Donna Stiteler

I wish that as soon as I had stepped off the plane in Cuenca, Ecuador, that someone would have handed me a PDF of things I should know immediately. I was discussing this with my friends at lunch when they started espousing their thoughts…

I live like a queen. I live off my social security, on $1,800 a month. That budget includes having a maid and gardener and going out to lunch or dinner once a week. I don’t need A/C or heat. When it’s hot, I open a window. When it’s cool, I shut the window. If there’s an extra cold night, I light up my fireplace and drink a glass of wine while warming my feet. I buy three tanks of propane for $2.50 each to fire up my stove, water heater, and dryer which lasts me around a month. So, I save around $290 a month on electricity alone compared to what I spent back in the U.S.

Since I’ve retired in Cuenca, Ecuador, it takes someone with a cow prod to get me out of bed before 9 a.m. But something that will get me up early is one of Fredy Ordonez’s hikes through the countryside of Ecuador. Today we’re hiking through the hillsides of Huacarrumi to Uzhupud, small villages which promise beautiful views of the valleys and the rivers near the town of Paute.

Cuenca expat and photographer Jane Hiltbrand was captivated by the colorful Art Nouveau style façade, as well as its mysterious man on the balcony, and did more than just wonder. She went inside the China House and started photographing the polychrome brass designs on the ceilings and walls and climbed the wooden staircase to the second floor, where the mystery unraveled.

During the six years I’ve spent living in Ecuador, one of the key trends I’ve noticed is the rise in the number of digital nomads from North America and Europe. Some of these remote workers relocated when their careers migrated online. Others arrived here in retirement and built new incomes in blogging, freelance writing, photography, or one of dozens of other online professions.