Colombia was one of those places we always heard you shouldn't visit... until our friend Nate went and absolutely loved it. In fact, he loved it so much that he invited me to his bachelor party there. By the end of that trip, I was calling Jessica and telling her she needed to come see it for herself.
What I quickly learned, though, is that Colombia feels a little different when you're traveling with 12 guys versus one petite blonde woman.
We based ourselves in Medellín, where we spent our days exploring the city, working from coffee shops, taking coffee and city tours, and eating our way through as much local food as possible. I even took Jessica on the same food tour I had done with the bachelor party because it was that good.
One of my favorite memories happened during that tour. At one stop, we noticed a few ladies behind the counter pointing at me and giggling. When we asked our guide what was so funny, he explained that Colombian culture can be fairly machismo, and they assumed Jessica had dragged me back onto the exact same tour I'd taken the week before to make sure I hadn't been up to anything suspicious. We all got a pretty good laugh out of that, especially since the only thing I was guilty of was wanting another round of the food.
Outside the city center, we toured Comuna 13, wandered through neighborhoods that have undergone incredible transformations, and spent plenty of time soaking in Medellín's unique vibe — a mix of lush jungle scenery, modern development, and a thriving digital nomad culture. At one point, our guide told us to "say cheese" for a photo just as the skies opened up. The resulting picture (on the steps) captured us completely drenched, laughing, and probably summed up the trip better than any perfectly staged photo could.