People always ask why we moved five dogs to Ecuador. Especially when four was the limit. I'll admit, bringing five dogs made us feel more as though we were smuggling contraband than moving our furry friends. But leaving them behind was not an option. After all, they're family...
When I graduated from college, I put on my traveling shoes and backpacked through Europe for three months, vowing to stay as long as the $500 in my pocket lasted. I stayed in hostels, lived off loaves of bread and French cheese,...
One of the things I love about living in Cuenca, Ecuador, after spending nearly 40 years in the sweltering heat of Florida, is that I can actually walk outside during the day without worrying if the heat steaming from the blacktop will melt the soles of my tennis shoes.
Most people would think a young girl growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, would not necessarily dream of becoming an opera singer. But Mara Gano’s love of culture far exceeded Alaska’s rugged reputation for dog-mushing or...
A year before his retirement, when Keith Paul was visiting Florence, Italy, he saw artists sitting on street corners, relaxing as they sketched landscapes, and thought how cool that would be to do. But he felt his artistic talent was limited to being able...
Deana Culp is part pioneer woman, part international explorer, and part math and Spanish teacher. She feels her sense of adventure is in her DNA—inherited from her grandmother, who boarded a boat in Switzerland at age 16, with...
Pat and Rick Jackson wanted to retire at 55—and thanks to moving to Ecuador, they’ve met their goal.
Pat and Rick Jackson wanted to retire at 55—and thanks to moving to Ecuador, they’ve met their goal. Now, instead of Rick’s hectic travel schedule as a district manager and Pat’s long hours working in banking back in Philadelphia, they spend their...
Glen and Mara Gano lived in Anchorage, Alaska for 40 years, so when it came to planning their retirement, they had a specific list of location requirements. Essential for their new home—mountain view with rivers to remind them of their Alaskan roots—a culture to indulge their musical talents—and a temperature that was cool but didn’t require shoveling snow.
Every day I have a euphoric experience, and it is due to realizing the daily reality of living in the place I have chosen to make my home for life—Cuenca, Ecuador.