What’s so special about Ecuador? And why is it now the #1 retirement destination in the world? Suzan Haskins, who has been exploring Ecuador for over a decade, explains why this diverse little country is where she’s chose to put down roots, and why you should consider it, too.
Big cities, small villages, mountain towns, rural or beach living? What’s your preference? In Ecuador you can find it all. Suzan Haskins introduces you to the top five destinations in Ecuador for expat living.
Getting your finances in order, figuring the best ways to communicate with friends and family back home, preparing your pets to move overseas…so many little details not to be overlooked. Suzan shares her tips to help make it all so much easier.
Now seasoned expats, Dan, Suzan and Glynna share the most important lessons learned from their experiences moving and settling into life in a foreign country. There are bumps along the way, but the rewards far outweigh the challenges. (This presentation has no accompanying PowerPoint slideshow.)
If you like spending time in the garden… love to eat healthy, organic food… and enjoy traveling, there’s a way to combine these passions—and do it all for free. WWOOF—an acronym for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms—offers you a way to travel the world for next to nothing. (Normally, you pay only to get there.) At the organization’s website, Wwoof.org, you can search the database of organic farms around the world to see who’s looking for someone to help out. You can volunteer at an organic farm next to the Podacarpus National Park in Vilcabamba, Ecuador or on an apple orchard and organic bakery in Mendoza, Argentina.
I first visited Nicaragua nearly a decade ago and fell in love with its rough-around-the-edges beauty and the genuine warmth of its people. In 2007, my husband and I lived for a while on this hilltop overlooking San Juan del Sur. We spent lazy days exploring hidden beaches and lively evenings with friends at the thatch-roofed seafood restaurants that line the beach. Now we had returned to reacquaint ourselves…
Imagine California’s Pacific Coast from Malibu to Santa Barbara before the Pacific Coast Highway was built. Imagine some stretches of the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica…those areas where the mountains come right down to the sea, with rocky cliffs and wide deserted beaches…and you’ll have some sense of what this stretch of Ecuador’s coastline looks like.
In early 2001 we were on our first visit to Panama, our first research visit of any kind, in fact, on our journey to relocation outside the U.S. Our guide that day was Sam Taliaferro. A former Coloradoan married to a Panamanian, he had picked the little mountain town of Boquete in Panama’s Chiriquí province in which to build his version of paradise. And what a pick it was…
More and more of us like the idea of living “off the grid,” or, at very least, living lighter on the land. That used to mean lots of hard work and isolation. But today, with the world at our fingertips, it’s easy to find a plot of oh-so-affordable fertile land to grow your own vegetables, raise some chickens, maybe milk some goats…and check your email 11 times a day if you feel like it.
Think Costa Rica and think beach. With both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, this little country wins bragging rights to 1,100 miles of some of the most beautiful sun-drenched shorelines in the Western Hemisphere.