistics in Europe anymore.
When it comes to foreign victims of crime in Colombia, you're ignoring statistical probabilities.
Due to geography (I'll let you figure this out), Colombia is a much more popular tourist destination for Americans than it is for Europeans. A quick Google search reveals that roughly a quarter of Colombia's tourist arrivals are Americans, making the US the number one source of foreign tourists to Colombia.
The only European country that cracks the top 5 for tourist arrivals in Colombia is Spain, and that's just 6% of all arrivals.
A large number of Americans going to a country with an extraordinarily high rate of violent crime means that American tourists are more likely to be victims of violent crime.
Of course, some percentage of these victims -- probably the majority -- are "sex tourists" or "passport bros" or whatever you want to call them, but if you think that Europeans are street smart do-gooders who don't engage in prostitution, go to Thailand.
Fortunately for the Europeans (namely Brits) who flock to Thailand for sex, violent crime is much less common there than it is in Colombia.
TL;DR: take a remedial statistics course.
I spoke with my cousin who's Colombian and she explained that the DM's are wearing out their welcome. Mainly two reasons, 'pre-pagos' or sex tourism and looking for 'perico' or drugs. Understand that 40% of the population live in poverty so when real estate and food prices go up because of foreigners....well there will be those looking to take advantage. When I visited Colombia to see family I had to follow the advice on what to do and what not to do. Also for all the men thinking of going to Colombia, if some dime piece tells you that you're handsome just run. Scammers are unfortunately all over Colombia.
just because the coke capital moved to Mexico (mex amer living in us) doesn't mean Medillin is any safer for anyone. As a Mexican I say it with love and respect, I as a Mexican would not go. dont go. and if you are going (youtuber etc), meet up with friends or dont go alone, OR travel with your Mexican friends. I thought the whole Natalie Halloway incident was enough of a warning to Americans, I guess not.
Natalee Halloway was killed in Aruba which is a Dutch colony and has nothing to do with Colombia or Latin America aside from the fact that it’s located in the Caribbean. Don’t really see the equivalence.
To say Medellin today isn't safer for anyone than it was in the 80s/90s is one of the most ignorant and inflammatory things I've read on the internet in a while.
Are you high?
Man - I remember when this kid named Mark Kilroy went missing back when I was a younger man…
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/the-believers-cult-murders-in-mexico-53577/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Mark_Kilroy?wprov=sfti1#
I'm a friend of one of these travelers. It's sickening the way people are dehumanizing him in this thread. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Imagine, for one second, if it was one of your friends who'd just died in some confusing circumstances in a far away country...
When in Colombia, don't bring women into your home, don't do drugs, and don't let your guard down on the street. A little situational awareness is required at all times, but I guess the people who have that already have enough situational awareness to not go to Colombia in the first place.
Why is it always Americans? I’m from Medellin and I have loads of British and Irish friends and not even one of them has had a bad time. They all went on tinder and bumble dates the whole time and they were nice girls. When you go to provenza o lleras park all you see are Americans flirting with hookers. Not saying that there’s not a problem because there is, and yeah armed robbery is definitely a thing. But I also see a pattern in a lot of these cases
"One of them is that of Anthony G. López, 29, who was found dead inside a hotel located on circular 4 with carrera 70, in the Laureles neighborhood, after this man had entered the room with a woman who left hours later"
For the last time, American men...STOP THINKING THERE'S NOTHING SUSPICIOUS ABOUT COLOMBIAN WOMEN WHO ARE OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE FFS
Anyone notice how these killings dont happen in Mexico despite MX being as dangerous if not more than Colombia?
What are Americans doing in Colombia that they're not doing in Mexico?
Why are there not bait stings and setups for these operations? Like, get a bunch of white dudes and have them go out kinda drunk like, hitting on women, etc. Wait for one of them to get targeted and then send in the fucking death squad.
I’m guessing the Colombian government really doesn’t care enough to put an end to this.
lol you clearly don’t know enough about Colombia history 😂 law enforcement is so absurdly corrupt compared to anything you see in the west. Hell, police may even be in on some of these crimes.
It’s also pretty tone deaf to use the word “death squad” considering the Colombian government has murdered thousands of innocents to appear “tough on crime” (look up false positives if you’re curious)
I was in Medellin in 2016, and it was as safe as can be, I stayed and traversed Colombia for 6 months and never felt threatened, only love and helpfulness. I did this while never dressing down and meeting multiple women throughout the country.
Seems like times have changed. This is sad because it really is a lovely culture, and even though there's tons of murders at the moment, I assure you that most of the 50 million Colombians are hardworking, well-mannered, warm people. Unfortunately, like in many cases all over the world, the few ruin it for the many.
Let's hope the government has a crackdown on the crime and things turn for the better. They need to understand that when the tourism $$ stops, that's when the real heartache will begin.
Whenever this stuff happens people take sides and really what people are trying to make a case for is if you should or shouldn't go a place. So you have people that say, well this never happened to me, then people on the other side will scream victim blaming but ultimately all travel is a privilege and a choice and your entire life is balancing statistics. I have a healthy fear of getting mugged here in Colombia, but I have almost no fear of being in a mass shooting when I am in a mall. Any time I am in a mall or public space in the USA I am terrified I am going to hear gun shots ring out.
Colombia is not as safe as SEA or Japan, Colombia is also not only Medellin. My mother is a nurse and has been in some very dangerous countries and she once said, "some of the most interesting places are dangerous." It's the house cat metaphor but if you are trying to decided there is a pretty easy way to determine it, if you think safe is wholly binary than you probably shouldn't come to Colombia.
There is a non 0% chance you will get mugged when you come to Colombia, there is a non 0% you will be scoped (this chance is higher depending on your lifestyle). Certain things you can do in other countries and be totally fine you shouldn't do here.
Do some basic research like how to write properly Colombia before booking a flight to Medellín with the intention to stay there for some years. Speaking a little bit of Spanish may help as well.
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It's like the anecdotes of 'feeling so safe'.. you can feel safe but in reality you might not be.
Kurt Kaz, supposedly experienced and savvy traveller almost getting himself robbed, and maybe murdered by two obvious junkies [https://youtu.be/RAgJnDGitVk?t=1804](https://youtu.be/RAgJnDGitVk?t=1804)
I’m honestly amazed he hasn’t experienced worse. Definitely super savvy but he’s nonstop exposed to potentially meeting the wrong group in a LatAm street way more than the average traveler. … with expensive cameras
The cameras are a small issue now. The real risk is they know he has some serious money now, from his youtube career. Back in the day, he could probably have got out of most situations just giving up wallet and camera. Now he's seriously likely to get kidnapped, or beaten until he gives up some serious cash. Especially casually telling people he has 2 million subs.
Thank you for sharing this.. Kurt has bigger balls that I will ever have. I have been on some sketchy neighborhoods in South America and I have never had so many red flags and sirens blaring in my head as I saw with his little trip down that alley. And ma boy sticks out like a giant money sign anywhere he walks lmao
What’s being willfully ignorant got to do with courage? It’s not an admirable trait to court danger for views, wrapped in immense privilege, pretending to be a baddie.
A large part of me thinks Kurt was aware, but letting it run for a bit for the views. I thought he was savvier, and frankly you don't need to be very savvy to see what's going on here. I get sketched out even in much more obviously benign situations, when meeting people travelling. I always have my guard up to some extent, even in the safest places and least suspicious people. Having said that, Kurt does seem a little naive at times. And he has some serious andrew tate/incely moments, where he reveals his immaturity and lack of worldly experience. So it's hard to say. Either way, I hope he was either aware, or is studying this moment he almost ended in deep shit, because it's not going to be his last, and he might not be so lucky next time.
There's always a ton. You're the exception until you're not.
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Let's check to see if he has posted lately ;)
It's actually really weird to watch the Medellin stuff play out in real time in this sub. People post horror stories and news like this, then like clockwork a flurry of posts talking about "just don't be a target" (lmao) and how safe it is there, especially compared to other places. As though it matters how much more dangerous other places are. Like who are those people? Locals who don't want to lose tourist and nomad dollars? Criminals hoping for more dumb targets? The Colombian government not wanting to tarnish the reputation further? Could even be other nomads hoping to dilute their own probability of being attacked. Suuuuper weird.
There's a very strong pressure within every travel community I've been a part of to signal that you're *not* like other tourists who are afraid to leave their country/resort/safe spaces, because it is seen as almost a duty to prove to those types that the world is good and safe. It's almost like a form of performative antiracism in the end.
lol my Colombian husband is so vigilant when we’re there. We’re not terrified but to act like it’s all fine and dandy everywhere is stupid and borderline paternalistic
Bless. My Colombian friend told me, “I don’t even travel alone around the country when I go back home,” and this was before the recent news spikes.
For sure. Travel subs are weird about this. Same thing happens when a woman asks about safe travel to a country like India. Actual local women will say “Heck, no. At least not in X part of the country. We get harassed all the time.” But then a bunch of Western tourists get on a soapbox.
The same soapbox is supported by an army of online shills posting out of China, which first grew in significant volume around the time of the 2019 protests.
So much this. ImNOtlIKeThEOtheRNomADz
I think it’s rather to demonstrate how worldly and street smart they are.
No offense, but unless you are looking to party with cheap girls and cheap rent and cheap cost of living there appears to be little reason to be in Medellín. But really cheap girls ("respectable" Colombian women wouldn't be caught dead being mistaken as a Gringo's hooker, thief, murderer, etc.). Few historical sights, forgettable cuisine, limited access to nature, crime even the locals are mindful of. Locals who think all foreigners are conniving sex and drug addicts. And losers back home to the point their lives are meaningless for a few bucks. Does not seem worth the hassle to me.
>unless you are looking to party with cheap girls and cheap rent and cheap cost of living This is why a lot of dudes go...plus cheap drugs
Literally every comment below is like “oh it’s only American men because they’re sex tourists”. I’ll reiterate that I was a married 30 year old woman in Colombia for a work conference and have never felt so unsafe in my life. Whatever the equivalent of a pick me girl is for tourists and DN, that’s these folks
Exactly. Don’t wear a watch, don’t take a taxi, don’t go out at night, don’t go to bars, don’t date anyone, don’t take your credit cards, don’t use your phone in public. Let’s be serious here.
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It’s almost like there is a group of propagandist promoting Medellin as a truly safe place to instill confidence in foreigners to visit the city, when Baghdad and Kabul sounds more safe at this point. Like they are part of the conspiracy to lure foreigners to their demise.
I just think most people are ignorant/generally stupid. Their outlook and decision making processes are upside down.
Cows are evil. Rural Switzerland is full of cows. Are there any cows in Medellin?
They have rampant invasive hippos
The entire country should be boycotted by expats/immigrants and digital nomads. This will hurt them economically, and force the government to try and clean up corruption that allows extortion and robbery. This would also cause foreign investments to dry up, and real estate values to lower, furthering the pressure on city/government to change. Works for any location that has a tourist driven economy, or significant foreign investment. For people claiming drug lords are the problem, Mexico’s resort areas (like Cabo) are still cartel owned, but they cleaned up the crime to ensure they still make money. On top of all that- most of the crime against immigrants/vacationers/expats is not organized crime, it’s small time people that aren’t major gang affiliated.
Lol…es Colombia hermano. The country that gave us “no dar papaya” and invented the concept of an Untouchable drug lord.
to give up crime for expats 😭fucking a
Oh I know, I know!! Let’s just have the Colombian government fix it! I feel so much better now; surely they’ll put their best people on the case…problem is practically solved. Why didn’t we all think of that? The Colombian government is like Switzerland’s, but more honest and functional. That’s what they’re most famous for, helping the Common People. Every government loves and cherishes foreigners, famously. Top priority!
I mean that'll happen with time. Far fewer people will visit as word of these issues gets around.
>“no dar papaya" SOO many other places in the world to digimad at. And safer.
Well, I WAS there last year and nothing bad happened to me… but my buddies got drugged and robbed
Bro statistics are all made up bro
Good point lol
Or the “no dar papaya” comment. It’s sickening.
Literally had the opposite once. Someone was citing the crime statistics in Saint Louis vs Manila. I don’t believe the crime statistics in Manila.l to say the former is safer. The police don’t get called for every fight and theft like they do in the USA and even where you’re 2X more likely to die by cop that anywhere else in the USA we still have more trust in the police. If you believe the statistics I can show you a country that has no rape!
You’re absolutely right and these “all is well” posts ring hollow. The recent wave of crime against foreigners is worrying. That being said, if you are careful, you will most likely stay out of harm’s way. I am not saying it can’t happen, but I think the comparisons below (not yours, in all fairness) with Bagdad are completely unwarranted. Be careful. Take precautions. Don’t do stupid things. But Medellin isn’t Kabul.
most people who go to kabul would be fine too. even in an incredibly dangerous, stupid-to-travel place, the vast majority of people would be fine. people live literally their entire lives in these places. there’s nowhere on earth that one is more likely than not to have crime committed against them — even on the most dangerous street on earth, most times you walk it nobody will mug, stab or shoot you. so the idea that one had nothing happen to them when they were in medellin shouldn’t be used, like it tends to be, to convince onself that they “did it right” and were just better than everyone at not being a target. dangerous places are dangerous, and there’s a good chance it will come for you in certain places, no matter how little of a mark you make yourself.
I have been a staunch defender of Medellin over the years. I first visited with my Colombian gf (that I met in the states) in 2017. Definitely some rough edges and it’s a city where you need street smarts, but my experience was pretty much only good, and I’ve spent a combined like 9 months in the city since then, mostly before 2020. And most importantly, even though it was a flawed city, it felt like things were improving year over year because they actually were. I went back in early 2023 and it felt very different. And my local friends also say things are getting worse and worse since the pandemic. It’s a multi-factored thing. Firstly, COL crisis since the pandemic is effecting most countries, and Colombia as well. Secondly the shit situation next door is bringing in a massive wave of Venezuelan migrants. Now of course the majority are good hard working people looking for a better life. But there is also a noticeable portion that are criminals, whether by trade or necessity. And some of these criminals are a shoot first ask questions second type. I’m not saying that the only criminals are Venezuelans lol. There are tons of local criminals as well. But talk to any Colombian and they will know what I’m talking about. Thirdly, because Colombia has exploded as a tourist destination and more and more “rich” (literally or relative to the locals) gringos are coming down, it’s basically like chum in the water to criminals. Fourthly, there is an ever growing disdain for gringos in the country. And this is probably the most complicated part of the equation. Now, tons of tourists go down there and behave perfectly fine but there is a very sizable portion who just come down for drugs, objectify their women, and throw cash around. Colombians literally hate these people. When a foreigner gets robbed, injured, or in the worst case killed… the natural inclination of many Colombians is to just kinda shrug and say he must have been doing something stupid. The complicated part is that, a lot of the times, that is the case. Guys go down there not knowing the culture, not doing any research on safety, invite some tinder woman and “her friend” over at 2am like a moron and get robbed. The problem is that nowadays there are more and more stories of people getting robbed or mugged not even doing risky behavior. I know someone who was at a cafe sitting outside at midday. Not on his phone or anything (he lives there full time and knows better). Some Venezuelan dudes just walked up to him with knives and robbed him of his phone and wallet. In a “tourist” neighborhood in broad daylight. ————————————- A few years ago I was seriously considering Medellin as a long-term home base option but now I’m not anymore.
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No wonder Ecuador became so dangerous in recent years.
That's a different situation. The heavy militarization of the Colombian police effectively pushed the main cocaine cartels down to Ecuador who in the past didn't have the same need for excessive police militarization
And now Ecuador's police is becoming heavily militarized because of the narco violence there.
It's both. Yes, a big reason is that the drug trade moved further south and Ecuador became a transit point but I know many Ecuadorians here in NYC and the ones that have family who still live in Ecuador, have been talking about the rise in crime in Ecuador caused by Venezuelan migrants. This has been going on for a few years now. Initially I thought they were just being prejudiced and hypocritical but now I'm noticing it in NYC as well. In my almost-exclusively LATAM neighborhood, several immigrant-owned businesses have been attacked by Venezuelan migrants. Happened as well this weekend at a restaurant where I know the owner and he showed us the footage of the incident taken by a customer. The Venezuelan guy comes in, demands money from other customers he says is to buy food and some people give him money and another one buys him food. He then goes to the girl behind the counter and demands money and she asks him to leave. He throws the food at her and runs behind the counter to attack her. The male workers and a male customer step and they start fighting because the guy doesn't want to leave. Owner gets there and gets him out but the guy keeps coming back to attack. Police get there but no arrests are made because there are no hospital-grade injuries so there is no point. Guy keeps trying to attack owner saying (in front of the cops) he (the migrant) is super Venezuelan and the owner will pay with his life. My friend's parents own a home in the area and the NYPD is constantly stopping by to get CCTV footage of violent crime they're investigating. On the footage they've seen stabbings, gun point robberies and even attacks with machetes and axes. The cops told them that because of all the press the area gets for having a lot of LATAM businesses, esp food cart vendors, migrants come from shelters all over the city to the area to hang out & do their shit. The perpetrators are often Venezuelan, although not exclusively. I remember reading a few months ago that guys showed up on bikes and just started shooting into a laundromat in the area. People who live there and have for decades, are genuinely scared.
As for Chile if you look at their sub there’s lots of complaints about Venezuelan refugees perpetrating crime and homicides in Santiago. I was just there it’s extremely dangerous at night to the point that I didn’t go out after dark and was warned about daylight muggings multiple times in Centro. When I arrived and saw all the desperation and graffiti on all the buildings I decided to take more precautions than in Buenos Aires. Nothing happened but testing this would result in being a victim of crime.
Santiago used to be such a safe place (in comparison to most of Latin America). But yes, last year I met Chileans that said their entire apartment buildings are now overrun by Venezuelans. I even got my phone stolen there in Santiago one year ago and overall it felt WAYYY more dangerous than before all over the place.
This is so sad. I spent two weeks solo there in 2017 and it felt incredibly safe. I took the metros everywhere and walked at night with friends. I was even thinking of returning with my family for a visit but not now.
Yep. My first time was 2018 also! I liked it so much that I returned back for a month last year. And what I found out is it just simply is not the same place as it was. Another story: When I was there last year, there was a tourist from USA that arrived staying near the Barrio Yungay area (not a good area). He went out at night and took a picture of what seemed to be a drug house. 3 guys came across the street took his phone and then shot and killed him. Granted, he did everything he wasn’t supposed to do… fast forward 3 months and the police raided the spot and caught the criminals who were all Venezuelan. https://abc7ny.com/amp/eric-garvin-chile-shooting-travel/12734958/
Wow that's just so sad. Yeah things have changed.
The extent of this problem trickles all the way to USA as well. Thousands of migrants are crossing the Darien gap every week to try and make it to USA for a better life (I don’t blame them). In many cities in USA, they are literally kicking people out of homeless shelters to make room for the migrants that have fled mostly from Venezuela. It’s really crazy how everyone else is suffering from corruption and greed from the people at the top of just one country.
In Europe, yes, in Argentina, no. Of course there are many that come to work, but they're not usually middle/upper class. Quite a few causing problems here in Buenos Aires. And I have nothing against Venezuelan people, I've met a lot of amazing human beings from that country, but I wouldn't say the "good" ones come to Argentina, generally speaking.
>I know someone who was at a cafe sitting outside at midday. Not on his phone or anything (he lives there full time and knows better). I mean, if using your phone outside a cafe at midday in a tourist area, is an unwise thing people should know better than to do, then that place is not a place anyone should be going to.
Exactly but they will make it seem like this is normal. Better not be on your phone. You are making a huge mistake and broadcasting to everyone that you are rich and a easy target. How dare you take a phone call or use google maps, you should know better!
Colombians tend to be welcoming and social and if you’re not completely awkward you can make some normal friends, but when you go online dating or looking for “dates” in a random bar in el poblado those are all hookers waiting for the guy with the broken Spanish. Hookers are not more part of the culture any more than they are in the states it’s simply more readily available because they know clueless gringos are coming in with the money. They know that, their boyfriend, brother, cousins knows that and they all noticed you... Imagine going to nyc looking for drugs and the cheapest hookers in town and then being surprise when something goes wrong
Hilarious when you put it that way
yea, haha
Sadly, I saw a lot of gringos treating it like a drug/sex playground when I was there in 2019 too. I'll never forget telling a taxi driver how much I enjoyed the country and he looked at me curiously and asked why. When I explained I loved the music, history, art, culture etc, he sighed and said he wished more people came for these reasons instead of narco tourism. The only people I met (and they were almost always younger men) who got into trouble were those were trying to get coke and sleep with sex workers all while being wasted, having little Spanish and no awareness of much else. It's a shame and I don't doubt things have gotten worse since the pandemic for all the reasons you explained.
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This is ridiculous. A guy going dating online and going home with a woman is not “doing something stupid”.. this is perfectly normal behavior in 99% of the developed world. Of course anyone should take normal caution when they meet people they barely know but I hate how you guys make it seem like these guys are doing anything illegal, immoral or otherwise when they are dating in Colombia. Even if they are buying sex it is perfectly legal and a part of the culture of the country. So again, where else in the world is something legal and considered normal by locals but oh btw don’t do it because you might get murdered. The total blame should be put on the criminals who brutally threw a guy out a 17 story window. I don’t care what the guy did, clearly he did not deserve that. You guys are ridiculous.
> The total blame should be put on the criminals who brutally threw a guy out a 17 story window. I don’t care what the guy did, clearly he did not deserve that. You guys are ridiculous. And it always come back to this dumb argument. It's not "victim blaming" to say that people are doing risky behavior. > A guy going dating online and going home with a woman is not “doing something stupid”.. this is perfectly normal behavior in 99% of the developed world. In Colombia it is. That's the problem. People go down there and don't understand the culture. I will copy and paste a snippet of a comment I made a few weeks back: https://old.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/19ehcrw/a_hazard_for_visitors_to_colombia_devils_breath/kjdy18c/ "Another problem is that the vast majority of people who go down to Colombia don't understand Colombian culture. Colombia is a "low trust" society. You can see it in the way they socialize and date. When "normal" Colombians go out to bars/clubs they do it in a big group and stay in that group. It appears "cliquey" at first glance but it's rooted in safety. When Colombians date they generally date: friends, classmates, friends of friends, coworkers, etc. AKA, people who have social proof to them. There is not nearly the same culture of dating random people that there is in the US, and dating apps are not popular. Realistically the vast majority of women on dating apps in Colombia are "lower class" women for lack of a better term. So essentially when guys are going down there and meeting tinder chicks they are basically meeting hood women. And even if a "normal" Colombian woman was on a dating app. There is almost no culture of first date hookups in Colombia. A "normal" Colombian woman would not go back to your apartment on the first date. End of."
Yup. Two of my roommates got too excited when two girls at zona T seemed interested and brought them home, only to get drugged and robbed. It just doesn't happen in Bogota that a girl will come to your place the first night. I was hanging with an American buddy and he wanted to invite some girls to my place, the girls asked for our IDs (and still didn't come). Colombians don't trust strangers and rightfully so.
This is very true. Low trust culture probably goes all the back to Colombia’s bloody civil war between the left and the right. It predates narco craziness. Those interested in Colombian ideas about dating and expectations of “female purity” can check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ book “Tale of A Death Foretold”. It’s dated for sure but it still shows some insights into the attitude of familial “honor” being tied to female “purity”. Hell, there’s even Colombian salsa songs from the 80s that deal with wanting to get revenge with a guy who turned the singers’ daughter into a “sinner” by starting a sexual relationship with her. A culture can simultaneously revel in dress that is sexually revealing and designed to attract while also having very conservative standards of sexual behavior.
Great explanation here. I’ve lived and dated in Colombia for years now and this is exactly it.
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Yes that is part of it. The way Colombians go out and party/socialize is deeply rooted in safety. You go out in your group of friends, coworkers, and mutual friends, and generally stick to that group. That's not to say Colombians aren't friendly. They are. But there is really just not a culture of bringing someone random over to your house hours after meeting them.
All the opposition you are getting is because americans (and westerners) demand that every other country cater to them and their ways.
Colombia is the one place in the world where men need to be as cautious about online dating as women are about it everywhere else. Colombian women who actually want to have meaningful relationships or safe hookups avoid dating apps like the plague. Using a dating app down there is like sticking your dick in a gutter. What would you say to a guy who was trying to insert his dick into a sewer grate? Is that REEEALLY not his fault?
>Colombia is the one place in the world where men need to be as cautious about online dating as women are about it everywhere else. 100 percent. Men (who date women) are not used to having to be concerned for their safety, much less be in fear of being murdered.
But every guy who is murdered is not meeting women on the dating app also. There have been stories of guys who was dating a woman he met normally for months and he ended up getting set up. That said, it’s 2024. Online dating is normal pretty much everywhere in the world. What’s not normal is making excuses for criminals. You are making out to to be normal because a guy was thrown out a 17 story window for (allegedly) using tinder. Tinder is one of the most downloaded apps ON EARTH.
You're ignoring what /r/GarfieldDaCat said. Normal people don't use Tinder in Colombia. It's almost exclusively downloaded by people who are looking to prey on foreigners. My colombian roommate was shocked when I told her to download Tinder here in Canada, because nice girls didn't use it back home.
All I can speak of is my experience the last 6-7 years in Medellin. I've actually had great dates off of Tinder. I'm cautious and assume the worst of everyone but to say that there are 'no normal people' on the app is incorrect. Maybe you've had a different experience.
Exactly bro there are plenty of normal people on there it’s not only for criminals or low class people at all. Also, there is a lot of other nomads there as well. It’s a normal and viable option for dating.
It’s perfectly moral for me to go home from a bar with a man I don’t know. Nothing wrong with that. But I don’t do it because it’s high risk. And if I did it and got killed there would definitely be a number of people who’d blame it on my lack of judgement. This is the reality
And if they blamed you for that they would be morons. The blame is on the criminal.
Yup, but it’s been this way forever. I nearly got date raped by a bad man in the US. I met him for the date in a bar. Date went well, we made out. When it was time to go home I wanted to walk but he kept trying to talk me into accepting a ride home from him instead because it was raining. Against my gut instinct, I got into the car. He turned on me and said he had a gun, punched me in the face, said he was going to take me and rape me. Through my wits I tricked him into letting me open the window to smoke a cigarette and then I jumped out and ran for my life! I never reported the incident despite having his contact info because I knew making out with him in the bar would be seen as some kind of consent to be sexual with him and the assault would be my word against his. I was also ashamed about my lack of judgement. Dude was a creep but I made some bad choices that night. Not my fault per se, but I still should have been more careful for sure. I’m lucky my poor choices didn’t get me killed or raped
Let’s be real here. People that travel to Colombia for a limited time and hop on Tinder are not looking to seriously “date” or meet someone. They want cheap easy sex without the hassle of waking up to the hooker in public so Tinder is the quick digital way to try and get what they want. It’s basically escorting without the exchange of money. Yes people do that here in the U.S. but they generally don’t get robbed or drugged or thrown out of windows. I think it’s clear that cheap easy sex via Tinder in Colombia is a pipe dream and a good way to get robbed or worse.
And if they did, we would all agree that it was totally not cool. But let’s be serious here, if you are in any group associated with Colombia, there are so many rules here don’t have your cell phone out, when you go out take a burner cell phone, don’t take your credit cards with you, only have the cash you need etc etc etc. At the end of the day the place is just not safe. It has nothing to do with dating. For some reason they are murdering the American men but let’s not act like this is a safe place for locals or otherwise. People get robbed there all the time. I was out in Colombia with a gold necklace (nothing fancy just a normal small necklace that can barely been seen and is worn under my shirt) and was asked to take it off because it’s not safe. I was told not to use my cell phone in public because it’s not safe. But somehow they will try to convince you that this is normal and you’re just a moron for not knowing the “culture”.
The bottom line of this is very simple. You guys are only attributing this to online dating, but all of the cases have not involved online dating. That said, it’s clear that this country is not safe for tourists. People tell you don’t wear a watch, don’t go out at night, get a burner cell phone, Don’t take a cab only take Ubers, don’t take your credit cards out, and finally don’t date. So you’re telling me if I take a taxi instead of an Uber and I am robbed or murdered that’s my fault? And that’s normal? Give me a break. If all of this is true then the country is simply not safe and anyone defending it is part of the problem why it exists. The criminal just gets to walk away and do it again and again because all of the blame is put on the tourist for “doing something stupid” aka taking a taxi.
It is not normal for Colombian women to go on Tinder dates with strangers; it´s too risky. Proper Colombian girls would not risk it. These girls using Tinder are hustlers at best and criminals at worst, and the gringos are making it too easy for them and their gang banger boyfriends to rob and kill them. Colombians meet their partners through strict social circles. No decent middle-class and Colombian girls will be on Tinder.
Legality doesn't make something ethical. Sex trafficking and child prostitutions are huge problems in Colombia and there is a very good chance that a prostitute (prostitution is technically illegal outside of brothels in Colombia) has a handler that is engaged in those activities, so these men intentionally or not are funding these illegal activities indirectly. Also prostitution is not a part of the culture, what a terrible thing to say. Prostitution isn't aspirational it is driven by poverty.
Western men go to Colombia to sexually exploit their women and often, also revel in the drug culture, and then you're surprised that a) Colombians are deeply contemptuous of most gringos b) that some of those Colombians decide to rob you or worse. This is a country that has been notorious for supplying the world's cocaine and has had the expected crime and brutal gangs to go along with it. You can't just go wherever you want and whatever you want. This is something women learn and understand from a very young age. Passport bro culture is disgusting and exploitative. So is prostitution. It's inherently exploitative. Stop acting like these men are innocent little lambs at the slaughter. They're not.
It’s insane how many Venezuelans have entered the country. I’m Colombian and when I went to visit Cartagena it was so apparent. It kind of ruined my experience a bit because every 50 fucking feet there was a panhandler asking for money
Ok, one more time: STOP GOING TO FUCKING COLOMBIA
Btw, this has been going on for decades, i even remember watching a scam tv show with a guy visiting Colombia and meeting the so called "black widows", this was maybe 15 years or more ago. I don't know, I think since covid lockdowns and remote work, a lot of Americans have taken opportunity for wrong intensions in Colombia making them a target.
Apparently with the collapse of Venezuela, it has gotten significantly worse recently, which has coincided with the rise of digal nomads. From what I understand the Venezuelan gangs are very organized and targeting foreigners right now through dating sites and bars. For a brief time, just before COVID, Colombia was improving and there was a lot of hope and progress there.
South American here. Madura was releasing gang members from prison and kicking them out of the country in 2014-2016, at the same time several countries in South America were taking hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans a year, I mean they Peru (for example), took 3 millions in 3 years and Peru has only 30 million people so that was an increase of 10% in their population!. Venezuelan gangs are brutal and comparable to the Mexican cartel. Most native criminals in Peru were shy and would snatch and run or mug you without a weapon but the Venezuelans absolutely replaced the native criminals by intimidation and killing in very brutal ways. Now you have a local population with lower wages, housing goes way up because of massive demand, food goes up because demand, not enough jobs and bad economy to the point in which you can get a 18 years old sex worker for a whole week for $500 (for comparison, in the US that’s barely for 1 hour). Right now it’s a bit hard to do the digital nomad if you are white or clearly a tourist but if you can pass for a local and are street smart, you’d be fine.
I spent a month in Colombia in 2019 with 2 weeks in Medellin and it really was on the come up. I’ve felt more unsafe at American gas stations at night than at any point in Colombia. Breaks my heart tbh bc to me it really is a special place.
Is it safe for people who don't intend on going to dating sites and bars? Stuff like that just seems like a bad idea in countries like Colombia anyway.
Husband and I have been multiple times. It’s a beautiful country but we’ve seen some of the wildest shit there. Just right out in the open- like beggars with drugged, rented children at stoplights or underage prostitutes lined up on display in the busiest tourist district of Cartagena. Last time we were in El Poblado we saw two robberies happen right in front of us in the span of like 10 minutes. One of the thieves was pretending to walk a baby in a stroller. They got close to a tourist and pretended to reach for the “baby” and instead snatched the handbag of the person walking by and took off. The stroller was empty lol. We both speak Spanish fluently and my husband is a physically imposing guy (6’5” 300 lbs), but we don’t mess around in Colombia. Ie dress down, old shoes, zero jewelry, phones never come out. Basically look like broke backpackers. We stay in tourist districts and keep away from the party scene, or if we do go out, we don’t drink. Colombia is a lovely country, but you definitely need to travel smart while you’re there.
Colombia is never and nowhere super safe, but the actual level of safety will depend from your wallet and common sense. If you stay at places where the middle upper class (or above)Colombian families stay, it means good hotels, respectable apartments, restaurants, areas, use Uber, check the area you go to before etc., you are gonna be relatively safe. Avoiding areas with high percentage of all the charming refugees helps too - this it’s not a controversial thing in Colombia. On the other hand, if you think Colombia has to be cheap, and you stay in some murky airbnb in a shitty area and have the great idea to do some dating at night, preferably in cheap bars by yourself alone; while inviting strangers to visit you, this is when the risk factor really goes up. So it’s not like you gonna see someone getting robbed every day, it’s not a warzone. It’s still a place of law and order where most people follow the rules. At the same time you can’t act too carelessly because the place isn’t completely stable yet, and the crime rate is way above of the western countries.
By the sounds of it, Colombia is just a place you need to take your safety seriously in. It's not like Europe where you can go out, get drunk and walk home at 4 in the morning (which I've done plenty of times...) - if you're not sensible and cautious about your safety, bad shit is much more likely to happen to you. I don't see the appeal of staying there for an extended period of time but for a week or 2, it sounds like it's not too bad.
No. You have to know what you’re doing, and even then there is still no guarantee of basic safety. Even locals get robbed and drugged. I personally know a native who got robbed and beat so bad he had amnesia for a short period of time. Every local can tell you a story either their own or of a family member or friend
Yes, why did I have to scroll down so far for this post?!! We wouldnt warn You about something if neither US nor a close relative hadnt gone through it.
Depends on what you define as safe. I was there 1 month with my gf and had no problems. Met many others who also had no problems. But ‘safe’ is hard to define… you definitely need to take precautions that you otherwise probably wouldn’t in your own country.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, I recommend not going. I say that as someone who’s married to a Rola, owns property in Bogota, and loves the country. If I didn’t have guidance, family, and my wife’s lifetime friends, Colombia would be overwhelming.
I went to Cali for a wedding (an American and Colombian) and what the fuck man, the bride definitely had no idea what a shit hole it is
This makes a lot of sense to me.
This, lol. I even argue with lots of people defending fucking Colombia saying it's not all that bad. One dude literally said he was fucking ROBBED in pure daylight but was still like "its still a great place you just gotta me smart". Really?
Fuckin wild eh?
What blows my mind is how they think it's perfectly normal when describing the bat-shit insane security measures you're supposed to take in order to be smart. Like locking up your date's phone in a safe the moment they walk in the door.
I wish I could give you 10 upvotes. You nailed it!! I spent 7 weeks in Colombia last year, and while I met some really friendly people and saw some beautiful nature, it is not high in my list to return. Like how could people defend the country and claim it's safe, but then say it's safe if you....have a burner phone, leave your wallet at home, change your nice clothes for a 10 dollar outfit from Walmart, etc. Who the hell goes on vacation or wants to nomad somewhere, where you need such insane precautions? Especially when there are cities and countries around the world that have good weather, just as Good or better nature, and are cheaper than Colombia and these precautions are NOT needed!!! What normal human that doesn't deal drugs wants to own two phones or have a burner phone for travel? Absolutely ridiculous lol
Wow, congrats on having such an amazing adventure. One of the hiking videos the guy was explaining how it was perfectly safe, that you just have to be smart about it and only go on the weekends when it's heavily populated and leave before sunset, stay away from remote areas, and bring friends if you can. Thats.. that's not why I go to these places.
It’s always the people who are NOT smart saying this too 😂
>"its still a great place you just gotta me smart" "Just don't do...anything but stay in your place and work"
It's about statistics and probability. There's a reason why anecdotal evidence is considered a logical fallacy.
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7 years too. French. You're pretty much not safe anywhere. You just choose to accept that every window in the country has metal bars, that half a million people work as private security guards and that if you get your phone out in any street, a motorcycle driver can come and rip it off at any moment. Este país no tiene arreglo.
Nah. Don't go to home with hookers, don't do drugs, avoid wandering out when it's dark. Get drunk securely inside a hostel bar with other tourists rather than out at some unknown venue. In certain destinations like this, I'd avoid Airbnbs altogether and stick to a private room in a hostel if you need your own space. Safety in numbers, infinite friends to be made in common areas. Win-win. Source: worked in hostels for years, including in South Africa. Saw tourists regularly suffer pickpocketing/theft, smash-and-grabs, druggings, attempted rape, and one kidnapping. Still hoping they'll find the body of [Nick Frischke](https://capetown.today/the-disappearance-of-nick-frischke-a-grim-tale-in-beautiful-cape-town/) one day... :( Learned a lot of lessons over those years.
That's all great advice. I just don't want to be somewhere where you constantly feel like you need to look over your shoulder. Really sucks the fun out of things, you know?
Yep. All of those precautions take all the fun out of the whole thing. All for what, to save a few bucks?
Bingo. Sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
>I just don't want to be somewhere where you constantly feel like you need to look over your shoulder. Avoid 3rd world countries. I'm sure Colombia, South Africa and other similar countries are very beautiful... but it's still a wild west out there.
That's your call and depends on your goals. I think a variety of both is good. It gives you perspective and you'll see more of the world. Medellín was one of the most awesome landscapes I've ever seen and the people were so warm. Would be a shame to miss out on that. If you only go to cushy safe developed counties you don't learn much about the world and how different people live. I've been traveling way too long to stay in that bubble - it gets boring.
This is good advice but my sense is that most of these guys aren’t being killed by women who are overtly doing sex work, but rather by women who use dating apps to get access to gringos with wallets. One should probably avoid dating apps and avoid dating women who aren’t employed or educated, who are way younger or generally far out of the guy’s league in terms of looks.
But I went there last year and it was the best city in the world. No dar papaya and you will have a great time "dating" in the nightclubs and on Tinder. /s
American bros thinking "I'll die if it's what it takes to liveeeee!!!!" Lol
I’m in Medellin right now and the sentiment towards foreigners is the worst I've seen.A bit of background 1. This is my 3rd time in Medellin in the past 4 years 2. I don’t drink, take drugs or participate in prostitution, I live in Laurales, and only leave the house during the day now 3. I’ve been living as a DN for 4 years in countries all over the world 4. I’m a solo female traveler (and from St Louis MO, a very dangerous city in the US) I was walking down Calle 80 last weekend on a Saturday holding a tea and my ripped canvas tote bag I carry so I “didn’t give papaya” and despite this being a ‘safe’ neighborhood, I was chased down by a person carrying a brick. I’m not exactly sure what they were planning to do but I started screaming and they ran off. The worst part was, there were people everywhere just carrying on with their days. The bursts of violence scare me, but what troubles me in the long run was the fact that no one seems to care. People give me dirty looks, shake their heads at me and just generally display looks of disdain when they come across me. I try to be friendly, I speak enough spanish to have a conversation and have always been polite and respectful. But the attitude towards foreigners here is just so bad right now, I am planning to leave as soon as possible. (waiting for my expired passport to be renewed at the embassy) It’s sad, this city was wonderful, and there are people who are kind. But the fact that I can still be targeted, with no phone, no credit cards, no jewelry, ( I had 1000 pesos on me when the guy was chasing me down which is 25 cents lol) carrying a ripped bag down a busy street in a safe neighborhood in the middle of the day? I have nothing to prove by staying here, I don’t need to tough it out, I can simply just leave. And honestly, if you’re thinking of coming here, I'd reconsider. There’s a lot of wonderful safer cities all over South America to visit. Give Medellin some time to sort it out.
do you look visibly different?
Ya, I spent the last 3 winters in Medellín. I won't walk more than a block from my house in Laureles after dark. Don't carry my wallet or my real phone. Still got pickpocketed on the 70 once. It was fun during covid when there were few tourists. But the skyrocketing crime, cost, douchbag steroid junkies, sex tourists, etc..., I'm def over it. "Problem" is that I have the best girlfriend a guy could ask for in Envigado. I may consider a barrio in south like Sabaneta or even down to Caldas. No chance I'm living in Medellín anymore.
Yeahhh that’s a wrap on Colombia. I’m good with not going there. Too many shady stories this past year. There are so many countries that I can visit that don’t require you to constantly look over your shoulder or keep your hands in your pockets.
A lot of victims blaming here. These are murders, I don’t get it. Prostitution in Colombia is legal, regulated. It’s also legal in Las Vegas. The difference is the murders. Look, I get going out and getting drunk in a foreign country can be dangerous. But man… some of these comments are crazy.
Right? Some people just don't want to hear that their country has a serious problem that isn't going to get solved anytime soon so it's easier to dismiss it as the victim's fault. Victim blaming has been part of the culture for a long time: "no dar papaya". When you have been around it for so long it's harder to realize how fucked up a mentality it actually is.
Yeah right? Some of these comments: "*bro just come to Chicago*" There's a difference when Americans are being specifically targeted in a foreign country, vs indiscriminate crime in US cities. Whether people agree with the sex tourism in these countries or not is besides the question.
How many tourists do you hear about getting killed in Chicago a year? Yes there’s violence there but it’s in an area tourism isn’t really a thing.
Some people really think there’s shootouts at the Bean every day…
Yet I’ll bet these same bros make write these crimes off when they happen in the low income, high crime neighborhoods of their own cities. The cognitive dissonance is wild in here.
Dude the US Department of State literally says not to travel to Columbia bc it’s not safe.
Last I checked prostitution isn't legal in Las Vegas. It's legal in the state, but the county has banned it. That said, it's obviously all over Vegas and the cartels (even the mafia) have no real foothold in Vegas these days like they do in Columbia or much of Latin America.
I got downvoted on a previous thread for saying it wasn’t a victim’s fault they were kidnapped… this is such a horrible attitude and makes me feel ill. There is something deeply, deeply wrong in a city if the value of human life is so low.
> It’s also legal in Las Vegas. No it's not. Wtf u talking about lol. There's brothel in NV but not in Vegas itself
It’s pretty wild to read about people getting straight up murdered for shit I was doing every weekend about 12 years ago. Granted I lived with a local friend and went out with her and our friend group but I stumbled my drunk ass out of the clubs in Parque Lleras and took a taxi home to sleep off all the aguardiente without ever experiencing violence, I feel sad that people can’t experience that anymore, it was a fun time :(
I’ve been all over the world. Colombia is the only country where I haven’t felt safe as a solo female traveler. My spidey senses kicked in from minute one. I was there for work and stayed at a nice hotel and still felt like I could have gotten murdered any minute, not even being dramatic — from the chef and manager who came into my hotel room while I was inside of it and unclothed without knocking, to security guards everywhere I went clocking me as foreign and telling me I shouldn’t be there alone, I never felt okay in Colombia.
I am a 28 year old man and I felt basically the same way haha, so I can't imagine how much worse it was for you. Got my phone stolen + food poisoning and no desire to return
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Yeah I got downvoted and trolled by some racist guy below but I said I’ve spent a ton of time in Mexico City and feel fine there, plus other parts of Latin America. Colombia is the only time I’ve ever felt this unsafe
You probably haven’t been to Morocco or Egypt.
Egypt was the first place I've ever been that I didn't feel safe, and I never, EVER, want to go back again. Awful place.
I have been to the Middle East but admittedly neither Morocco nor Egypt. I have been (and am returning to) India. All not great places for women. Still felt like I was going to get murdered in Bogota and I have never felt that way anywhere else (even when I was afraid of sexual assault)
I’m an American in Medellin right now. If I don’t report back by Sunday 02/11 consider me dead
Been in Colombia a month now, about a week in Medellin. I heard lots of horror stories from other travellers who were robbed. One from her AirBnB while sleeping (inside job obviously). Others, more violent. Usually because they would not give up their phones. Did I have a great time? Yes. Did I feel like I escaped Medellin with everything intact? Also yes. I was once out with a group of gringos for safety in numbers when I told one of the group I was taking a girl to make sure she got in an Uber okay and would be right back (a good precaution - never let anyone go alone inebriated). I got back 10 mins later and they all had fucked off, leaving me alone. Sucks, because I was having a good time! But, I did the wise thing despite my condition and got an Uber straight back to hostel. Other places like Jardin were very chill and safe. If I have one place to recommend is to go to Providencia. Take a flight from San Andres. Caribbean paradise. So safe. No crowds, just great vibes. Just be careful in Medellin. I have a friend who has lived his whole life there and he says it’s changed too much in last couple years and wants to leave. Lots of negative opinions especially around American visitors. I’m Canadian and can sound and look American, so I’m happy I’ve moved on. Another month in Colombia to go!
\*Three Americans have died in the last four days...that we know about.
Another daily reminder of Medellin. Kind of weird this is daily posted on many subs.
Saddened to hear this. Traveled to Colombia around the later pandemic days (late 2021, early 2022), and I'm not even a Spanish speaker, and it's by far my favorite country in the whole world. Easily the friendliest people. However, there are a few things: oen thing, I traveled with a Spanish speaker - not everyone can have this advantage so I feel luckier in this way. Also, we traveled all over Colombia and tried to meet as much friends we can over there. Biggest advice from anyone I know, even locals, who understand Latin America culture: It's much more dangerous than your typical Southeast Asian backpacking trip. So you need to always travel smart and vigilant, if you stay this way, you'll be safe. Safety cannot be guaranteed even in Paris or New York. So all in all, it's all about the way you travel. One of the things we advice everyone, and something we follow even as Spanish speakers, is to "stay simple" in Latin America. There is still a widespread ( I don't want to use the word hate, but there it is) thinking about "Gringos". It's a bit cultural, so it's difficult to remove. In South America, you need to stay simple, and not be flashy with using your cellphones and carrying them in your hand, expensive clothes, watches, jewelry. Sad but it's true. My partner backpacked and hitchhiked straight for 9 months in South America. I was there for 3-4 months. Yes even Medellin, Bogota, Cartagena. This next advice is hard, especially for the younger ones, we are in our mid 30s, but we avoid being outside too late in the night. We do public transport and we walk in neighborhoods (we don't travel around in taxis, maybe unless it's a big move when carrying all luggage), so we don't stay drunk at night and go around too late in the dark. In Medellin, beggars will try to get anything. I was holding a pack of sanitary napkins while waiting for some take out dinner, and a beggar went close to me, to ask for my things. I tried to even ask her what she wants, and I was in complete disbelief she wanted the napkins. Locals can easily see I'm not Spanish (maybe because I tried to entertain her), and told her to leave me alone. We really try to stay away from places that will be full of pickpockets and more dangerous people, and it's hard because El Poblado is the heart of partying and well you know what else, but we avoided staying there, but we did visit a few times. Tough because I know foreigners go to colombia for the cheaper partying and drugs but there's a way to enjoy it while trying to stay vigilant. I'm still looking forward to my next visit there!
That’s fine and all, to each their own, etc. But to live life in fear that a slight mistake such as having your phone out or wearing a watch can get you in trouble is enough for me to say it’s not one of my favorite countries. It can be beautiful, the majority of people great, but most Americans would be better off visiting other places that are safer
Better go to Southeast Asia. Much much safer..
For drugs and hookers?
for hookers yea, for drugs, not so much. 😅
I spent 6 months travelling solo around Colombia in 2012 and had no bad experiences myself, but did meet a couple of other foreigners who had been robbed (not drugged). These were basically street crimes. My feeling at the time was that Colombia had rounded a corner and was opening up economically and due to a peace deal with the FARC guerilla group it was also becoming much safer. I also had the feeling that tourism by foreigners was something new and exciting for the locals, i.e., they hadn't become habituated to them. Fast forward ten years and Colombia has been flooded with Venezuelan refugees who cannot find work so resort to crime, and the locals have finally gotten used to the wealthy gringos whom they now see as easy pickings i.e., 'papaya', or as we'd say 'low hanging fruit.' Couple that with the fact that Colombian women are renowned for their beauty and a burgeoning sex trade and you've got the situation we have now. I was there again in 2017 for about 2 months to reconnect with a Colombian girlfriend in Bogota and didn't have any dramas then either. However, locals told me things had gotten much worse since I was there in 2012. My now ex-gf, who I met in Australia, was from a well-to-do family of lawyers who lived in a gated community on the outskirts of Bogota, and I spent most of my time in her luxury apartment in an upmarket neighbourhood. So, I didn't have cause to stray into the sketchier parts of town at night trying to hook up with some random chica from a social media site. I love Colombia and the Colombian people, not just the women, but my experience is quite different to the average western guy hoping to get jiggy with a hot latina. For the record, I only spent a couple of days in Medellin the first time I was in Colombia, and found it to be boring, for the same reason that most foreigners seem to like it. I think that a greater number of foreigners are settling in Medellin and that may also be attracting the kind of predatory criminals who are perpetrating these evil crimes.
I felt very safe as a solo female traveler in Medellín, but that’s because (for once) I wasn’t the target there. The men are. RIP
I’m Colombian American, when I travel back to Colombia I am extremely careful, mind you I blend in perfectly. Don’t sugar coat it, Colombia, generally speaking is a dangerous place. It’s charming, beautiful and filled with culture but it is dangerous, Colombians are violent people, 65 years of Civil War, number one producer of Cocaine in the world and you guys really get fooled by the cheap rent? The passport bro movement has really made average dudes in America think they can go ball out in a developing country with no consequences. Not victim blaming, lol medellin’s bubble is going to pop soon enough and they are going to lose out on the money that the digital nomad movement does contribute but I see a lot of careless tourists and nomads in Colombia that put themselves in positions that a local would never and think they’ll be fine because they are Americans.
How dangerous is Medellin vs. more touristy areas like Cartagena or Bogota? I really would like to visit someday but now I'm a little put off. I'm generally a smart traveler and don't drink heavily/do drugs.
I went to Colombia in late 2021, Medellin for a week by myself. I went to Cartagena October of 2023 with w friends. My Spanish is intermediate. I’m well traveled and didn’t get hurt in Colombia. I’m also from ATL and have street smarts. The thing is that from what I saw, there were lots of middle aged and older men on drugs and drunk, barely can stand talking to hookers. Those are the ones that are more than likely to get setup. I dressed normal, wasn’t flashy, used my Spanish 99% of the time and met some really cool people. They liked me more because I respected their culture and didn’t be flashy and stuff. I’m not dismissing the crime that’s going on but it’s certain types of people that are setting themselves up to be robbed, etc.
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I was just on Medellin. It has people of all origins and nationalities, and somehow, the ones killed are always American men at the hands of drugs and hookers. No American woman has died, and I saw plenty. In my hotel, there were GERMANS, IRISH, JAPANESE, CANADIANS, MEXICANS, ARGENTINES, ITALIANS , A RUSSIAN, A SWISS. and they were all ok. Then you head into the nightlife areas, and it's full of drunk, drugged up American men hanging out with hookers. It's ironic so far. No female tourist, including American women, has ever died because they got drugged by hookers.
I am clearly still alive, but I was robbed at gunpoint while just eating at a high end restaurant in Medellin. Men with guns barged in and the rest was history. A restaurant on the same block was robbed the following weekend in the same manner. I also witnessed two armed robberies during broad daylight. I myself was not robbed in these two robberies though. I spent a total of 6 months in Medellin. Your chances of dying are very, very small (not worth even considering unless you live a risky lifestyle) but your chances of some thug with a gun robbing you are bigger. I didn't have a single Colombian friend in Medellin that had not been robbed at gunpoint at least once in their lives - not one. They were often even more paranoid than I was about the simplest things - for example, my closest Colombian friend would take an Uber to the nearby mall instead of just walking there in broad daylight. And this was not a dangerous area in my view.
Let’s see if they’ll be able to victim blame you for that… Better travel to Asia. Where you can walk around the poorest neighborhoods in a suit and you won’t get robbed.
Can confirm. Am Irish and had great time as did all my Irish friends. I will say this though, Americans are targeted a lot more than Europeans. Especially in Cartagena. Once they find out your not American they drop the act a bit and leave you alone
Why do you think Americans are targeted more than other nationalities
Americans can be very pompous, loud, lack a sense of self awareness. Europeans are more street smart. A European wouldn't head to a shady park in the middle of the night , while Americans would March right into it. I blame, American suburban sheltered up bringing, paired with American education brainwashing kids into believing they are the best, the greatest, the strongest, the smartest etc. Hence you have tons of people completely lacking in self awareness. However big city Americans are different. You drop yoyr average Joe from Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta in Medellin, they'll likely be ok. It's the suburban, never been to a big city type the ones that fall prey.
> Americans can be very pompous, loud, lack a sense of self awareness. > > Europeans are more street smart. There's probably also a bit of selection bias at play here. The segment of European travelers that are mainly going for "cheap booze, drugs and women", they go to to Asia instead. For people in that group, Colombia is only the easiest destination if you are North American. I assume that skews the perception of foreigners in Colombia.
Apparently, they don't teach statistics in Europe anymore. When it comes to foreign victims of crime in Colombia, you're ignoring statistical probabilities. Due to geography (I'll let you figure this out), Colombia is a much more popular tourist destination for Americans than it is for Europeans. A quick Google search reveals that roughly a quarter of Colombia's tourist arrivals are Americans, making the US the number one source of foreign tourists to Colombia. The only European country that cracks the top 5 for tourist arrivals in Colombia is Spain, and that's just 6% of all arrivals. A large number of Americans going to a country with an extraordinarily high rate of violent crime means that American tourists are more likely to be victims of violent crime. Of course, some percentage of these victims -- probably the majority -- are "sex tourists" or "passport bros" or whatever you want to call them, but if you think that Europeans are street smart do-gooders who don't engage in prostitution, go to Thailand. Fortunately for the Europeans (namely Brits) who flock to Thailand for sex, violent crime is much less common there than it is in Colombia. TL;DR: take a remedial statistics course.
THANK YOU. EXACTLY THIS. I was there in August 2022 alone as a woman and this is exactly what I observed.
Amazing, isn’t it? I wonder how you figure that.
I spoke with my cousin who's Colombian and she explained that the DM's are wearing out their welcome. Mainly two reasons, 'pre-pagos' or sex tourism and looking for 'perico' or drugs. Understand that 40% of the population live in poverty so when real estate and food prices go up because of foreigners....well there will be those looking to take advantage. When I visited Colombia to see family I had to follow the advice on what to do and what not to do. Also for all the men thinking of going to Colombia, if some dime piece tells you that you're handsome just run. Scammers are unfortunately all over Colombia.
I went with my wife in 2019 and it was great. Having a partner does automatically cut down on a lot of the risk factors though.
just because the coke capital moved to Mexico (mex amer living in us) doesn't mean Medillin is any safer for anyone. As a Mexican I say it with love and respect, I as a Mexican would not go. dont go. and if you are going (youtuber etc), meet up with friends or dont go alone, OR travel with your Mexican friends. I thought the whole Natalie Halloway incident was enough of a warning to Americans, I guess not.
Natalee Halloway was killed in Aruba which is a Dutch colony and has nothing to do with Colombia or Latin America aside from the fact that it’s located in the Caribbean. Don’t really see the equivalence.
To say Medellin today isn't safer for anyone than it was in the 80s/90s is one of the most ignorant and inflammatory things I've read on the internet in a while. Are you high?
Man - I remember when this kid named Mark Kilroy went missing back when I was a younger man… https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/the-believers-cult-murders-in-mexico-53577/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Mark_Kilroy?wprov=sfti1#
Went for my honeymoon last year, I’m sad hearing all these stories
I'm a friend of one of these travelers. It's sickening the way people are dehumanizing him in this thread. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Imagine, for one second, if it was one of your friends who'd just died in some confusing circumstances in a far away country...
Passport bros are getting a rude awakening
When in Colombia, don't bring women into your home, don't do drugs, and don't let your guard down on the street. A little situational awareness is required at all times, but I guess the people who have that already have enough situational awareness to not go to Colombia in the first place.
Why is it always Americans? I’m from Medellin and I have loads of British and Irish friends and not even one of them has had a bad time. They all went on tinder and bumble dates the whole time and they were nice girls. When you go to provenza o lleras park all you see are Americans flirting with hookers. Not saying that there’s not a problem because there is, and yeah armed robbery is definitely a thing. But I also see a pattern in a lot of these cases
Why do all the people even go to Colombia? When there is so many safer places in the world…
2nd highest biodiversity hotspot in the world. if your not into nightlife but enjoy photographing birds its pretty chill
Big booty latinas and cheap cocaine
Could’ve stopped at latinas. Booking my flight now
"One of them is that of Anthony G. López, 29, who was found dead inside a hotel located on circular 4 with carrera 70, in the Laureles neighborhood, after this man had entered the room with a woman who left hours later" For the last time, American men...STOP THINKING THERE'S NOTHING SUSPICIOUS ABOUT COLOMBIAN WOMEN WHO ARE OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE FFS
How do you know she was out of his league? What if she was ugly or at least in his league?
Anyone notice how these killings dont happen in Mexico despite MX being as dangerous if not more than Colombia? What are Americans doing in Colombia that they're not doing in Mexico?
😂 Yeah, because none of these LATAM countries can be at fault for things happening inside their borders.
Only northern Mexico is more dangerous than Colombia, the southern part of the country is about as safe as it gets in Latin America.
Why are there not bait stings and setups for these operations? Like, get a bunch of white dudes and have them go out kinda drunk like, hitting on women, etc. Wait for one of them to get targeted and then send in the fucking death squad. I’m guessing the Colombian government really doesn’t care enough to put an end to this.
lol you clearly don’t know enough about Colombia history 😂 law enforcement is so absurdly corrupt compared to anything you see in the west. Hell, police may even be in on some of these crimes. It’s also pretty tone deaf to use the word “death squad” considering the Colombian government has murdered thousands of innocents to appear “tough on crime” (look up false positives if you’re curious)
Because the police in Colombia do not care or the are getting a cut for letting it happen.
If you feel safe it means you weren’t selected
I was in Medellin in 2016, and it was as safe as can be, I stayed and traversed Colombia for 6 months and never felt threatened, only love and helpfulness. I did this while never dressing down and meeting multiple women throughout the country. Seems like times have changed. This is sad because it really is a lovely culture, and even though there's tons of murders at the moment, I assure you that most of the 50 million Colombians are hardworking, well-mannered, warm people. Unfortunately, like in many cases all over the world, the few ruin it for the many. Let's hope the government has a crackdown on the crime and things turn for the better. They need to understand that when the tourism $$ stops, that's when the real heartache will begin.
Whenever this stuff happens people take sides and really what people are trying to make a case for is if you should or shouldn't go a place. So you have people that say, well this never happened to me, then people on the other side will scream victim blaming but ultimately all travel is a privilege and a choice and your entire life is balancing statistics. I have a healthy fear of getting mugged here in Colombia, but I have almost no fear of being in a mass shooting when I am in a mall. Any time I am in a mall or public space in the USA I am terrified I am going to hear gun shots ring out. Colombia is not as safe as SEA or Japan, Colombia is also not only Medellin. My mother is a nurse and has been in some very dangerous countries and she once said, "some of the most interesting places are dangerous." It's the house cat metaphor but if you are trying to decided there is a pretty easy way to determine it, if you think safe is wholly binary than you probably shouldn't come to Colombia. There is a non 0% chance you will get mugged when you come to Colombia, there is a non 0% you will be scoped (this chance is higher depending on your lifestyle). Certain things you can do in other countries and be totally fine you shouldn't do here.
Do some basic research like how to write properly Colombia before booking a flight to Medellín with the intention to stay there for some years. Speaking a little bit of Spanish may help as well.
Fuck, that shit is terrible. Going to Barranquilla at the end of this month tho..
What about Peru ? Is it safe ? Not a digital nomad but would like to travel there
I recently spent time in Cusco and the Sacred Valley and felt very safe as a solo female traveler.
Cool, happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for your feedback