Here at International Living, we tell stories about the world nobody else tells. When somebody asks me what we do, that’s what I say first. I say it because most folks carry around a worldview forged by the news they read. The headlines scream war and catastrophe…politics and disease. But calamity gets outsized attention. Our news comes to us through a mainstream media lens and it’s filtered by a measure of superiority. What you realize, though, once you pick up your passport and get on a plane, is that beyond our borders there exists a whole other world that the shock-seeking headlines ignore.
It’s a world full of promise and opportunity. A world where people live well, in beautiful surrounds…where wealth is measured less by the acquisition of stuff and more by the pleasure created in the good company of friends and family. Expats tell us all the time: I’m healthier now, less stressed, happier. You could be, too.
This month we bring you missives from all over this other world. Jason Holland explores the best spots in Belize—a laid-back, English-speaking, Caribbean enclave where you could live well for less than $2,000 a month with a view of turquoise waters.
Friendly Ecuador has a welcome mat out for adventuresome folks in search of good-value living. From the market town of Otavalo, to the little beach retreat of Crucita, to the highland village of Cotacachi…you have interesting options there and we asked three expats in residence to share with you their experiences.
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Read more about these destinations and more below.
I’ve just returned to Ecuador from a two week spell in the U.S. and I’m still processing the experience. It was fabulous to see family again and connect with co-workers, but my time there was not quite as I expected. This was my first time back in three years and prior to my trip I kept thinking to myself that I was “going home.” But as it turns out I wasn’t as at home back in my mother country as I had imagined.