“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 abo...

Edd:  Well, here we are back in Cuenca after a l-o-n-g time in the States.

Cynthia:  Yep. When our son asked us to extend our trip to help out with remote learning for our two grandchildren, a 6-week visit turned into 3 ½ months!

E:  As we discussed in a previous conversation, our lifestyle is pretty simple and extremely portable, so once we figured out how to pay the rent from abroad we were all in.

C:  In another chat we talked about differences we observed between life in the two countries. You’ve been out and about more than me. What have you noticed since we’ve been home?

E:  We wondered what would change during our absence. Turns out that aside from some businesses closing and a few new ones opening everything is pretty much the same. Ecuador moves at a slow pace.

C:  You know, we were fortunate that this is one of the most lenient and still sensible countries as far as requirements for entry. Of those opening their borders, many require a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken 96...

Note ~  We’ve extended our family visit in the U.S. to help with our grandchildren’s remote learning. The current plan is to begin 2021 back home in Ecuador. Thank you for continuing to follow our expat adventures!

Cynthia:  So much has changed since this time last year when we had a big Thanksgiving celebration in the Yunguilla Valley outside Cuenca. At least 18 friends were there!

Edd:  Yep. Tons of food and “adult beverages.” Catching up by the pool. A fun day. Although gatherings will be smaller, I’m sure expats will still get together and continue holiday traditions if they aren’t with family.

C:  And now here we are in North Carolina planning a quiet family Thanksgiving dinner.

E:  With two young grandchildren I wouldn’t call it “quiet!”

C:  Ha! I stand corrected. You know, 2020 is a year many of us will always remember but would like to forget.

E:  I’ll say. There’s definitely been a surplus of negativity and overall weirdness. The words “social distancing” had never bee...

Cynthia:  “Would you like to round up?” We didn’t know what the checkout clerk was talking about when we paid for our groceries with cash.

Edd:  I asked, “Round up to what??” “The nearest dollar,” he replied. I said, “If I have a choice, I’d prefer to round down.” He wasn’t amused…

C:  And when we asked what happens to that extra change he said, “It goes to charity.” “Really? Which charity?” Crickets.

E:  We’re actually used to clerks asking weird questions. For years in Ecuador they always want to know if you have exact change. And for sure we don’t have the coin shortage supposedly going on here. We more often use Sacagawea dollar coins than bills.

C:  I’m noticing more differences now that we’ve been here awhile. We walk almost everywhere at home, and it takes us about 25 minutes to go maybe 2 miles from our apartment to Parque Calderon, the central square in Cuenca’s Historic District. The house where we're living in NC is also about 25 minutes from our son’s home. It’s 23 mile...

Edd:  Well, here we are. Back in the States for the trip that was originally supposed to have happened in April. How great is it to finally be with the New Jersey half of our family?

Cynthia:  It’s terrific! We’ve logged a lot of hours on Skype and Zoom during the past six months, and I’m grateful this technology has made it possible for us to stay closely connected. Who knew we would be jumping on Zoom with our grandchildren to help with their school work? 

Since a lot of people aren’t flying these days and wondering if it's safe to travel, why don’t we talk about our observations from being in 2 countries, 3 planes, and 4 airports getting here?

E:  So much has changed since our last trip in January, especially having to do with traveling. We had no idea what to expect. Here’s a recap of our experience over a 24-hour period along with some photos.

The airport in Cuenca has only one or two flights a day right now, but the check-in and boarding process is extremely organized for...

 If I live abroad, am I an immigrant or an expat?

A subscriber recently wrote to ask, “You always refer to yourselves as expats. Since you came from the U.S. to Ecuador, doesn’t that make you immigrants?”

Great question.

The short answer is, yes, technically we are immigrants. Upon arrival here we had to immediately begin a legal process to become permanent residents.

Immigration policy has been a much discussed and debated topic internationally in recent years. 

Some nations provide open borders; others are seeking to be more restrictive.

Ecuador generally falls more in the first camp. We have always felt welcomed here, and although not citizens we can vote and participate in the national health care system.

But the country’s kindness and generosity have been strained by the influx of so many refugees exiting Venezuela. 

To the point that before borders were shut down completely because of coronavirus, Venezuelans were no longer allowed to enter the country without proper do...

Hooray!

This week coronavirus lockdown restrictions were relaxed as Ecuador appears to have “flattened the curve.”

We learned that a handful of restaurants have been allowed to reopen with proper safety protocols.

After 2 ½ months of our biweekly, grocery store trip being the “Big Event” at Casa Staton, we were beyond anxious to dress up a bit and walk into town to enjoy a sit-down meal somewhere other than our dining room!

Even though more cars are allowed out, we found most streets to be nearly empty.

Parque de la Madre, a large park normally filled with families on the weekend, is taped off and deserted.

It’s heartbreaking to see how overgrown and unkempt the entire space has become.

When we arrived at Café del Museo we were stopped at this table to have the bottom of our shoes sprayed. At the restaurant entrance we stepped into a tray to again clean our shoes (not sure what’s up with the focus on that particular article of clothing), applied hand gel, and had our t...

Cynthia:  Do you know what today is?

Edd:  Is this a trick question? It’s Sunday, May the somethingth.

C:  It’s the 17th. Do you know why today is special?

E:  See, I know you. It was a trick question. OK, I remembered Mother’s Day and your birthday isn't until next month. So I think I’m safe saying, “No, baby, why is today special?”

C:  Because 10 years ago we got off the plane here in Cuenca, Ecuador. It’s our 10th anniversary of being expats!

E:  Shut up... Really?? That seems impossible.

C:  I know. I can’t believe it either. Remember how excited we were?

E:  I sure do. But you know what, I don’t remember us being scared. Do you? Honestly, we had every reason to be. We didn’t speak Spanish. We didn’t know anybody. Our shipping container was on its way and we had no place to live. What in the hell were we thinking?

C:  That this was gonna work no matter what because it had to work—that’s what we were thinking. And you know what? It did!

E:  Yep. I think overall these have b...

Cynthia:  It was so great to hear from readers this week about how things are going in their areas. Some even sent photos!

Edd:  And we were really appreciative of those who asked how we’re faring here in Ecuador.

C:  Ironically, we’re supposed to be on a 5-week, family trip right now in the States. Specifically in New Jersey, one of the coronavirus hot spots.

E:  Yep. At the beginning of March we contemplated changing our itinerary and going early when all this craziness started. In retrospect we made the right decision staying put.

C:  I’ll say. Glad we trusted my intuition. Our country’s restrictions are more stringent than many places we’ve read about, but Cuenca has less than 200 cases in a population of over 600,000.

E:  You know, since we work from home anyway, our daily life is probably 90% the same as it was before. We just don’t get to go out for lunch a few times a week, and we visit the grocery store less often. Who knew we were pioneers in “social distancing?”

C:  Ha...

Edd:  Wow, we sure covered a lot of topics on the Now It’s My Turn! TV show last weekend!

Cynthia:  We never seem to be at a loss for words. I especially enjoyed our discussion of Super Agers.

E:  Readers may not know what that term means. Harvard Medical School defines this group as "people in their 70s and 80s who have the mental or physical capability of their decades-younger counterparts."

C:  Well, that covers one of us.

E:  Ha! You’ll be joining me in a few years. And as we pointed out to Lana McAra, the show’s host, our current state of optimal health and wellness isn’t a lucky accident. A lot of intention has gone into it.

C:  Yeah, you touched on our aspiration to become Super Agers in the blog you wrote about being a septuagenarian. Regarding the mental part of the equation, I feel like living abroad in Ecuador for the past decade has greatly contributed to our well-being and unshakeable optimism.

E:  Remember that report from Humana we recently read? They found that th...