Cynthia:  Our visit to Montreal was full of surprises, wasn’t it?

Edd:  I’ll say. Mainly because we had visitors the whole week we were there!

C:  Friends and family don’t come to see us that often in Ecuador. But when we let friends in Canada know our travel plans, they both said, “Oh great! We’ll come over and hang out with you.”

E:  Once again we went against the grain regarding accommodations. We normally stay in an Airbnb located close to major points of interest. You found a great deal at an extended stay hotel, so we booked a studio unit with a king bed and full kitchen.

C:  We weren’t going to be cooking entire meals. But with a nice grocery store nearby, having kitchen amenities for breakfast items and snacks saves time and money.

E:  Our dear friend from Las Vegas who now lives outside of Toronto drove over with her two furry companions the same afternoon we arrived.

C:  I have to mention that her “kids” were such good travelers. It was fun having them join us early...

Edd:  Fall is one of our favorite seasons. But we were so busy moving into our new apartment at this time last year that we totally missed it.

Cynthia:  It may seem odd to our readers that we have to get on a plane and go somewhere to experience seasons other than spring since that’s our climate year-round here in Cuenca.

E:  We’ve talked for years about taking an Amtrak trip up the Hudson Valley from New York to Montreal, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. We would visit our family in New Jersey, head north to Canada during prime leaf peeping, then reverse course from our previous idea and return to New York on that train ride.

C:  But then we said, “Why just Montreal? If we’re going to that part of Canada, let’s check out Quebec City too.” Enjoying beautiful fall foliage was our major focus, so the plan was to start at the northernmost part of the adventure and then head south to see as much color as possible.

E:  We found a great deal on a miles flight from Newark t...

Edd:  I’ve been keeping up with the hurricane that hit Louisiana this week. In Cuenca we’re immune to those kinds of natural disasters, but there’s no doubt the weather around here has been very different this year.

Cynthia:  Last year as well. In Ecuador we have a rainy and dry season, but until recently we haven’t been able to tell much of a difference.

E:  In the past, no matter what the sky looked like when we left the house we always carried an umbrella, because you could count on at least a shower sometime during the day.

C:  Lately, the rains have been so light and infrequent that we never think about that any more. During July and August we experience our winter here, which traditionally has meant a lot of cool, cloudy weather. It has been wonderful to enjoy all these unexpected warm, sunny days, but since this country depends mainly on hydropower for electricity, the situation has become grim.

E:  Before we got some decent rain a few weeks back that replenished the reservo...

Edd:  As a University of Georgia graduate, I am SO excited that college football season is about to start. Go Dawgs!

Cynthia:  (Sigh) No need to make plans for Saturday afternoons the next few months. It wasn’t always easy for you to watch live sporting events.

E:  Unless it was soccer. 🙄 When we first moved to Cuenca, we paid $30 a month for dial-up internet service that we shared with five other people. At night when everyone was online looking at Facebook or whatever you couldn’t even stay connected.

C:  Now we pay $25 for dedicated fiber optic service with 400 Mbps. What an improvement! And we could get 500 Mbps if we wanted to pay a little more, but what we have works fine. You mentioned soccer because when we had DirecTV that was the only sport we could watch.

E:  What a waste of money that was. A bunch of Spanish channels and 10-year-old U.S. reruns, but it was the only local source of live television. I started exploring other options online and we canceled it after a year....

Edd:  May 17 was our 14th expat anniversary. A few days ago we celebrated another milestone that to me is the most important day of the year—our 53rd wedding anniversary. This year I wanted to surprise you with something special.

Cynthia:  I don’t generally like surprises. But on the morning of our anniversary when you told me to pack an overnight bag because we were checking into Itza Hotel for the night, I was very excited.

E:  For a number of reasons we didn’t do much to celebrate last year, so I wanted to plan something memorable this time. We’ve been in most of the luxury properties in Cuenca, but this one opened in 2021 shortly after we left Ecuador to travel full time.

C:  As soon as we walked into the lobby—wow! We knew this was going to be great. So elegant.

E:  You assumed I had booked a regular room. Nope, only the best for you, my love. We were staying in a King Suite with two balconies overlooking the historic downtown area.

C:  The room—actually two rooms—...

Hey, Edd here. I want to share with you my recent experience renewing my Ecuador driver’s license.

Those of you who have been following us for a while may be wondering, “Wait a minute. I thought you didn’t have a car. Why in the heck do you need a driver’s license?”

You’re right. We sold Cynthia’s car before moving to Cuenca 14 years ago (I had already sold mine), and used the proceeds to pay for the container that brought our furnishings to Ecuador—a win-win transaction of the highest degree.

Since then we have chosen addresses where we can walk to pretty much everything required for daily life. Currently, within 10 minutes from our home is a supermarket, gym, yoga studio, and a wide choice of dining options.

For any other destinations we take Cuenca's light rail system (17 cents per ride for seniors) or use an app on our phone to summon a taxi (fares from $1.50 to $2.50 depending on the distance). Buses are also available but not as convenient for us.

All of this must sound unbe...

Edd:  Wow, 14 years ago, on May 17, 2010, we got off the plane here in Cuenca to begin our expat life. As the Grateful Dead sang, “What a long strange trip it’s been.”

Cynthia:  Well, with who knows how many flights back to the States to visit family and friends, full-time globetrotting for 2½ years, and all the other travel we’ve done, we haven’t really lived here the entire time. But, yeah, it has been quite a journey.

E:  Maybe this expat anniversary feels more meaningful because we are actually back in Cuenca to celebrate it. I vividly remember my first encounter with the local culture shortly after we checked into the hotel all those years ago.

C:  Ha! Me too. We were pooped, and I mentioned how much I would love a cappuccino. You gallantly offered to go get one for us both.

E:  So I stride into a coffee shop nearby and in my best pathetic Spanish say, “Dos cappuccinos to go, por favor.” I pay, wait, and soon the waitress brings out my order—in porcelain cups. That “to go” p...

Edd:  When we announced we were moving to Ecuador almost 14 years ago, I remember someone asking what would happen if we got sick. Would we go to a doctor or a witch doctor? Maybe we should set the record straight for our blog followers.

Cynthia:  Witch doctor? Uh, no, but the subject of health care when living abroad does come up a lot, including a recent podcast we appeared on. So sure, let’s do it.

E:  The topic is covered in general terms on our FAQ page, and we’ve learned from our research and travels that world-class care is available in many countries for a fraction of the cost you are probably paying in the United States. But we certainly know more about the ins and outs of how it works here in Ecuador.

C:  We should begin by mentioning that, as is true most everywhere, the highest quality medical care is found in our largest cities — Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca. The farther you travel away from major metropolitan areas, the level of care becomes more basic.

E:  Ecuador ...

Edd:  I was thinking recently about friends from Cuenca who moved back to the States. The list is quite long.

Cynthia:  I’m sure that many of our expat acquaintances over the years have returned to their home country, decided to live in other foreign destinations or, sadly, died.

E:  In our last conversation we touched on something interesting that most people don’t know: the average “lifespan” of an expat is about 4 years. A common fear regarding moving abroad is, “What if it doesn’t work out?” That statistic indicates the concern is well-founded.

C:  Leaving your home country seems like such a radical decision. It's probably surprising to learn that doing so is anything but a “forever” move for many.

E:  That number is an average, so longtimers like us are factored in with folks like a couple we know who went home after less than 6 months! It also includes expats who decide to move on and try other locations.

C:  Once you discover living abroad isn’t as hard as you perhaps thoug...

Cynthia:  A big welcome to the many subscribers who have joined us in the past few weeks. We’re incredibly grateful that you are interested in the idea of living abroad.

Edd:  A question new followers often ask us is, “What is it really like to be an expat?”

C:  Or more bluntly, “What do you do all day?” We get it. If your experience with life outside your native country has been cruising or trips abroad for a week or two, it’s hard to put yourself in the picture.

E:  Just the thought of waking up each morning in a foreign country seems so exotic, doesn’t it? All the unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells. And that’s exactly the way it is in the beginning.

C:  Of course, the degree of this depends on how often you visited the place before actually settling there. And how well established the expat community is in your new home.

E:  In our case we’d made one 10-day scouting trip, and there weren’t a lot of foreigners living in Cuenca at the time. What an adventure. We showed up ...