Where are the nomad hot spots in Central and South America?

You should come to Uruguay and visit: Punta del Este, Montevideo, Colonia, Salto.
More info about the country:

We’ve been in Panama and Costa Rica for 4 weeks. Panama city – noisy big city, some parts are sketchy but you will probably not go there, internet was good. Bocas del Toro – you get good 3g coverage on the main island and nearby, lots of tourists and a good vibe, internet was pretty good too. Boquete – lots of expats, many people speak English here. Some pretty awesome jungle hikes. Then we moved to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Good internet as well, 3g coverage exists but Kolbe ICE was quite slow for us (never more than 2Mbps). City is very touristy and the most expensive on our whole trip. Beatiful beaches and very good national park though. Also, you can surf on Playa Espadilla which is cool. Now we’re in La Fortuna / Volcan Arenal area. A bit like Boquete, but more expensive, less expats more tourists. Kolbe is even more slow here than in Manuel Antonio, hotel WiFi not more than 2Mbps down / 1 Mbps up.

To summarize, Costa Rica more green and touristy and expensive than Panama. Internet speeds outside of big cities generally leave much to be desired (well, I guess you can find 10 Mpbs channel in La Fortuna but it will be hard), but you can get ~2 Mbps on 3g in most places you’d like to stay at. And rainy season is actually good time to visit – it rains just a little not the whole day and there are much much less tourists and it’s not so awfully hot.

In Medellin now. Apparently this did not worry me. Staying in Envigado - so it is pretty tame.

Time to share my experiences, hope its gonna help a nomad one day

Cusco / Cuzco Peru:
Beautiful City but very, very touristy. I had to leave after two weeks because I couldnt stand the “massage, massage” anymore. Otherwise very nice, cheap, good restaurants and some hotels (eg. Chakana House) offer rooms with good Wifi and work desk too. At the same time the wifi in Cafes isnt reliable. A big plus: It’s the base for Maccu Picchu visits, a once in a life time experience. Oh, and there is a healthy Gringo-Nightlife with unhealthy cheap drinks.

La Paz, Bolivia:
Very cheap, very exhausting, very interesting. There’s no city like La Paz, the view is really bizarre. But Internet is bad, its loud and busy and the high and cold is exhausting. I had no energy left for hard working there.

Coroico, Bolivia:
Laidback, calm village near La Paz with some touristy infrastructure and a beautiful, cheap “resort” with apartements (Hostal Sol y Luna). Best for some inspirational brainstorming and creative planning at nearly no living costs. Internet sucks, bring your own dongle (go for Tigo 4g LTE). And a lot of bug repellent.

Sucre, Bolivia:
I love this city. It’s not only incredible cheap, the city is relaxed and beautiful, there are excellent restaurants and hotels, the weather is fine and you even can find some cafes with OK internet (e.g. Condor Cafe). Maybe no hardcore gaming, but well enough to work with SAAS-stuff. Best is to get a dongle (Tigo, 4G LTE). For longer stays: Some really nice apartements are avaible too. Somebody just needs to open a coworkingspace with fast internet and this is gonna be the place to be

Just from Medellin, American tourist killed when his cab was intercepted by thieves
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/27/american-tourist-shot-dead-during-botched-robbery-attempt-in-colombia

I know it is not CA or SA but since a few people have mentioned it and I am here right now, the pacific coast of Mexico has some great destinations. I’m in Puerto Vallarta right now, great beach city destination, it is low season now so it is easy to find inexpensive housing (I’m in Gringo Gulch at the moment) and since I eat a lot of street food and buy from the local central market (PV has a great produce and meat market in the Centro downtown area near where I am staying) feeding myself is pretty cheap. Some great little cafes near Los Muertos Playa (one of the better beaches in PV).

Since the city is a tourist town, there is a lot to do, depending on how much money you want to spend, also English is spoke widely which is a bonus for me since my Spanish is very basic. I’m surprised the DN isn’t larger here, internet seems decent (where I am staying anyway) and if you get tired of a large city, many smaller beach towns are nearby, such as Sayulita (as mentioned in previous posts) to the north and Yelapa (only accessible by water taxi) to the south. My only other experience with Mexico has been the Mayan Riviera and although it is beautiful, I did not enjoy my time there, since it was expensive (in comparison to the Pacific coastal region anyway), over run by drunken foreign tourists and very aggressive local hawkers.

Hey @allyBlue - I just spent 5 months in Colombia, with 2,5 months working just in Medellin. I also travel and worked on the north coast.
So obviously, as most people, I had a great time in Medellin, I met many digital type of people, but not so many digital nomads (in comparaison to what you could find in SEAsia for example). We all agree that the media & bloggers out there are slightly exagerating when they talk about a “community” of digital nomads. This said, in comparaison to Cartagena, it was huuuge There was just nothing going on in Cartagena, the closest thing to a co-working space is the local Starbucks (i.e.: Juan Valdez). The city is also extremely touristy, so you if you’re alergic to mass tourism, it probably won’t be a good place for you. It’s also quite expensive, if you stay in the historical center, which isn’t ideal. Getting back to Medellin, from what I know, it is also really big into “textile” and retail, which sounds interesting for you.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
If anyone has other questions about Medellin, I’d be very happy to try and answer it.
Raph

WOW such a rad thread, i just learned a ton!

I have traveled a bit in CA and agree that Costa and Panama are quite expensive but NICARAGUA is much cheaper, more spanish, less touristy, and more off the beaten path. I would reccomend San Juan Del Sur for anyone who needs good cafes to post up at and a hub of chill creative travelers.

Question! I am planning on traveling and working through South America next year starting in Colombia, but am more inclined to stay near the coastal Cartagena instead of the mountains of Medillin, which seems to be many peoples #1 spot. Can anyone speak to this? Is Cartagena a lost cause for digital working nomads? I am a photographer and videographer so my mail target market is small businesses, clothing brands, weddings, venues. Any info would be AMAZING!

I’m surprised that nobody has talked about Uruguay. It’s quiet and relax country with laid back people between Argentina and Brazil. It has the best cheap internet connectivity in all Latin America, comparable to First world countries like Sweden or England. It has decent beaches in the summer, people are literate although they mostly speak spanish, english is not that common, like in spain or italy. Along with Chile is the safest country in Latin America, although insecurity has been on the rise in the last years (but nowhere near the levels of insecurity like in Colombia, Brazil or Argentina). And for those who want to mingle with the population and not being perceived as too foreigner, most of uruguayans are descendant from europeans. The only drawbacks i could see is that the country itself is not cheap, food and imported goods are expensive and there is no much varierty in options and stuff. For those with related IT careers the country is trying to improve that sector, and jobs could be find easily, but wages are not that high. Little in known that Uruguay is the leading software exporter in south america per capita. Best time of the year to come here and relax is between October and April.
Cheers!

This thread is a bit long to read @ 2:47 AM, so sorry for any redundancy.

A vote for Medellin if you’re looking for other expats (I typically don’t and go for experience instead). I was there for all of last month.

NOTE - I found it very polluted. On the level of Seoul. Maybe worse, given its size. This is why I left. I had sinus infections and sore throats… But I’m a bit sensitive at the moment.

Also, it dangerous. Not bad. I wouldn’t have left because of this, but you shouldn’t whip out our cell phone while in public. I knew a few people to get robbed while I was there… And this is during just a month. Only Rio seemed worse in my experience.

I also spent 5 months in Buenos Aires late last year / earlier this year. It was great. I really enjoyed my time there. Definitely travel around to see Valparaiso and Patagonia if you’re already that far south.

BA is rather safe if you’re in Palermo (I’d walk around at 2AM with headphones in), but note it is getting worse by the day. I have a full time employee still there.

Because of the currency situation, you need to bring in cash. You can always hop over to Uruguay to get more cash from the ATM. But bring in Dollars or otherwise, makes your money go literally 50% farther. It is easy and safe to exchange on the Dolar Azul market.

My Venezuelan friends say that it is going the way of their country. So now may be a good time to go. Before it is crazy dangerous, if their predictions come true.

Otherwise, I spent 6 months in Mexico, mostly last year. I would suggest Sayulita over Playa Del Carmen & Puerto Vallarta.

PV is very old. And I didn’t have much fun there.
PDC is young and awesome. But the internet is bad. If making calls is really important, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Sayulita, should have decent internet. And great surf. Plus you can get organics delivered from PV (it is 45 min north). And there are lots of young backpacker types always coming through.

If you go to Mexico, get some Tacos Pastor for me… Mmmmmmm.

I stayed in a hostel in the Pelourinho, @kroger. That’s probably why.

Hey @Tim_Blackburn, I spent 3.5 years in Brazil, mostly in SP (I wasn’t remote yet, and that’s where the jobs are), but am planning a short return to visit clients. You may struggle with internet in Recife/Natal (and the whole Northeast, really), but if you don’t need fast speeds, it may be alright. The R$ is nearing 4-to-1 with the USD, already over 4 with the EUR, so it’s a great time to go. Brazil is very welcoming to foreigners, too. Keep in mind though, SP and Floripa (local’s nickname for Florianopolis) get cold in the Northern Hemisphere’s spring (their fall).

This is an awesome thread!

I’m currently living in Santa Monica, CA, and looking to sell all my things and move out next spring.

I’m figuring out where the best place to start is, so I’m following this thread closely!

Brazil seems really great for Nomads from the US right now, because the dollar is strong to the BR (Brazilian Real).

Florionopolis, Natal, Rio, and Recife are all on my list.

Has anyone here been to Brazil?

You’d mentioned living in Spain, what about Gran Canary (Surf Office co working)? Too touristy?

I’m looking for the same thing you are, essentially Bali or Southern Thailand in the Western Hemisphere. Listening to what others tell you

Sorry this is going to be a bit of a long post. I’ve been telecommuting full time more or less since January (with a few month long stops to the physical office in DC) and right now I’m trying to find a good location to spend a month or so working remotely in the October-November timeframe. I have to more or less keep East Coast US hours (10-4 availability) and I have to be fully connected, internet and phone, M-F, 40 hours a week.

Right now my ideal location would be something with very reliable internet, in a city with good night life and a beach, where I can find a 1 br apartment on airbnb for under $1500 for a single month(less is better, but that would be my DC rent so that’s my cap).

In the last 6 months I’ve tried a lot of cities but haven’t found any that really fit. I’ve tried: Medellin (I did like the city, the weather, and the people but i’d like something with a beach), Cartagena (seems to meet my criteria but locals there seemed really jaded by tourists and seemed to just be trying to rip everyone off), Bogota (fun for a bit but doesn’t hit any of what i’m looking for), Quito (felt really unsafe), Puerto Vallarta (Beautiful place and met a lot of the criteria but I found it hard to make friends with locals and the tourists were mostly retirees), Buenos Aires (really liked the city and would spend more time there but I’d like something with a beach), Madrid (I used to live there so I used it as a test run for trying to work with a large time difference and it didn’t go super well), also did brief visits to Santa Marta, and Montevideo, and I’ve been to Santiago and Vina del mar before.

I have flight benefits through my family, so it would be awesome if anyone had recommendations for the following cities or places nearby: Aruba, Belize City, Bogotá, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cancún, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Liberia, Lima, Managua, Mérida, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Nassau, Panama City, Port of Spain, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Quito, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, Roatán, San José de Costa Rica, San José del Cabo, San Juan, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Tegucigalpa.

From those locations I felt like most of the Caribbean is probably mostly expensive resorts and the internet may not be great, so I’ve mostly been looking at Central/South America or Mexico. I speak conversational spanish more or less so my preference would be somewhere Spanish or a place where its easy to get by with English.

I’d really appreciate any advice people can give.

Isn’t Medillian a major hub for drug cartels?

Another vote for Mexico City (even though it’s in North America).
I lived there on-and-off for a few years and really loved it. As long as you avoid the bad areas, it’s safe enough. Internet access is plentiful and decent, though not terribly fast. I had a 3G stick for a few years. It was $30 a month for 5 gigs, iirc.

The city has great energy, amazing nightlife, some of the best food in the world, and affordable accommodation. You could get your foothold in a hotel then search for an apartment. I highly recommend the Coyoacan neighbourhood (Coyoacan centro, not the delegacion Coyacan in general). I had a 1 bedroom apartment there for about $500 per month, in a historic building.

The only caveat is knowledge of Spanish. I picked it up over the course of my first year there, and it changed everything. Seeing as one language unlocks most of the Americas south of the US border, it’s worth putting in the time to learn it. The way people treat you will be different, and you’ll have many more options for living / socializing / eating / working. Mexicans are proud and since the economy in Mexico City isn’t based on tourism, fewer people will be interested in accommodating you by speaking English.

Anyway, I recommend at least trying it. You could spend years in Mexico City without knowing it completely. Lots to see and do.

Absolutely love this thread.

I don’t know how it is for work and Wi-Fi, but I really liked Cuzco, Peru when I visited years ago on vacation. Macchu Picchu was great, but even the city itself was really adorable. I was pleasantly surprised.

Wasn’t a big fan of Lima, but I’m generally not a city person.

And I know it’s technically north America, but Sayulita, Mexico would be my top Latin America pick so far. It’s a surf town with tons of long-term and mid-term international folks (I met people staying for eight months, three months, etc.). Internet was decent. Lots of juice bars and cheap taco spots. Surfing. Yoga. And just 45 minutes from Puerto Vallarta if you want a bigger city day.

Also in Mexico, I know a lot of nomads seem to like Playa del Carmen, but I found it to be pretty charmless, overly touristy, and not that interesting. It was also more expensive than Sayulita (though that makes sense with all the tourism) and the only affordable rental I found was a complete dump.

We are new digital nomads and we are currently in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Although it is supposed to be rainy season we so far have had one sunny day after the other…but it is hot and humid…Because of the low season we had no problem to find a nice house for a month and the internet connection here is very good. Working has been going well…if you are a surfer dude then this place will suit you…nature and beaches are stunning…people are friendly…Bob Marley rules (seriously–they don’t just play reggae everywhere–it has to be the man or a cover version of one of his songs :))…food is expensive but good quality…

My husband and I have been working remotely as software developers in Latin America for the past seven months and have had a wonderful experience. Caveat: we’re developers who mostly deal with email and code files so our bandwidth needs are relatively low. Here are the places we’ve been to:

• Playa Del Carmen, Mexico - I don’t think Playa has been mentioned in this thread and I’m not sure whether that’s because Mexico isn’t Central America or because it’s not liked. We spent two months here and loved it. There are tons of great things to do nearby, the weather was fantastic in November-December, the wifi was generally very good and we met lots of other travelers.
• Mexico DF, Mexico - We only spent two weeks in the capital but wished we had stayed longer! As others have mentioned, accommodations can be expensive but it’s an amazing city with lots of entrepreneurs and an infectious energy.
• Puerto Escondido, Mexico - Quiet beach town with lots of Mexicans who were sick of city life and quite a few expats. We made some really good friends here and stayed in two very different parts of town.
• San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico - @wanderingdev describes it well. It’s a beautiful town with great culture, lots of coffee shops and incredibly friendly people. We didn’t get a chance to stay in nearby Oaxaca this time around but we heard it’s a great digital nomad destination.
• Antigua, Guatemala - As others have mentioned, Antigua is similar to San Cristobal but a little better maintained and a little warmer. We really enjoyed working at Impact Hub, a really cool co-working space with a focus on social good.
• San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala - We were launching a product when we were there and it was the perfect setting for high-intensity work. Our little house about a 15 minute walk from town had fantastic, fast and reliable Internet. We didn’t socialize much while there but we saw a lot of travelers.

• San José, Costa Rica - We were just here for a week but we liked the city. Good weather, good Internet. We stayed in the tallest building in the country which was cool.
• Quepos, Costa Rica - Small town just down the street from Manuel Antonio. We found a pretty cheap monthly rental and although eating out is about as expensive as in the states, we cooked most of our food from amazing, inexpensive local produce. There are also delicious local restaurants called sodas that are not expensive. It was pretty hot in June.
• Boquete, Panamá - This is where we are now. As @will described, it’s gorgeous, the Internet is great and there isn’t much to do. Great for high-intensity work and cooling down after Quepos!

Happy to pass on lodging recommendations for any of these. We’ve got a month in Medellín coming up and after reading all the nice things you all have to say about it, we’re even more excited!

I strongly prefer San Cristobal to Antigua. Antigua, being a destination for language studying, is just overrun with gringos and pricing and entertainment reflect that. I was stranded there for a month during rainy season because every road leading out of the city was covered by landslides, it sucked. I was so glad to get back to Mexico. San Cris is cheaper, fewer gringos there, bigger so more to do, and better infrastructure so you can move around more.

BTW, just to go against the grain, I’m currently living in Medellin and I don’t particularly like it. It’s beautiful but I find it expensive (I don’t want 3 roommates), crowded, too many creepy gringos there for sex tourism, etc. I would not be here if I had other viable options. But I am definitely in the minority. I’ve met only 1-2 other people who don’t like it (for generally the same reasons).

Great info, guys.

My wife and I are in the middle of a bicycling trip to South America and are looking for places to stop for a month or two at a time to work. We’re in Guanajuato, Mexico right now and love it, but I don’t think there are too many digital nomads here. I’d really like to spend more time in places where I can connect with others who can help inspire and motivate.

It’s looking like a good plan of action would be: Oaxaca, Antigua, maybe Nicaragua, Medellin…

Hey JB
I have been in Costa Rica early 2014 for 4 weeks exploring the country and there have been a few nice spots where working as digital nomad would be possible and nice. Costa Rica is not far from the US with the plane. Depends on what you are looking for exactly but if you have time you should consider staying a few weeks in Costa Rica. It’s not a cheap country but worth visiting!
Best
Yago

Any info about Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Traveling these threes the next months and can use some DN vibe during that period.

@suuzin I guess it depends on the time of year, but the Caribbean side of Costa Rica was the hottest place I’ve been. In Puerto Viejo nowhere has A/C, so it was hard to even get a reprieve from the heat.

It’s beautiful though, for sure.

I’m new to the digital nomad movement, but Costa Rica is less expensive if you stay away from the “hotspot” (literally, heat is brutal right now) of Guanacaste and opt for the Caribbean side instead. Still not cheap, but you have so many more housing options here, even during the current “high” season. It’s easy to get around to amazing places on bus. And the weather, while humid, is so much cooler. Nice beaches, the jungle is amazing, and Internet is very good.

This has been so interesting, thank you all for sharing. I’m considering part time Mexico City, was surprised to see it ranked as so expensive. I was just there recently and as a high-on-the-hog tourist didn’t spend more than $600 in a week (and I REALLY didn’t watch my pesos, went to expensive restaurants etc.) If you were cooking at home at all, not taking Ubers everywhere, I think it would be pretty cheap. It’s also a massive city with all kinds of culture and events, good wifi, lots of coworking spaces, and an evolving startup community. Any other thoughts or reflections on Mexico City from the community here are welcome! Medellin sounds great too.

I <3 Guatemala.
Antigua is pretty comfortable for nomading. San Pedro / San Marcos is epic, but wifi is tricky.

P.S. I am at the Carribean Island Curacao right now and here the internet is really good - but also no Coworking Spaces

Hey Sarab, unfortunately there is no coworking hub at Caye Caulker. It’s definitely a touristy spot (I am used to working on such kind of islands so I don’t mind but its more challenging than other places of course)
The wifi was not brilliant but ok. You cannot buy a local SIM card but a data usb stick. Nearly every accommodation or café has Wifi.
The cheapest option is to look for a 1 month appartment and cook for yourself (restaurants & supermarkets are not too cheap).
I spent something around 1.100 - 1.200 € for a month but could have done better with a longterm apartment. I just stayed in a guesthouse all the time.

I am currently in Buenos Aires, first time in SA and can manage with Spanish.
Having spent time in SEA and having lived in Europe all my life, these are my findings so far:

• extending your 90 day visa is a nightmare, so you have to get out of the country to renew, however they have just recently changed the rules so this has become harder to do.
• I was working at a cafe in an area that was considered safe, and we got held up at gunpoint. Laptop, phones etc stolen. Thank god no one was hurt, but see the next points.
• most banks won’t send you replacement cards here.
• as mentioned by others, the money situation is complicated, you have to plan a lot more in advance. I am now, in this hour of need, planning to use Azimo to transfer some money from my overseas account because it gives you a rate that is much closer to the black market one.
• nothing can be shipped to Argentina. So now I am without computer. Buying a new one here is not an option, they apply 100% duties of imports, and the choice isn’t great. Having it shipped from abroad also is not an option as the customs hold items (if they arrive at all) and then ask you to pay them lots of money under the table on top of duties.
• people are lovely, and helpful, the Spanish they speak is an easier kind than Spain. Food is inexpensive (for the most part, exclude sushi) but other things are priced at odd levels. a nice cream costs as much as a dish in a restaurant…
• wifi has been decent enough, both in my apartment and in cafés. But now obviously I would caution you against working from cafés.

I have not seen the rest of the country yet.
I am trying to rent a laptop because the situation here is such that people don’t have a spare computer lying around they can lend you.

So, all in all, this place is not the easiest for DNs.
Add to the mix that it is a big, polluted city… After a while you just want to escape into nature or to a beach…

Hi Jon,

We currently go through South America in a van, managing our own company from the road. We visit all south american countries and talk about the scene in our videos, you can check them out here: www.startupdiaries.org

Cheers,

Amazing input from you all! Thanks. Spanish speaking is the key, and my bad. I’m in he Philippines now where English is like water.

I settled in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico for several years and found it very easy to live and work there. There were tons of expats/nomads settling in for various lengths of time. I used to laugh when I would meet someone and they’d say they were staying for 4-5 days and they’d be there 4-5 months. It’s dead cheap (my entire cost of living was under $600/month), good wifi, easy to meet people, great food, beautiful, tons of stuff to do, not crazy hot in winter, and visas are easy. As an American citizen you automatically get 6 months and can renew with an over night border run to Guate.

My CEO relocated to Medellin about 6 months ago and opened an office there and loves it. He had the entire company down for a retreat in November and it was nice. $$ if you want to live like a gringo but probably less so if you have more modest needs.

Another vote for Medellin, Colombia. I was there last summer. I have some friends there, and they introduced me to a community of expats/nomads working on start-ups.

Nice to see more peeps reppin’ CA/SA. I always hear about Asia (hitting up later this year)

I’m just getting started on my journey and have only spent a little bit if of time in the countries below with Guatemala being the longest.

Costa - Expensive (as others have metioned) but if you want some of the first world luxuries without having to travel back to the states, it’s a good spot to kick it for a few weeks. Manuel Antonio is arguablable one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Nica - Very beautiful country. Lakes, volcanos, beaches and extremely affordable. Spent some time in SJDS, Granada, Ometempe, Leon and Maltagalpa. Wifi can be a problem in remote places but I was able to get a decent signal in places I wouldn’t expect - like Altagracia.

Guate - Takes the cake of all three in terms of affrodablity and diversity. I lived in Antigua for a month and was able to find a 1BR/BA apartment on AirBnB for $350US/mo. You can find cheaper accomidations in San Pedro. Food and booze are dirt cheap and there’s plently of cafes in Antigua. A new co-working space just opened as well. Tikal (Mayan Ruins) and Sumac Champey make for kick-ass weekend trips.

I’ve spent more time in Latin America than Asia (largely because the time difference makes it easy to work with clients, plus my Spanish is better than my Thai). I’m in Buenos Aires right now and love it. Have also spent time in Mexico: Mexico City (not cheap) and San Miguel de Allende (awesome). Costa Rica is great but definitely not cheap as another poster mentioned. I loved Caye Caulker in Belize, the Bay Islands in Honduras, and everything outside of the capital in El Salvador, but can’t speak to the wifi situation. The Dominican Republic was ok for a little while, especially in the capital; wifi was challenging in some more rural spots. Hope this helps…

+1 for Santiago, Chile. It is definitely a great city to live in. Fairly expensive though. To be honest, there’s no place like SEA for being a digital nomad. The prices vs. quality of life just make it so tempting!

Santiago has great internet, fabulous co-working spaces, and is a pretty cosmopolitan city. The local food isn’t all that great but because it’s a huge international city, there are decent foreign restaurants available.

I’ll second (or third or fourth?) Medellin for you in SA. I’ve just come back from 6 months there and I’ve lived in Thailand twice, so have a pretty good base for comparison

Pros -

• Amazing weather, especially if you come between June-Sept or Dec- March
• Lots of coffee shops, with great internet speeds. Especially if you stay in the main bigger areas like poblado or laureles. I found the speeds in the cafes here even faster than back home in NYC/NJ.
• A pretty sizable digital nomad scene. You can’t compare it to thailand or SEA, but they have several FB groups and meetups, and it’s growing more and more by the year
• Prices are pretty good. You can get by here pretty easily on $1000 / month, for $1500 you can pretty much do whatever you want.
• They don’t have scooters here, but the transportation options are good. Taxi’s are literally everywhere and pretty cheap, good metro station that takes you wherever you want (nice and clean), buses, etc.
• The city itself is very clean, and especially in the richer areas everything is very modern. You forget sometimes you’re even in Colombia other than people speaking spanish.
• If you’re a guy, then obviously the women here will be a factor for you.
• Pretty fast internet overall in apartments, etc.

Cons

• Spanish. If you don’t speak any spanish, things will be a bit harder. Unless all you do is stay in the main tourist area like Poblado - you’ll need at least some basic spanish to get around. There are many tourists in Medellin, but I wouldn’t call it a tourist “hub” like other places in CA/SA…so don’t expect menu’s to always have english translations, etc.
• No beach. If you’re used to the beaches down in phuket, bali, etc…there’s no beaches for you in Medellin (but you do have mountains)

Honestly I’m having a hard time thinking of any other major cons to the place. If you’re looking for a good place to stay in SA that’s pretty stable, modern and on the upswing, learn some spanish, and not spend a ton (like say Brazil), then I think it’s a pretty good good option.

SA/CA definitely has it perks. If you can get even basic Spanish, you’re opening a lot of doors for yourself.

I’ve got some timezone-sensitivty with my nomad life so South America has been my spot for the last 3 years (here for North American winters, NA for summer).

I’m in Quito right now. Great city. Cheap. My 1br/2ba AirBnb in the heart of town is $40/nt and even cheaper because I’m staying 2 weeks. I plan on checking out Cuenca, Montanita and Banos before I leave Ecuador, so I can give updates later on that.

Last year, I did Costa Rica & Colombia. @TProphet is absolutely right about Costa Rica. Same $$ of living as most places in anymore, more than some spots even.

Chile is good. Cost of living is a bit higher but it’s very, very stable. Great internet everyone. I found Santiago to be a bit boring, but Valpariso on the coast is one of the cooler places you’ll find.

Buenos Aires — yes, not the best internet. Definitely work-able though. But amazing, sprawling city. Lots to do. Lots to see. Beautiful people. Steak & wine for dinner. You NEED to bring American $$ down there for the exchange though, the black market is almost 2x the value. A little shady, but worth it no matter what.

Medellin — probably my top recommendation for any Nomad looking to get to SA. Beautiful, beautiful place right in teh mountains. The drive from the airport into the city alone is worth a trip down there. Yes, it has a violent past, and some problems, but there are nice neighborhoods that really don’t see that. You can always cab places and it’s super cheap. But the city is a renaissance, lots of nomads, coffee shops, juice bars, organic spots, etc… Absolutely recommended in my book.

Hope that helps!

I’m currently living in Boquete, Panamá. Been here just under a year. I don’t know if this would be considered a haven, but it ticks all the boxes for me. Low cost of living, decent internet speeds, 180 days on a tourist permit (at least for U.S. passports holders) and fantastic weather (never above 30, rarely below 15 degrees, lots of rain). Most of the expats who live here are retired so there aren’t a great deal of networking opportunities related to online work - there aren’t currently any meetups or anything like that. No co-working spaces.

I’ve lived in a small village in the north of Peru as well. That was a very pleasant experience, again with great weather and low cost of living. Internet speeds there and at the time were a bit lacking but perhaps that’s changed.

I’ve spent some time in Montevideo. The city itself is a bit drab (I was there in winter, perhaps summer is better?). Uruguay is probably worth some consideration if you’re thinking about being somewhere long term as their immigration/taxation policies are very favorable to people whose income is sourced from outside the country. Montevideo has inexpensive and fast internet, lots of networking opportunities - it’s surprisingly techie.

I like Lima. It has a pretty bad reputation but I found that Lima’s reputation was far different to my experience there. The city is generally very lively. Summers are beautiful, winters are grey and gloomy but not too cold. The costs are pretty low considering it is a major city.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful city with great transportation, lots of open space and a very vibrant nightlife. The economy there has a history of instability so it can be difficult to gauge how much things cost.

Next stop for me is Tulum, Mexico. I’ll let you know how that goes

Glad I asked this, hope this thread continues to grow.

One place I’ve long dreamed going to is Cuba/Havana, but all the reports I’ve seen are that Internet is crap…

Being an American I’m also not sure I could stay long enough to settle in there. Obviously most visitors seem to go for a week or two and have no concept of digital nomadism.

I imagine there must be good towns in Panama, Argentina, Chile… But hear almost nothing about those… maybe Brazil?

No, didn’t go to Guayaquil because of its reputation: a dirty and dangerous port city with hot, humid weather. Ecuadorians I know say it’s very different than the rest of Ecuador. Cuenca is very nice, well worth starting there unless you really want to be near the coast.

You are right. There are so many people that prefer SEA. Life as a Digital Nomad is a bit easier over there.

In Central America you do not really have “Digital Nomad Hotspots” where you easily meet others, in South America there are more like Medellin, Buenos Aires and Rio / Santiago.

In CA/SA it’s harder to get around (not so much scooter like in SEA / not so much low cost airlines…), some people feel more unsafe, don’t speak Spanish…and most of the people think that the food is much better in South East Asia

However I think it’s great to work remotely from here (I am right now in Medellin). I also loved Caye Caulker a small island of Belize (I love islands) to work or Antigua in Guatemala. Costa Rica is a nice country, too. Meanwhile there are a lot of expats.

@marcusmeurer and me always have a local SIM card with a data package to be independent of WiFi. The first time ever we had a problem to buy one was recently in Brasil. There, you need a local tax number to get it. In the other countries you have good providers like “Claro”.

Plus in CA/SA: Better music and temperament of the locals, learning Spanish…