It’s 5.00 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Time to start thinking about winding down the work day and getting ready to crawl home in rush hour traffic, then spending a few hours at home hopefully relaxing before going to bed… and getting ready to do it all over again on Tuesday. Except I don’t live that life anymore.
Every time you turn around, another travel piece appears about Ecuador’s capital city, Quito. Mainstream travel writers, it seems, are just now discovering what we’ve known for years… that the city is a worthy destination that blends new and old in alluring ways. It doesn’t hurt that Quito is one of the world’s most affordable cities.
Many expats living here are thrilled when they experience significant weight loss and overall improvement in their health. Two friends of mine, David Akins and his wife Karen, relocated to Cuenca, a lovely colonial city sitting at 8,400 feet altitude in Ecuador’s southern highlands, a year and a half ago.
It was November 1, 2001, and we had jettisoned our previous lives to begin anew in Quito, Ecuador. Just as the thick fog that wrapped its arms around us that night, the future felt fresh and full of possibility. Our Ecuadorian friends greeted us with cheers and hugs and loaded us up for the short ride to the home we’d rented for the coming year.
It was November 1, 2001, and we had jettisoned our previous lives to begin anew in Quito, Ecuador. Just as the thick fog that wrapped its arms around us that night, the future felt fresh and full of possibility. Our Ecuadorian friends greeted us with cheers and hugs and loaded us up for the short ride to the home we’d rented for the coming year. In one of the city’s most charming neighborhoods, it had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a guesthouse…
In Ecuador, every day is a memory maker. But some more than others… Like the time three of us stayed at a friend’s beachfront house in Olón, with a bamboo bar overlooking the ocean. We dubbed it the “Sand Bar,” for its sand floor. (The owner paid just $50,000 for this house, by the way.) Long into the night, the guys played guitars and sang…
Everyone who moves to Ecuador has a different reason for doing it, but they all have one thing in common… they’re glad they did. Earl Phillips and his wife, Jan, almost lost everything they had spent 36 years working for when the property bubble in the U.S. burst. But after Jan suggested moving from their home in central Washington to the coast of Ecuador…
I moved to Cuenca, Ecuador. I did it for all the right reasons—and discovered an exciting new life beyond the curtain of fear that keeps most people stuck at home. I’ve been living here for two years now, and my expat experience thus far has vastly exceeded expectations that were pretty high to begin with. One of the most impressive aspects of life in Ecuador is the quality and affordability of health care.
Many expats living here are thrilled when they experience significant weight loss and overall improvement in their health. Two friends of mine, David Akins and his wife Karen, relocated to Cuenca, a lovely colonial city sitting at 8,400 feet altitude in Ecuador’s southern highlands, a year and a half ago.
I moved to Cuenca, Ecuador. I did it for all the right reasons—and discovered an exciting new life beyond the curtain of fear that keeps most people stuck at home. I’ve been living here for two years now, and my expat experience thus far has vastly exceeded expectations that were pretty high to begin with. One of the most impressive aspects of life in Ecuador is the quality and affordability of health care.
While in Miami airport recently awaiting a flight home, I struck up a conversation with a fellow traveler. When he learned I lived in Ecuador he was extremely curious and asked many questions about why I was there and how I liked it. Before we parted he said, “Well, I don’t speak Spanish so I couldn’t move to your new country.” He’s partially right.
While in Miami airport recently awaiting a flight home, I struck up a conversation with a fellow traveler. When he learned I lived in Ecuador he was extremely curious and asked many questions about why I was there and how I liked it. Before we parted he said, “Well, I don’t speak Spanish so I couldn’t move to your new country.” He’s partially right.
It happens to me every now and then…I look around in amazement and ask myself, “How did I get here?” Right now, here is a small Andean mountain village basking under the equatorial sun in a green valley 8,000 feet above sea level between two extinct volcanoes in northern Ecuador. And of course, I know more or less how I got here.
It happens to me every now and then…I look around in amazement and ask myself, “How did I get here?” Right now, here is a small Andean mountain village basking under the equatorial sun in a green valley 8,000 feet above sea level between two extinct volcanoes in northern Ecuador. And of course, I know more or less how I got here. Almost a dozen years ago, my husband Dan and I sold our house in Omaha…
What if you could improve your lifestyle by about 200%…and do it for half what you spend today…why wouldn’t you? You could do it in a place where you never had to shovel snow again…where the weather is always perfect, about 77 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night—all year round. A place where, in a single day’s drive, you can go from a sophisticated city with true cultural appeal…
My wife is the one who first suggested we look for a home on an entirely different continent. We began our research and discovered we could trade in the familiar U.S. retirement locations for more affordable (and exotic) destinations overseas. Over time, we narrowed our target to Ecuador. We wanted warm weather and beachfront property with a view.
Six years ago, Sue and I saw our home in Vilcabamba, Ecuador for the very first time. Even though it was our first day ever in South America and we hadn’t even seen the town of Vilcabamba yet, we agreed to buy the property five minutes after stepping through the blue steel gate that was the entrance to the property. And, as it turned out, to our new life.
If anyone needed a retirement rescue—it was Ron and Terresa Moore. “Our 401k turned into a 201k after the economy went sour in 2008,” Ron joked today. Their story is all too familiar. Back in July 2007, Ron and Terresa made six-figures managing a car dealership, they had real estate and $1.2 million in assets. But fast-forward to December 2008.
As the emcee for many of International Living’s seminars and conferences, I’m used to full attendance at our events, and this one was no exception. Getting more than 300 North Americans to come to Ecuador to explore all that this amazing little country has to offer doesn’t really surprise me anymore…nor do the record crowds we’ve been hosting all over the world at all our recent events.
Six years ago, Sue and I saw our home in Vilcabamba, Ecuador for the very first time. Even though it was our first day ever in South America and we hadn’t even seen the town of Vilcabamba yet, we agreed to buy the property five minutes after stepping through the blue steel gate that was the entrance to the property. And, as it turned out, to our new life.
Many people dream of retiring to a foreign country and starting an exciting new life. But the uncertainty of such a bold transition…and the niggling questions it raises…sometimes prevents those dreams coming true. “What will my life really be like?” “What if I need medical attention?” “What if I miss my family too much?”
Many people dream of retiring to a foreign country and starting an exciting new life. But the uncertainty of such a bold transition…and the niggling questions it raises…sometimes prevents those dreams coming true. “What will my life really be like?” “What if I need medical attention?” “What if I miss my family too much?”
It was time to stop putting life on hold…and time to start living it. “We saw the value of our savings plunge as we were nearing retirement age,” says Edd. “Rather than continue to work for too many more years trying to correct this problem, we decided to retire, relocate, and enjoy the rest of our lives.”
Exhaustive research turned up a city we’d never heard of called Cuenca in the highlands of Ecuador, a country we knew next to nothing about. But Cuenca appeared to meet all of our criteria, and a “look/see” trip confirmed this could be The Place, so we took the plunge… our standard of living exceeds the lifestyle we enjoyed in the States with two six-figure incomes.
When Jack sold his business in South Florida to take a few years off, and his wife retired from the bench, they could have lived almost anywhere… They chose a little mountain town in Ecuador. Jack was Dan Prescher’s guest on IL Radio recently, and they openly discussed what Ecuador has to offer North Americans.
