ColombiaOne Talks to Influencer Jimi Shotton About His Colombian Journey

Sometimes, understanding a country requires more than visiting it. It means staying long enough to move beyond first impressions, becoming curious about the people behind the places, and allowing yourself to be changed by what you experience. That is, in many ways, the story of Jimi Shotton, a Dutch content creator who has made Colombia not simply a destination, but an important part of his personal and professional journey.

Through his digital platforms, Jimi has built an audience by documenting Colombia from the perspective of someone who arrived as an outsider but gradually developed a much deeper connection with the country. His videos explore the details of everyday Colombian life: its food, traditions, cities, humor, cultural differences and, above all, its people. His travels across the country have allowed him to show international audiences a Colombia that is often more complex, diverse and intimate than the images traditionally associated with it.

That perspective is part of what makes his story compelling. Jimi is not Colombian, and yet Colombia has become central to the way he tells stories and understands the world around him. His experience raises broader questions about belonging, identity, and what happens when a place that initially feels foreign begins to feel familiar. It also speaks to the growing role of independent creators in shaping how countries are perceived internationally, especially at a time when social media can challenge stereotypes but can also reinforce them.

For Jimi, Colombia appears to have become a place of discovery, unexpected connections and experiences that have challenged the way he sees both the country and himself. His content often moves between curiosity and humor, but behind those lighter moments there is also a more personal journey: learning to navigate a different culture, building relationships far from home and gradually understanding the nuances of a country that cannot be reduced to a single narrative.

More recently, that relationship with Colombia has placed him closer to a very different side of the country. Following the devastating earthquake that affected several communities in 2026, Jimi traveled to some of the hardest-hit areas to document what people were experiencing on the ground. For any storyteller, covering tragedy brings difficult questions about empathy, responsibility and the limits between documenting suffering and respecting the people living through it. For a foreigner, those questions can become even more complex: How do you enter a community during one of its most vulnerable moments? How do local people perceive you? And what responsibility comes with carrying their stories to an international audience?

It is within that broader context that ColombiaOne sits down with Jimi Shotton for a conversation that goes beyond the videos and the person behind the camera. We explore why he chose Colombia, what has kept him here, the moments that have challenged his assumptions, and the encounters that have marked him personally. We also talk about what he has learned from documenting Colombian communities, particularly during moments of crisis, and how living far from his native country has shaped his understanding of home.

The conversation is ultimately not only about Colombia through the eyes of a foreigner, but also about curiosity, human connection and the ways in which crossing borders can transform the person doing the observing as much as the places being observed.

This is the story behind Jimi Shutton’s Colombian journey.