The breeze carries the scent of flowers from the frangipani trees. A wisp of incense floats your way from the little canang sari offering baskets that your housekeeper has placed to invite balance and harmony into your home. Kites fly lazily in the brilliant blue sky, while the ocean in front of you is calm and inviting.
“As a teenager, I occasionally thought about retirement, which would be many years in the future,” says David Van Harn. “I came to the conclusion that I wanted to live somewhere where there would be things happening in the area nearly every day of the week, and I wouldn’t be isolated with only other seniors.
"Managing your life is not nearly as important as living it. My life is much simpler now and less complicated. I’m much happier.” This is how Susan Burnett describes her life since retiring to the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. “My apartment has twice the space I had in Denver, without having to pay twice the price for it,” she says.
“If I had stayed in the U.S., I’d be dead now,” says Warren Sklar, reflecting on his new life in Ecuador. “I was 140 pounds heavier, I was having a very difficult time controlling my blood pressure with three medications, and my diabetes was pretty much out of control.”
“We made a trip basically around the whole country, and as we passed through this area for the very first time, I made the cab driver stop. I got out and said, ‘This is fantastic!’” says Doug Klaver of the small town in Ecuador he now calls home.
For nature lovers like Gary and Karen Schiltz, it doesn’t get much better than the cloud-forest town of Mindo, Ecuador. “There are tons of birds, including a crested quetzal that nests just outside the house,” says Gary.
Ron Piltzer’s house has a perfectly manicured front yard and patio. The 1,200-square-foot house has two large bedrooms, a large, Western-style kitchen, a gorgeous tiled bathroom, and a large living room and dining room. The attractive, high-quality furnishings are rich with tropical hardwoods. The backyard comes with a swimming pool and lounge area, and it’s surrounded by trees and a privacy wall.
From the rooftop terrace of her luxury condo, Lori Gold, 29, gazes toward the Caribbean Sea before sliding into the warm water of her rooftop pool. “Honestly, it’s like I live in a postcard,” she says. “A place like this would cost way more than I could afford in Toronto. Plus, you can’t get a place on the Caribbean in Canada!
When Aaron Brabham decided to move to the Colombian city of Medellín nearly a year and a half ago, he knew exactly what type of place he wanted to live in. “I’m really a penthouse kind of guy,” he says. “I was looking to live in the lap of luxury for much less than I could back in the U.S. I work at home as a digital marketer, so I like to have lots of space.”
Ever since my wife Jackie and I moved to our beautiful homestead in the tropics, we like to joke that more of our friends are jetting down from the States to see us.