You're doing what? Moving where? Are you NUTS???

When my husband Ron and I (Pamela) decided to move, or pre-tire as we like to call it, to Ecuador  at the ripe young age of 53, our family and friends reacted in one of two ways...astounded or supportive. To be honest I think most of them were shocked at first, but our kids quickly moved from shocked to supportive, while it took our parents a bit longer to come to terms with the idea.

Technology made the whole thing easier, and introducing our parents to Skype went a long way toward convincing them that although we would be on another continent, we were still going to be able to "see" each other and keep in touch.

Just so YOU don't think we are crazy, let me explain that we did over a year's worth of research on Ecuador before we decided to make the leap. Our research included attending an International Living Conference in Las Vegas in October 2011 with a subsequent 12-day research trip to Ecuador in December 2011.

During our research trip we spent 4 days in Quito, Cuenca, and Manta respectively. Rather than do all the touristy stuff you normally do on vacation, we spent our days researching each city. We spent time in grocery stores, department stores, etc. to ensure we had a strong grasp of what we would and wouldn't have access to once we moved. That's not to say we didn't do SOME touristy stuff, like taking the double-decker bus tour in Cuenca, or hiring a car and driver to drive us up the coast of Manta...it's just that it felt more like a job than a vacation.

I have a quirky fascination with doors 

What a character! Parque Calderon, Cuenca

Some of the things we discovered were:

• The people are warm and friendly, although not as much in Quito as in the other cities we visited.
• Cuenca is everything you read about and more, but it's chillier than we expected.
• Bring the bed because beds in Ecuador haven't caught up to the quality we are accustomed to in the U.S.A. and we are spoiled :-)
• Since I love to cook, the kitchenware I've accumulated over the years would be difficult to duplicate. i.e. We couldn't find stainless steel cookware, it's all aluminum.
• Electronics are expensive...we're talking a 55" Samsung TV costs over $5,000 when you can buy it at Costco for less than $2,000 at home
• Health and beauty items we are used to buying in Walmart or Target go for a premium, and the ones you'd buy in an upscale store in the U.S. aren't available (or at least we couldn't find them).

So although most of what you read about moving to Ecuador states you don't need to ship a container, it pays to do the research and decide for yourself what's important to you before you sell or donate all of your belongings.

Hasta luego, P.