Playa del Carmen was actually on my list before I moved to Bangkok. It has a school I was thinking about attending and my brother vacations there yearly. He loves the place but he is spending the big bucks for luxury. I will be really interested to know what you think. I did not see downsides other than being too close to the US lol.
I prefer to stay in a local neighborhood away from tourists and love it where I am now. But I have two unrelated Thai friends who both tell me I am in a bad part of town and they do not want to come here. This is kind of good news to me. I'm on the 7th floor with a great balcony view and all the street food is delicious, healthy and inexpensive. What more can I ask?
As for Medellin, I am very happy to have this other side to the story. The key points I liked about what I saw were weather, people and food, but I did look back and see you are correct - the people I follow are living in this el Poblado area. I definitely appreciate the heads up and I will be reading their posts more carefully in future.
Disney - a nightmare place. Only second to Legoland with their plastic grass lol. just your mention of Hooters gives me all I need to know. Thank you so much for the follow. I am really excited to have people see my work. it's a quiet world for the most part, so I am happy to be here.