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.
On a cold December evening with temperatures dipping into the single digits Fahrenheit, we decided to sell our drafty Victorian in downtown Lexington, Kentucky and live less expensively in Ecuador…a decade sooner than we’d expected.
Pat and Rick Jackson wanted to retire at 55—and thanks to moving to Ecuador, they’ve met their goal.
“I love the relaxed pace of life in Cuenca,” says Aubree Sorteberg. Having lived in Cuenca since 2013, Aubree still finds the laidback way of living to be the most endearing quality of this city, located in the heart of the Andean mountains, with four rivers traversing through it, and a UNESCO World Heritage designation to its name.
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
Home is where the heart is. The familiar adage has taken on new life since I moved to Ecuador. But my journey to get here actually started 37 years ago…when I became so enthralled by Darwin, the Galápagos Islands, and the country of Ecuador in 6th grade science class that I told my teacher I was going there one day.
Travel and adventure have been part of Tina and Keith Paul’s 32-year marriage from the beginning. “I was fortunate to get a lot of vacation time each year, so our family traveled a lot,” says Keith. “We owned a large RV and traveled all but three states in the U.S.”
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.
Six years ago, the consensus among my friends and family was that I had lost my mind. For them, trying to understand why my husband David and I, would move our two young sons from a rural spot in the Rocky Mountains to a small country in South America, was beyond their comprehension.
If you’re like most retirees, you dream of spending your golden years in a peaceful and relaxing place with a beautiful setting. No more days spent rushing to the office or battling gridlocked traffic.