In Vilcabamba the climate is always pleasant, so there’s no need for heating or air conditioning

Name: John Curran
Age: 47
Nationality: American
Living in: Vilcabamba, Ecuador

I worked my way through nine years of university to earn Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in architecture (and a bachelor’s degree in economics). But I never worked in an architectural office.

Instead, after the first Gulf War ended, I was offered a faculty position at United Arab Emirates University to teach information technology and math. A planned two-year stay turned into eight years. The money was good for a teacher, and seldom do you have the opportunity to encounter such a wide array of interesting people. Later, I returned to Dubai and spent seven years teaching in the UAE’s technical college.

It was there I met my Canadian partner, Sue. If there’s someone for everyone, then she’s the one for me. Knowing we had a future together, we started researching retirement property, making full use of the Internet, libraries, networking, country visits, and, of course, International Living.

It was a part-time job for us…and in no particular hurry, we passed on properties that didn’t measure up; settle for less, and that’s exactly what you’ll get. In July 2006, after searching for five years, we found a property in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. In that community, we found everything we wanted, including:

• A low cost of living: We manage quite comfortably on $500 a month.

• A low entry cost: Just five figures bought our mountain-view riverfront property.

• A good climate: Sue’s from Alberta and I’m from Wisconsin and we both lived in the UAE, so we know nasty weather; but in Vilcabamba it’s always pleasant, so there’s no need for heating or air conditioning.

• A healthy environment with lots of water and a year-round growing season: We have coffee and a variety of fruit on the property, and a vegetable garden is in the works.

• Spanish speakers: With my four years of high school Spanish, we had a head start when we moved to Ecuador; but living where most everyone speaks only Spanish, language-learning opportunities are everywhere.

• Internet access: You don’t get the bandwidth like you get in the States, but our access is sufficient for computer types like us.

To top it off, the locals are even friendlier than advertised and it’s such a beautiful, peaceful place. In fact, we were so enthusiastic over the potential to greatly improve our lives by moving here that we decided to “retire” early, at the age of 44.

We lived here for a year before starting construction on an adobe addition to the original rammed-earth home. Waiting let us thoroughly experience our property and evaluate our improvement options. With the additional time to settle in, we were better prepared for our makeover.

Our construction crew was small, never more than four. I enjoyed working with the guys and learning local building techniques. I did the plumbing and electrical work and much of the landscaping. Our maestro (lead builder) was eager to learn, too, sacrificing breaks to observe my doings.

Now that the renovation is done and we’re more settled, what’s next? I don’t know, but that’s the adventure in taking the road less traveled. Some might find life here boring, but to us it’s more like taking the back roads instead of the freeway—a slower journey, but a richer experience.

And there is always the unexpected: We recently returned home from an IL event to find our hen, a gift from a neighbor, with eight newborn chicks in tow. If that’s boring, it’s our kind of boring.

Healthy Fact: Japanese scientists have concluded that the crisp, clean air in the surrounding valley of Vilcabamba is due to the negative ions given off by Mandango Mountain, and may partly explain the area’s “Valley of Longevity” reputation, as the negative ions in the air help to eliminate toxins in the body.

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