My first thought as we picked up our rental car and drove away from the airport towards the southern coast of Uruguay and Punta del Este, was “this doesn’t look like South America!” We were driving through rolling hills and fertile,...
When my wife Rita and I moved to Salinas, Ecuador, all we were really looking for was a nice climate. After years of shivering through snowy Maryland winters, followed by hot and humid summers,...
My wife, Rita, and I have always loved to travel. There is just something about visiting someplace new and different, that keeps us feeling young and enjoying life
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Nestled high in the green mountains of Ecuador’s El Oro province lies a destination more precious than the gold for which the province is named. Piñas, a village known as the “Orchid of the Andes” for its outstanding natural beauty, is a great place to experience just how special off-the-beaten-path places can be in Ecuador.
I saw an interesting discussion in social media the other day. A blogger was convinced that the “retirement/travel industry” was hiding a deep, dark secret: Some people who retire overseas don’t stay forever. This was a shock, finding out my wife Rita and I had apparently signed up to live in Ecuador “forever.”
I was a little choked up on stage at the amount of applause when I proclaimed to the audience, “Hooray, I’m fat.” I was giving a talk at a recent International Living conference. It was an overview of the healthcare system in Ecuador, with personal descriptions of visits to clinics, doctors, and even hospitals taken from real-life experiences.
Nicole Diciaume, from Syracuse, New York, is one of the growing number of expats falling for the conveniences Quito has to offer: “You are within a 20-minute walk of three malls, two supermarkets, two movie theaters, bowling, ice skating, a ton of restaurants, several bus lines, the Ecovia (tram system), and, of course, all the exercise and enjoyment of Parque la Carolina (Quito’s answer to New York’s Central Park).”
I was talking to someone in the States the other day about my life in Ecuador, and he asked a question that an expat hears often: “Don’t you get homesick?” This is not a trivial question, and one that anyone thinking of moving to another country should consider.
“Honey, I think we need to make a trip to the ‘Tad,” my wife Rita said to me the other day. “Great,” I replied. We’re just mad about the ‘Tad. The place my wife was referring to was La Libertad—a.k.a. The ‘Tad—a bustling commerce town a short bus ride from our home in Salinas on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. We often make the trip there to do a little shopping and run some errands.