Expat Life: We’re Reimagining OUR Retirement!

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

For years we’ve been encouraging all of you to follow your dreams.

We’re extremely proud that Retirement Reimagined! has provided enrollees with the in-depth guidance and knowledge they need to make their desire to move abroad a reality.

Now, after 10+ years living in Ecuador, we’ve decided that it’s time to reimagine our own retirement.

Thoreau’s quote is on a refrigerator magnet that has been part of our lives for longer than we can remember. Turns out our dreams are about to lead us in many directions!

In celebration of our upcoming 50th anniversary, at the end of this month we’re going to “hit the road.” Or, more accurately, to spread our wings and take flight.

While maintaining our residence in Cuenca, we will divide our time between more frequent family visits and scouting trips to the countries we spotlight in our program.

You may be thinking, “But you always talk about how happy you are in Ecuador. Why leave?”

Good point. Because we are happy. We’ve got ourselves pretty much dialed in and could live comfortably here for the rest of our lives.

For us that’s not enough. In fact, if comfort and security were our prime motivators we would have never had the gumption to move abroad in the first place.

There’s a fine line between being in the groove and being in a rut. Our hearts tell us both it’s time to do more. Experience more. Be more.

We feel totally confident about “walking the talk.” To demonstrate that it’s possible to live in fabulous locations all over the globe on a Social Security budget.

And you’ll be coming right along with us. The plan is to blog about and video our experiences everywhere we go.

First stop—Mexico. We’ll spend a month or more there in May/June visiting four locations.

You might also be wondering, “With the pandemic still in play, why now?”

On our long family visit at the end of last year we learned that a) airplanes and terminals are extremely safe, and b) flights are amazingly affordable.

So for these reasons we believe this is the perfect time to get moving!

You know, it’s interesting how life works sometimes. Our original retirement dream was to move from place to place around the world chasing ideal weather.

We ended up finding that climate in one place—Cuenca. And now we are about to embark on the nomadic lifestyle we envisioned long ago.

Do we have all the details worked out? Absolutely not.

In fact, beyond the Mexico trip (which hasn’t even been booked yet) we have no idea what’s next. Between now and then we’ll be watching countries of interest as they open their borders and relax restrictions, then go from there.

This “plan,” if you can even call it that, to leave behind a relaxed, upscale lifestyle and basically live out of suitcases might sound crazy to you.

You know what? We may tire of constantly being on the move sooner than expected. Or, conversely, we may love it. We’re totally at peace with either outcome.

One way or the other, by keeping an address here in Ecuador we always have the option to come back.

We’re doing this because we want to. Maybe it’s time to ask yourself what you want.

As we embark on this new journey “into the unknown” (as the song goes from the Disney movie Frozen Ⅱ), we encourage you to join us in embracing possibility thinking.

Focusing your energy on doubts, unanswered questions, and fear leaves you stuck in an endless cycle of wishful thinking.

Are you ready to move forward with your life? The title of our blog describes the three necessary steps:

Imagine ~ Intend ~ Create

Wherever we are in this world, know that we’re always ready to help you reimagine your retirement and make your dream of living abroad come true.

We are about to enjoy a level of freedom beyond anything most people will ever know. Hope you find inspiration following our next big adventure.

We’re excited to have you join us!