I had travelled to Guatemala on a volunteering project last summer and knew I wanted to return to Latin America, only this time working so I could then travel more extensively around a specific country.
I decided on Colombia, because it seemed less swamped by tourists than backpacker favourites like Peru and Argentina, and two months later I was on the plane, having booked through Workaway to work at a hostel in Medellin for two weeks, with three weeks further travel after that. Colombia has a violent history, and Western perceptions of it are accordingly wary, but I can honestly say there was not a single moment I felt unsafe in my five weeks there - not when arriving in Medellin alone at 11.30pm after a five hour flight delay, not during the three weeks I went without a phone after it broke in my bag, not even the time I woke up at 6am with a tarantula in my tent.
My trip was split between the city (Medellin), the jungle/mountains and the Caribbean coast, during which I sampled a variety of different sleeping arrangements, including six nights in a hammock, a tent in middle of the jungle, and two 16 hour night buses. I went to Colombia to improve my Spanish and gain practical experience working in the bar of a hostel. After lengthy chats with the three Latina mothers on my plane (all heartwarmingly concerned with my wellbeing even as a total stranger); the Venezuelan chefs in the hostel who taught me how to cook; a Colombian geneticist turned yoga teacher and every taxi driver I came across - after two weeks of washing up, painting the laundry room, making breakfast and serving drinks, I can safely say I've managed both. On top of that I learned how to play pool, countless card games, the lyrics to Gasolina and met what felt like half the population of Germany. But any trip is more than a concrete list of events and people that you reel off to the people back home.
What I will take away from Colombia is a renewed sense of openness to wherever I find myself, and whoever I find myself with, and most importantly a lesson in self-confidence and belief. Travelling by yourself is always a challenge, yet is simultaneously one of the most rewarding and affirming things you can do for your perception of yourself. I hope to take this resilience into my second year, after a truly incredible summer.
Thank you Gateway!
Anna Rainbird-Chill
English Literature