Irene Shateeva

PR Manager, Chief Experience Officer in Colombia

On Localie since February 2023

Medellín

My story

My love for the country began with a photograph of the Wax Palm Valley - the tallest palm tree in the world, a Colombia’s endemic. There was some magic in the green hills, shrouded in mist. The more I read about the country, the more I was surprised by its biodiversity: here the selva meets the sea, it has a desert and snowy peaks, unusual mountain ecosystem paramo, cities with a comfortable climate and colorful villages, endless plains and the majestic Amazon River. Moreover, I have always been attracted by non-banal travel destinations, at the time of my acquaintance with the country, it was out of the tourist radars. I came to Colombia with the idea of staying here for 3-6 months, but ended up living here. I chose this country just because i truly love it and still can’t stop being surprised by its beauty and diversity!

What do I do here?

I started my career path in Moscow in the commercial real estate market: I organized business events in Cannes, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg. I also worked as a PR manager. I spent most of my time in the office, which I never liked. So, one day I left a good stable job and bought a one-way ticket to Nepal with no idea on how I would earn money. But everything went up well - as always, when we are on the right path. I began to live a life of a digital nomad before the pandemic: lived in Indonesia, Malaysia, worked remotely as a PR manager and Business Events Producer. In Colombia, I continued my work as a PR Specialist in foreign markets, and turned my desire to share the beauty of the country into a favourite hobby - organizing the tours around the country.

What's the best of my city?

Medellin is a tropical sensual macho. It is a city where it is so good to live and enjoy the life. Its lush parks are like jungles in the middle of the city. Green hills surrounding the city create a feeling of security. At night they light up with a lot of electric lights, and city looks so cinematic. Medellin is full of contrasts. Here you can sit in stylish cafes with a tropical design, walk around shopping centers, which, thanks to the abundance of greenery, look like parks, and enjoy absolute dolce vita. Or you can go to a noisy and dirty center with street vendors and homeless people, and this will also be Medellin. But the biggest surprise for nature lovers is the accessibility of hiking routes in the mountains and forests.

My tours secret sauce

I like to show residential areas so that people can feel the rhythm of the city; see how the locals live, and not just watch the tourist attractions. I like to show city’s contrasts: something fancy and then - communes, garbage on the streets, strange-looking homeless people. Perfection is so boring, if Medellin was all as fancy as its stylish neighborhoods El Poblado and Laureles, then it would be deprived of something important. At the same time, I like to see how perception of Medellin as a dangerous city is going away, and people are claiming, “Hell yeah I wanna live here!” I like to show what I love Medellin for - parks, hikes in the mountains and to the waterfalls: a feeling of being close to nature in a big city. Cafe of expats who are in love with Colombia, local jazz performers - very uncommon in the country of reggaeton - I will also be happy to show it ;)