Is Skopje, North Macedonia on your destination lis Is Skopje, North Macedonia on your destination list? 🇲🇰⁣
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On our Europe tour, we decided to make Skopje home for a few weeks! One of the main reason is because I needed to renew my passport which is much faster outside the country.⁣
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Other than that, we didn’t really know what to expect. There weren't many blogs or videos about being digital nomads here. We could only find 1 coworking space in the area but there were plenty of cafes to visit! There’s a huge cafe culture which is always nice.⁣
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We had a really nice, modern, comfortable apartment in Skopje for $580 USD which was 5 minutes walking from the city center. The cost of living is pretty affordable and it’s very safe! ⁣
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If you’re looking for a city to get some work done, explore the surrounding destinations and establish some routine or even simply go to the BEST gym I've ever been to (@fit_in_performance) - Skopje could be that place for you!⁣
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Would you visit Skopje, North Macedonia as a digital nomad?⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadskopje #skopje #skopjedigitalnomad #skopjenorthmacedonia #visitskopje #visitnorthmacedonia #europedigitalnomad
Lisbon, Portugal is the top digital nomad destinat Lisbon, Portugal is the top digital nomad destination in Europe! 🇵🇹Why?⁣
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One word: community!⁣
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According to some digital nomad statistics, loneliness is the #1 reason people leave this lifestyle. When you’re traveling alone (or even as a couple), you easily feel all alone. Thankfully, the digital nomad community is very strong, open and welcoming!⁣
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Lisbon is also a popular spot because of the fast wifi (we had speeds of 500+ Mbps), endless coworking options and a relatively affordable cost of living (except the rising rental prices, of course let's be real). ⁣
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Our month in this wonderful city wasn’t long enough! It’s got all the simple things we love:⁣
 ☕ specialty coffee⁣
🍷 delicious food & wine⁣
🥑 bustling brunch scene and ⁣
👯 friendly people & community⁣
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We can easily see why digital nomads keep coming back to this city and we hope we can explore more of Portugal (Porto, Algrave, etc).⁣
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Have you been a digital nomad in Lisbon before? What were your thoughts?⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadportugal #lisbon #lisbondigitalnomad #lisbonportugal #visitlisbon #visitportugal #europedigitalnomad
We embarked on another 6-hour bus journey to our n We embarked on another 6-hour bus journey to our next digital nomad destination on this Europe tour.⁣
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Zagreb, Croatia has been on our minds for a while. While most people think of Split or Dubrovnik, we wanted to visit the capital and see what it’s really like for digital nomads.⁣
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These are some things that we think of before choosing a destination:⁣
- Is there an active digital nomad community?⁣
- What’s the wifi speeds like?⁣
- Are there good coworking spaces?⁣
- Is the cafe culture buzzing?⁣
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And so much more! Our biggest concern was the community part. After traveling Serbia alone - we were starting to feel quite lonely! We joined an FB group and found someone had set up a weekly coworking day.⁣
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It’s always nerve-wracking going to events where you don’t know anyone but as digital nomads, you get acquainted pretty quick! TLDR, we had a pretty close group of 8 working from cafes together, exploring Zagreb and getting to know each other.⁣
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Zagreb is a great destination in Europe for a digital nomad wanting a more affordable cost of living while still exploring Croatia! 🇭🇷⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadcroatia #zagreb #zagrebdigitalnomad #zagrebcroatia #visitcroatia🇭🇷
Never did we think we would visit Serbia…⁣ ⁣ Never did we think we would visit Serbia…⁣
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…but we are SO glad we did!⁣
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Serbia surprised us in so many ways, we honestly didn’t know what to expect! ⁣
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That’s one of the ways we like to approach some of our travels - not judging the country by its cover. You can hear some positive (or negative) things about countries but you never truly know until you experience it for yourself. ⁣
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We spent a month living in Belgrade, Serbia and it wasn’t long enough! With such limited time, as digital nomads you have to hit the ground running to get settled into your new home. We used our first 3 days to find (good) cafes to work from, sign up for a gym membership and plan our travel across Serbia.⁣
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Here are some reasons we can recommend Belgrade to fellow digital nomads:⁣
- friendly, welcoming people⁣
- they have delicious food⁣
- high standard of living⁣
- relatively low cost of living⁣
- fast wifi with tons of cafes to work from ⁣
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We ate countless bureks, drank copious amounts of coffee and worked from some of the coolest cafes. We can’t wait to get back to Belgrade!⁣
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Serbia, you stole our hearts!⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadserbia #belgrade #belgradedigitalnomad #belgradeserbia #visitserbia
European Digital Nomad Summer 2022, incoming ✨⁣
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After 4 months in Medellin, Colombia - we decided to head to Europe for the rest of the year!⁣
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Travel planning just becomes part of your lifestyle as digital nomads - it almost becomes a side hustle. When we're not working or exploring, we are researching/booking our next destinations!⁣
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What countries did we decide on?⁣
🇬🇧 England⁣
🇦🇹 Austria⁣
🇭🇷 Croatia⁣
🇷🇸 Serbia⁣
🇫🇷 France⁣
🇳🇱 Netherlands⁣
🇵🇹 Portugal⁣
🇲🇰 North Macedonia⁣
and finally, a last-minute decision to visit...⁣
🇨🇾 Cyprus⁣
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We found flights for only $400 to London from Colombia! My lovely friend and her husband were the best hosts and showed us around their new home. We spent a week in London exploring, acclimating to this continent and working from Pret! ⁣
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TTA TIP: If you're in London, Pret has a subscription service for only about £30 and you get 5 drinks per day plus a cafe space to do a little work!⁣
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*I'm going to be recapping the rest of our 2022 as digital nomads for the next few posts, we are currently in Asia🤪 ⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #locationindependent #freedomlifestyle #fulltimetravel #digitalnomadeurope #remotework #workonline #workfromanywhere #workandtravel #digitalnomadlifestyle
Figuring out where to live can be difficult as a d Figuring out where to live can be difficult as a digital nomad. Medellin is a big city to navigate but there were some areas that stood out to us. ⁣
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We moved from Laureles to El Poblado in March to truly answer the question “Which neighborhood is best for digital nomads?” - there seems to always be a debate (for good reason). If you read our blog post on where to stay, you’ll know our answer 😉⁣
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If you hate working from home - you’ll love your ‘office’ options in Poblado! There are endless cafes, coworking spaces and free coworking zones in the mall (yes, free!). @elopenspace, @pergaminocafe and El Tesoro Mall are some of the faves!⁣
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Medellin, Colombia continued to impress us and we’re so glad we ended up staying here for 4 months in 2022!⁣
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#medellincolombia #medellindigitalnomad #colombiadigitalnomad #elpoblado #laureles #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #traveladdict #travel #twoticketsanywhere
Settling into a new country as digital nomads isn’t always easy…⁣
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…We spent our first full month in Medellin, Colombia going through a list of things to sort out for ourselves (per usual).⁣
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It might look like we just land in a country and have everything sorted by day 1 but that’s certainly not the case.⁣
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In each country as digital nomads, you have to:⁣
- Buy a local SIM card (or find an eSIM solution - @airalocom & @realnomadtravel are our faves)⁣
- Find your local grocery store⁣
- Get connected with the digital nomad community (constantly putting ourselves out there)⁣
- Figure out where to work (coworking vs cafes)⁣
- Plan the activities we want to do while visiting the country⁣
- And so much more!⁣
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We heard so much about Medellin for digital nomads, we just had to check out what all the buzz was about (especially as we run a blog for digital nomads).⁣
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This was also my (Ashley’s) birthday month and we went paragliding for the first time (2nd pic). We flew with @paraglidingmedellin 💯 I absolutely loved it - if you get the chance, it was a great experience!⁣
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#medellindigitalnomad #colombiadigitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #twoticketsanywhere
2022 didn’t start off as we expected…⁣
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…lying on the beach in Thailand, one of our favorite places in the world. 🌴⁣
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Instead, we were touring a couple more US cities: Phoenix, San Francisco and Miami! At this point, we didn’t know how our year would look but we just needed to nail down our next location as digital nomads.⁣
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How did we do that? Simply go on Google flights, enter Miami (where we currently were) and don’t add a destination! There was one place that popped up that was high on our digital nomad destination list - Medellin, Colombia! 🇨🇴⁣
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For $245.15 USD total, Matthew and I hopped on a 2 hour plane ride to a country (and continent) we’ve never stepped foot on before! 🥹⁣
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We were tired of flying and traveling (faster than usual) and we decided to make Medellin our base for a few months but that’s for the next couple of posts to come…⁣
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#travelawesome #digitalnomad #fulltimetravel #travelinglifestyle #travel #digitalnomadlifestyle #laptoplifestyle #exploretheworld #passportcollective #traveldestination #digitalnomaddiary
Well, that's the truth...🤷🏻‍♀️ ⠀ Dig Well, that's the truth...🤷🏻‍♀️
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Digital nomad life isn’t for everyone.

There are days you’ll feel excited to live in a new country every couple of months, ready to learn about other cultures & always inspired by fellow digital nomads you meet on the road. 

But there are days where you’ll feel lonely, stuck, miserable and exhausted from moving and/or always making new friends. 

This digital nomad lifestyle is no way perfect, as it may look. But…

We wouldn’t have it any other way 🤍
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#travelreels #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #traveladdict #travel #twoticketsanywhere #travelblogger #travelawesome #digitalnomadlifestyle #fulltimetravel #passportcollective #travelcouple #funnytravel
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Living In Antigua Guatemala: Pros & Cons For Digital Nomads

Category Digital Nomad, Antigua Updated on January 14, 2023

living in antigua guatemala
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What’s it really like living in Antigua, Guatemala?

You might have heard amazing things about this beautiful colonial city but we’re here to tell you the truth and…

…it’s not all rainbows and sunshine living in Antigua Guatemala!

Don’t get me wrong – it’s one of our favorite cities we’ve visited in Latin America and there’s a lot to love about it! But it’s not perfect (like all destinations). We want to share the awesome things about it but also the harsh realities of living in Antigua Guatemala.

In this blog, we are going to explore the pros and the cons of living in Antigua Guatemala. We spent over 2 months and we hope these insights help you decide whether it’s the right destination for you.

In This Article: hide
Quick Overview of Life In Antigua Guatemala
How We Chose To Live In Antigua Guatemala
Why Digital Nomads Are Living In Antigua Guatemala
The Pros & Cons of Living In Antigua Guatemala As A Digital Nomad
The Pros Of Living In Antigua Guatemala
The Cons Of Living In Antigua Guatemala
Our Personal Experience – 2+ Months Living In Antigua Guatemala
Finding An Apartment
Cost of Living
Restaurants
Coworking Space & Cafes
Weather
Community
Is Living In Antigua Guatemala Good For Digital Nomads?

Quick Overview of Life In Antigua Guatemala

Antigua, Guatemala is located in Central America. It’s a beautiful city filled with deep history, rich culture and unique architecture. In fact – it’s so stunning and well-preserved that the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  • Although it’s not the capital city of Guatemala, Antigua is the most popular tourist destination for a traveler to explore.
  • When living in Antigua Guatemala, you’ll be about 1,530.17 m above sea level which might take some time to adjust to it.
  • The official language spoken is Spanish so you’ll need to know some basic words otherwise there might be a bit of a language barrier.
  • Antigua has withstood several natural disasters such as flooding, volcano eruptions and earthquakes.
  • Walking around the city is a great thing to do – the beautiful plazas, colonial architecture, fountains and cobblestone streets will keep you mesmerized.
  • The cobblestone streets (while very cool) are hard to walk on – you need to be conscious of it because it can be easy to trip over!
  • It’s one of the best countries in Latin America for its spring-like weather year-round. We found it’s never too hot or too cold – it’s just right (when it’s not rainy season).

How We Chose To Live In Antigua Guatemala

We lived in Antigua Guatemala in the summer of 2021. Before this, we were living in San Cristobal de las Casas. It’s a small, mountain town located in the hills of Chiapas, Mexico. After being San Cristobal de las Casas digital nomads for nearly 3 months, we started to see where to go next!

santa catalina arch antigua guatemala

Our good friends, Taylor and Heyner, said we should come to Guatemala! We met them back when we were Bali digital nomads and have always talked about meeting up there. We have never been to Central America so we knew it was going to be quite the adventure! Thankfully, it was easy enough to book a van to drive from San Cristobal to Guatemala and off we went!

We spent more than 4 living in Guatemala in total with 2 months as Lake Atitlan digital nomads and the other 2 months living in Antigua. Living in Lake Atitlan was way too slow-paced for us and we couldn’t wait to become Antigua digital nomads because we heard it was the best city in Central America for working remotely!

church ruins antigua guatemala

It’s easy enough to book another shuttle from Lake Atitlan to Antigua and we were excited to start a new adventure. However, there were already some challenges from the start (you’ll see below).

Why Digital Nomads Are Living In Antigua Guatemala

Could Antigua Guatemala be an underrated digital nomad destination?

I say – YES!

For digital nomads, it’s a great place to achieve some work-life balance. There are plenty of cafes and coworking spaces to get productive work done but there’s also so many things to do outside of work (eg. hike a volcano).

 

digital nomad friends guatemala

The wifi is decent, we got an average speed of 30+ Mbps. There’s a growing digital nomad community – after not meeting so many people in Lake Atitlan, it’s SUPER easy to make new friends in Antigua!

One of my favorite coffee shops ever, Artista de Cafe, is located in Antigua and there’s no shortage of good cafes. As you might know, Matthew’s a bit of a coffee snob and he loved being in a city that was as serious about coffee as he was!

laptop coworking antigua guatemala

For those reasons, we think lots of digital nomads are going to be living in Antigua, Guatemala in the near future! It has the potential to be one of the top Latin America digital nomad cities.

The Pros & Cons of Living In Antigua Guatemala As A Digital Nomad

For the most part, living in Antigua Guatemala is awesome! We found it hard not to fall in love with this city and even considered staying long-term (👀). We spent 2+ months and probably could have kept going if we didn’t need to go to Europe. How could you not when you’ve got the:

  • beautiful colonial architecture
  • cobblestones streets
  • old church ruins
  • friendly people
  • volcano views

While all that was great, there were just some things that got to us. Keep reading to find out the pros and cons of living in Antigua Guatemala.

The Pros Of Living In Antigua Guatemala

You can’t judge Antigua Guatemala by what you hear. It’s such a unique destination you have to experience for yourself.

You’ll be enchanted by the cobblestone streets and stunning plazas. While living in Antigua, Guatemala – you can’t help but feel like you’ve stepped back in time!

Here are the pros of living in Antigua Guatemala:

1. Lots Of Things To Do

You won’t find yourself getting bored in Antigua. There are a ton of things to do every weekend! We worked throughout the week and explored on the weekends. Even though we were living in Antigua for 2+ months, we still had a list of things we could have done but ran out of time.

volcano pacaya hike guatemala

Here are just some of the cool things to do in Antigua Guatemala:

  • Hike Volcan Acatenango for close up views of Fuego erupting
  • Eat marshmallows you roasted on Pacaya Volcano
  • Take a weekend getaway to Lake Atitlan
  • Eat your way through the city
  • Go on a church ruins tour
  • Buy clothes at paca (the local flea market)
  • Go on a coffee farm tour and learn about the process
  • Hike up Cerro de la Cruz for a view of the city
  • Ride the infamous chicken bus

matthew and ashley coffee fields

The options are endless! If you’re someone who loves the outdoors, hiking or mountain/volcano views – you’re going to love living in Antigua Guatemala!

2. Great Restaurants, Cafes & Coworking Spaces

Do you love eating out? You won’t have a shortage of restaurants in Antigua Guatemala! We spent way too much money on eating out but it was so worth it! You can have beers on rooftops, eat meals while watching Fuego erupt and so many more unique dining experiences!

artista de cafe antigua guatemala

Guatemalan coffee is some of the best we’ve had on our digital nomad journey. They are the 9th largest exporter of coffee in the world which is why it’s hard to have a bad cup in Antigua!

If you love coffee as much as we do, you should definitely put Antigua, Guatemala on your list because it didn’t disappoint. We were getting tired of having bad coffee in Mexico – it was like a breath of fresh air in Antigua! The best cafes in Antigua Guatemala include La Vid Coffee Roasters (serves the best cappuccino) and Artista de Cafe (has the best iced caramel lattes). These are also great places to get some work done if you’re a digital nomad.

coworking space antigua guatemala

There’s a growing number of coworking spaces popping up around Antigua Guatemala which is exciting! We went to 2 different coworking in Antigua Guatemala – Impact Hub and El Cubo Center. Both were great for us to get some productive work done!

3. Growing Digital Nomad Community

With more coworking spaces opening in Antigua – it’s a clear sign that there’s more demand for them. This means there’s a growing digital nomad community in Antigua (yay!).

While we were living in Antigua Guatemala, we made so many new friends! It’s very easy in a city where there are travelers of all kinds.

pizza with friends la pasta nostra

We always say the best part of our travels is not the destination but the people we meet. This was especially true in Antigua as we made so many good friends. We know you’ll also be able to do the same and you don’t need to be scared about being lonely in Antigua.

Digital nomad communities are important as you travel!

4. Beautiful Weather

Guatemala has great weather year-round. Other than the wet season, you’ll enjoy being in spring-like weather which means it’s never too hot or too cold. It’s always just right!

The best time to visit Guatemala is November to May for the dry season. However, this is also peak tourist season which can have its positives and negatives. For example, you’ll probably pay more for your rent but you’ll get to do way more activities.

volcano views antigua guatemala

We were there as it transitioned from dry to wet season and decided *not to climb Acatenango because you weren’t guaranteed clear weather. There was no way we were doing a 6-hour hike without our reward of seeing Fuego erupt (lol)!

5. People Are Welcoming

Guatemalans are some of the nicest people you will meet.

Everyone is friendly, welcoming and keen to show you their country. We felt at home here because of this and we don’t realize how important it was to enjoy a place but it can make a real difference!

barista david artista de cafe

Whether you’re buying coffee from a cafe or just passing someone by on the streets, you’ll be greeted with a smile and a ‘buenos dias/tardes/noches’. We loved this!

6. Getting Around Is Easy

Want to get from Antigua to Lake Atitlan? Easy!

Need to get to the other side of Antigua? Easy!

If you’re living in Antigua, Guatemala – transport is super easy here. For one, you don’t need it! If you live near the city center, it’s only a 15-20 minute walk maximum to anywhere you want to get to. For our first month, we barely spent money on transport and just walked everywhere!

antigua to lake atitlan

The other way to get around Antigua is via Uber. It’s available mainly in Antigua city and the surrounding towns like Cuidad Vieja, etc. It’s super cheap – the average cost for most rides was around $2 USD which is a great price. Our Guatemalan friend, Heyner, told us to avoid getting in the tuk-tuks because they haggle and give much higher prices.

Looking to go to Flores, Lake Atitlan or Semuc Champey? You can easily book tours or shared shuttles which is a cost-effective and convenient way to get around the entire country!

The Cons Of Living In Antigua Guatemala

Now you’ve heard all the pros about living in Antigua, Guatemala but what are the cons?

I want to be clear – we had an amazing time in Antigua and we would go back in a heartbeat! None of these should stop you from visiting this beautiful and unique city.

We just want to make sure we are giving you the whole picture and not just the good stuff because that doesn’t help anyone.

Here are the cons of living in Antigua, Guatemala:

1. Finding (Good/Modern) Apartments Is Hard

It’s hard to find a decent apartment and that’s just the reality of living in Antigua Guatemala.

Disclaimer: As digital nomads, I’m talking about staying in Airbnbs which includes things like electricity and wifi. You can always get a cheaper place by staying 6+ months and going door to door.

If you want to stay in the city center within 10 minutes of walking to everything, you’ll pay at least $850 – $1000 USD for a good 1 bedroom apartment. Even if you snag a great place, it will not be the most modern place and it won’t include things like cleaning or a laundry machine.

 

colonial architecture antigua guatemala

We paid $500 USD for our place which was a special deal we negotiated. It was still a very small studio with a double bed, kitchen, couch and TV. It was further out on the west side of the city which meant a 15-20 minute walk to and from the house.

Good deals are out there but you have to search real hard, negotiate and book way in advance!

2. High Cost of Living

Living in Antigua Guatemala might not be as cheap as you think. It’s certainly not giving Bali or Chiang Mai vibes in terms of price or value for money.

As a digital nomad couple, our monthly cost of living was $1800 USD. It was only this low because we found a super good deal on our apartment. Otherwise, you could easily add another $500-$700 USD on top of that.

brunch food cabao farm antigua guatemala

Whenever we ate out at restaurants, it would cost us an average of $30-$40 USD per meal. This was way more than we were used and the bills added up significantly. You can do groceries which we did but we also found that slightly more expensive than when we were living in Mexico.

We didn’t really know what to expect with costs but all the other blogs say it’s cheap or affordable to live in Antigua Guatemala. However, this was not the case for us! There are some ways to lessen your cost of living but in general, don’t expect it to be cheap while living in Antigua, Guatemala.

3. Speaking Spanish Is A Benefit (Almost Required)

If you’re learning Spanish, Antigua is a great spot to practice and learn!

If you’re not interested in learning Spanish, you might struggle a bit.

We found that a lot of Americans know pretty basic Spanish to help them get around. As Matthew is Australian, he found it very difficult because he didn’t know any words other than ‘hola’ and ‘buenos dias’.

Thankfully, we took some classes while we were Playa del Carmen digital nomads which have helped us tremendously in our travels as Latin America digital nomads.

matthew ashley dom at spanish school playa del carmen

You definitely need to learn the basic conversations and ‘restaurant Spanish’ to get by while living in Guatemala. I can’t remember many people speaking English and you might have a hard time pulling out Google Translate as some people don’t want to bother with it.

4. It’s Noisy

Did you know Antigua, Guatemala is one of the noisiest cities in all of Latin America?

sunshine weather antigua guatemala

There’s fireworks at any given time which can be annoying when it starts to become your alarm clock in the morning! If you live in the city center right next to a street – you might not get much sleep because it’s very noisy throughout the day with all the cars, motorbikes, etc passing through.

This might be something to consider before booking a place and it might be worth asking your Airbnb host if noise really bothers you.

Our Personal Experience – 2+ Months Living In Antigua Guatemala

After experiencing the slow, lake life we were ready for a faster-paced, city-like experience. There are lots of great reasons to base yourself in Antigua Guatemala and we have met tons of people who have visited Antigua once, fell in love and never left!

antigua guatemala scenery

As digital nomads, we have a bit of a different experience to expats, retirees and/or travelers. We like to stay in a place for 1-3 months to truly get what it’s truly like to live like a local. With the digital nomad lifestyle, we also work online and need a stable routine to help get stuff done. It’s a great mix of ‘normal life’ while getting to do cool things on the weekends in a new destination like Antigua, Guatemala!

Here’s a quick overview of the 2 months we spent living in Antigua Guatemala as digital nomads.

Finding An Apartment

This was more difficult than we thought! We started looking on Airbnb about 2-3 weeks before we left for Antigua. As we were scrolling through, we couldn’t help but notice how expensive it was to get an apartment in Antigua. More than that, the value for money just wasn’t there! If you paid even $200-$300 more, there was barely a difference in terms of the quality of the apartment.

antigua guatemala volcano views

After mulling it over for a few days, we finally found a small studio on the west side of Antigua city. It turned out to be a 15-20 minute walk to the city center which isn’t so bad. We messaged the hosts and asked for a monthly discount. They were so friendly and helpful – it was great to know we were going to be communicating with nice hosts.

airbnb kitchen antigua guatemala

We had a double bed, fully-stocked kitchen, couch, small TV and a little courtyard with a hammock. It was very small for the 2 of us but because we got such a good price – we were more than happy with the place!

We paid $550 USD for 1 month (with a discount). We have heard our friends pay almost double that for just an ‘okay’ place in the city center. Living in Antigua Guatemala can get very expensive if you’re not careful which brings me to my next point…

Cost of Living

The cost of living in Antigua Guatemala is much higher than you’d expect! A lot of people think that because it’s located in Central America that it might be as cheap as other places but it’s not.

Here’s our monthly cost of living in Antigua Guatemala for 2 people:

CATEGORYCOST (USD)
Accommodation$533
Groceries$272
Dining Out$583
Coffee$186
Drinking Water$19
Transport$67
Phone Plan$26
Activities & Entertainment$65
Travel Insurance$84
Gym Membership$50
Coworking (Optional)$220
TOTAL:$1885

While it’s not horrible expensive like NYC or London, it’s not as cheap as Bali or Chiang Mai. You could say it’s affordable but it’s definitely on the higher end of that statement with much less value for money.

Restaurants

We loved eating out at all the different restaurants in Antigua! You could have a beer on rooftops, eat farm-to-table food and enjoy your meal with a view of Volcan Fuego erupting. There’s nothing like the restaurant scene in Antigua, Guatemala!

almuerzo rincon tipico

Here are some of the best restaurants Antigua Guatemala has to offer:

  • Toko Baru – best cheap eats & curry spot
  • Rincon Tipico – popular Guatemalan lunch spot
  • Caoba Farms Market & Restaurant – organic farm to table with great ambiance
  • Kombu Ramen Shop – authentic Japanese ramen bowls
  • Cerveceria 14 – outdoor garden, craft beer, good food & live music

We spent way too much eating at all the restaurants in Antigua (which is reflected in our budget) but it was so worth it! If you can try any of these 5 if you visit, they are awesome!

Want more recommendations? Check out our restaurants Antigua Guatemala guide!

Coworking Space & Cafes

This was one of the best things about living in Antigua Guatemala! There were so many good cafes to choose from. Whether you’re going just to enjoy a delicious cup of Guatemalan coffee or you’re planning to work from a cafe for the morning/afternoon – you’ll have a great time!

fat cat cafe antigua guatemala

Here are some of the best cafes Antigua Guatemala has to offer:

  • Artista de Cafe (get the iced caramel latte !! )
  • La Vid Coffee Roasters
  • Cafe Boheme
  • Fat Cat Coffee House

Working from cafes not your thing? We love coworking spaces because you can bet they have fast wifi, good desk and chairs and the possibility of a good digital nomad community to connect with.

el cubo coworking space antigua

Here’s the best coworking spaces in Antigua Guatemala:

  • El Cubo Center
  • Impact Hub

We loved working remotely from Antigua Guatemala because it’s actually set up to handle digital nomads. We could see signs that there was a boom of digital nomads and more coworking spaces were popping up around town!

Weather

There are 2 seasons – the wet season and the dry season. What could this mean? To put it simply, if you visit during the dry season you’ll get plenty of sunshine and if you visit during the wet season you’ll get plenty of rainy days.

coffee fields antigua guatemala

The best time to visit Guatemala is from November to May. You’ll get the most amount of sunshine giving you plenty of opportunities to do all the cool outdoor activities in Antigua. We were there as it was transitioning from dry season to wet season. We had a couple of rainy days but it was more like afternoon showers. In the morning, it didn’t rain so that’s pretty great compared to monsoon season in Southeast Asia (iykyk).

The weather is amazing in Guatemala because it’s never too hot or too cold. If you can’t stand humidity, Antigua might be a great destination for you!

Community

Is there a big expat community or maybe even a digital nomad community in Antigua Guatemala?

We’re happy to report – yes, there’s a thriving community of both!

After being quite lonely in Lake Atitlan for 2 months, it was a breath of fresh air to meet people who also wanted to make friends. We met people from our coworking space, church (Shoreline City Antigua) and randomly at cafes/on tours too!

coworking friends antigua

Here are some useful Facebook Groups to join:

  • Guatemala Digital Nomads
  • Expats Living in Guatemala
  • Lake Atitlan Guatemala Travel
  • Girlfriends in Antigua

The people living in Antigua Guatemala whether they are local, expats or digital nomads are very welcoming and friendly! It’s the main reason we enjoyed our time so much but that’s how it always goes with us.

Is Living In Antigua Guatemala Good For Digital Nomads?

For some, it’s a dream vacation and for others, it can be a nightmare – which one will it be for you?

We loved living in Antigua Guatemala! It’s one of our favorite digital nomad cities in Latin America. There’s good coffee, a great work/life balance, plenty of things to do and a growing digital nomad community. The biggest downside for us was the high cost of living and that we just didn’t get great value for money.

Have you tried living in Antigua Guatemala? What are your thoughts about the pros and cons of this beautiful city? Comment below and let us know!

In: Digital Nomad, Antigua

Sunday Suitcase Newsletter

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Antigua Guatemala Coffee Tour 2023: A Worthwhile Experience

Welcome!

We’re Matt and Ashley, the American-Aussie couple behind this blog. In 2018, we realized we could take our work with us…anywhere in the world. We packed our bags, sold our stuff and bought two tickets to Bali. Today, we slow travel full-time, run our business from our laptops and embrace life one adventure at a time. We’ve completely fallen in love with the freedom that comes with this lifestyle and we hope to inspire you to join us on the digital nomad journey!

Recent Posts

  • World Nomads Travel Insurance Review: Is It Reliable? May 28, 2023
  • How To Travel from Lisbon To Cascais In 2023? [Info, Prices] May 26, 2023
  • Landeau Chocolate Lisbon: The Best Cake In The World? May 15, 2023
  • Laundry In Lisbon: Best Spots To Get Your Clothes Washed May 4, 2023
  • 5x Amazing Lisbon Sunset Cruises For 2023 (Info & Prices) April 24, 2023

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Is Skopje, North Macedonia on your destination lis Is Skopje, North Macedonia on your destination list? 🇲🇰⁣
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On our Europe tour, we decided to make Skopje home for a few weeks! One of the main reason is because I needed to renew my passport which is much faster outside the country.⁣
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Other than that, we didn’t really know what to expect. There weren't many blogs or videos about being digital nomads here. We could only find 1 coworking space in the area but there were plenty of cafes to visit! There’s a huge cafe culture which is always nice.⁣
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We had a really nice, modern, comfortable apartment in Skopje for $580 USD which was 5 minutes walking from the city center. The cost of living is pretty affordable and it’s very safe! ⁣
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If you’re looking for a city to get some work done, explore the surrounding destinations and establish some routine or even simply go to the BEST gym I've ever been to (@fit_in_performance) - Skopje could be that place for you!⁣
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Would you visit Skopje, North Macedonia as a digital nomad?⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadskopje #skopje #skopjedigitalnomad #skopjenorthmacedonia #visitskopje #visitnorthmacedonia #europedigitalnomad
Lisbon, Portugal is the top digital nomad destinat Lisbon, Portugal is the top digital nomad destination in Europe! 🇵🇹Why?⁣
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One word: community!⁣
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According to some digital nomad statistics, loneliness is the #1 reason people leave this lifestyle. When you’re traveling alone (or even as a couple), you easily feel all alone. Thankfully, the digital nomad community is very strong, open and welcoming!⁣
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Lisbon is also a popular spot because of the fast wifi (we had speeds of 500+ Mbps), endless coworking options and a relatively affordable cost of living (except the rising rental prices, of course let's be real). ⁣
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Our month in this wonderful city wasn’t long enough! It’s got all the simple things we love:⁣
 ☕ specialty coffee⁣
🍷 delicious food & wine⁣
🥑 bustling brunch scene and ⁣
👯 friendly people & community⁣
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We can easily see why digital nomads keep coming back to this city and we hope we can explore more of Portugal (Porto, Algrave, etc).⁣
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Have you been a digital nomad in Lisbon before? What were your thoughts?⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadportugal #lisbon #lisbondigitalnomad #lisbonportugal #visitlisbon #visitportugal #europedigitalnomad
We embarked on another 6-hour bus journey to our n We embarked on another 6-hour bus journey to our next digital nomad destination on this Europe tour.⁣
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Zagreb, Croatia has been on our minds for a while. While most people think of Split or Dubrovnik, we wanted to visit the capital and see what it’s really like for digital nomads.⁣
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These are some things that we think of before choosing a destination:⁣
- Is there an active digital nomad community?⁣
- What’s the wifi speeds like?⁣
- Are there good coworking spaces?⁣
- Is the cafe culture buzzing?⁣
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And so much more! Our biggest concern was the community part. After traveling Serbia alone - we were starting to feel quite lonely! We joined an FB group and found someone had set up a weekly coworking day.⁣
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It’s always nerve-wracking going to events where you don’t know anyone but as digital nomads, you get acquainted pretty quick! TLDR, we had a pretty close group of 8 working from cafes together, exploring Zagreb and getting to know each other.⁣
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Zagreb is a great destination in Europe for a digital nomad wanting a more affordable cost of living while still exploring Croatia! 🇭🇷⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadcroatia #zagreb #zagrebdigitalnomad #zagrebcroatia #visitcroatia🇭🇷
Never did we think we would visit Serbia…⁣ ⁣ Never did we think we would visit Serbia…⁣
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…but we are SO glad we did!⁣
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Serbia surprised us in so many ways, we honestly didn’t know what to expect! ⁣
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That’s one of the ways we like to approach some of our travels - not judging the country by its cover. You can hear some positive (or negative) things about countries but you never truly know until you experience it for yourself. ⁣
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We spent a month living in Belgrade, Serbia and it wasn’t long enough! With such limited time, as digital nomads you have to hit the ground running to get settled into your new home. We used our first 3 days to find (good) cafes to work from, sign up for a gym membership and plan our travel across Serbia.⁣
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Here are some reasons we can recommend Belgrade to fellow digital nomads:⁣
- friendly, welcoming people⁣
- they have delicious food⁣
- high standard of living⁣
- relatively low cost of living⁣
- fast wifi with tons of cafes to work from ⁣
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We ate countless bureks, drank copious amounts of coffee and worked from some of the coolest cafes. We can’t wait to get back to Belgrade!⁣
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Serbia, you stole our hearts!⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #digitalnomadserbia #belgrade #belgradedigitalnomad #belgradeserbia #visitserbia
European Digital Nomad Summer 2022, incoming ✨⁣
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After 4 months in Medellin, Colombia - we decided to head to Europe for the rest of the year!⁣
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Travel planning just becomes part of your lifestyle as digital nomads - it almost becomes a side hustle. When we're not working or exploring, we are researching/booking our next destinations!⁣
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What countries did we decide on?⁣
🇬🇧 England⁣
🇦🇹 Austria⁣
🇭🇷 Croatia⁣
🇷🇸 Serbia⁣
🇫🇷 France⁣
🇳🇱 Netherlands⁣
🇵🇹 Portugal⁣
🇲🇰 North Macedonia⁣
and finally, a last-minute decision to visit...⁣
🇨🇾 Cyprus⁣
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We found flights for only $400 to London from Colombia! My lovely friend and her husband were the best hosts and showed us around their new home. We spent a week in London exploring, acclimating to this continent and working from Pret! ⁣
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TTA TIP: If you're in London, Pret has a subscription service for only about £30 and you get 5 drinks per day plus a cafe space to do a little work!⁣
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*I'm going to be recapping the rest of our 2022 as digital nomads for the next few posts, we are currently in Asia🤪 ⁣
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#workfromeurope #workfromwifi #laptoplifestyle #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #remoteworking #digitalnomadcouple #locationindependent #freedomlifestyle #fulltimetravel #digitalnomadeurope #remotework #workonline #workfromanywhere #workandtravel #digitalnomadlifestyle
Figuring out where to live can be difficult as a d Figuring out where to live can be difficult as a digital nomad. Medellin is a big city to navigate but there were some areas that stood out to us. ⁣
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We moved from Laureles to El Poblado in March to truly answer the question “Which neighborhood is best for digital nomads?” - there seems to always be a debate (for good reason). If you read our blog post on where to stay, you’ll know our answer 😉⁣
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If you hate working from home - you’ll love your ‘office’ options in Poblado! There are endless cafes, coworking spaces and free coworking zones in the mall (yes, free!). @elopenspace, @pergaminocafe and El Tesoro Mall are some of the faves!⁣
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Medellin, Colombia continued to impress us and we’re so glad we ended up staying here for 4 months in 2022!⁣
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#medellincolombia #medellindigitalnomad #colombiadigitalnomad #elpoblado #laureles #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #traveladdict #travel #twoticketsanywhere
Settling into a new country as digital nomads isn’t always easy…⁣
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…We spent our first full month in Medellin, Colombia going through a list of things to sort out for ourselves (per usual).⁣
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It might look like we just land in a country and have everything sorted by day 1 but that’s certainly not the case.⁣
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In each country as digital nomads, you have to:⁣
- Buy a local SIM card (or find an eSIM solution - @airalocom & @realnomadtravel are our faves)⁣
- Find your local grocery store⁣
- Get connected with the digital nomad community (constantly putting ourselves out there)⁣
- Figure out where to work (coworking vs cafes)⁣
- Plan the activities we want to do while visiting the country⁣
- And so much more!⁣
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We heard so much about Medellin for digital nomads, we just had to check out what all the buzz was about (especially as we run a blog for digital nomads).⁣
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This was also my (Ashley’s) birthday month and we went paragliding for the first time (2nd pic). We flew with @paraglidingmedellin 💯 I absolutely loved it - if you get the chance, it was a great experience!⁣
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#medellindigitalnomad #colombiadigitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #twoticketsanywhere
2022 didn’t start off as we expected…⁣
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…lying on the beach in Thailand, one of our favorite places in the world. 🌴⁣
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Instead, we were touring a couple more US cities: Phoenix, San Francisco and Miami! At this point, we didn’t know how our year would look but we just needed to nail down our next location as digital nomads.⁣
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How did we do that? Simply go on Google flights, enter Miami (where we currently were) and don’t add a destination! There was one place that popped up that was high on our digital nomad destination list - Medellin, Colombia! 🇨🇴⁣
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For $245.15 USD total, Matthew and I hopped on a 2 hour plane ride to a country (and continent) we’ve never stepped foot on before! 🥹⁣
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We were tired of flying and traveling (faster than usual) and we decided to make Medellin our base for a few months but that’s for the next couple of posts to come…⁣
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#travelawesome #digitalnomad #fulltimetravel #travelinglifestyle #travel #digitalnomadlifestyle #laptoplifestyle #exploretheworld #passportcollective #traveldestination #digitalnomaddiary
Well, that's the truth...🤷🏻‍♀️ ⠀ Dig Well, that's the truth...🤷🏻‍♀️
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Digital nomad life isn’t for everyone.

There are days you’ll feel excited to live in a new country every couple of months, ready to learn about other cultures & always inspired by fellow digital nomads you meet on the road. 

But there are days where you’ll feel lonely, stuck, miserable and exhausted from moving and/or always making new friends. 

This digital nomad lifestyle is no way perfect, as it may look. But…

We wouldn’t have it any other way 🤍
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#travelreels #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #traveltheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #traveladdict #travel #twoticketsanywhere #travelblogger #travelawesome #digitalnomadlifestyle #fulltimetravel #passportcollective #travelcouple #funnytravel
there's just something about this feeling ✈️⠀
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#travelreels #digitalnomadlife #funnytravel #seetheworld #catchflightsnotfeelings #workandtravel #workfromwifi #digitalnomad #travellifestyle #traveladdict #travel #twoticketsanywhere #travelblogger #travelawesome

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