Edd:  On the plane from Cuenca to Quito it dawned on me that with our new travel adventure we’re once again going through the same stages as the titles of our trilogy of books.

Cynthia:  H-m-m-m. Well, I certainly agree that abandoning what many people would consider an ideal life to roam the planet with no agenda is a "Leap of Faith!"

E:  But to be fair the circumstances now are completely different from 11 years ago. Initially we moved abroad because we had to. We metaphorically hurled ourselves off a cliff and hoped the parachute opened.

C:  That’s a little dramatic but I get your point. This time we’re making a proactive decision to do something very different because we want to.

E:  And if everything goes sideways, we can always return to our residence in Cuenca. Still, I don’t want to minimize the fact that choosing to basically live out of carry-on luggage for months at a time in unfamiliar places is a pretty edgy choice.

...

Edd:  I never anticipated the feedback we’ve gotten since announcing our plans to reimagine our own retirement.

Cynthia:  The support has been remarkable. So many friends and relatives all over the world have said, “You must come stay with us!”

E:  And we’ve heard from a lot of our subscribers and members too. Not only to wish us well. Several have recommended really interesting places for us to visit.

C:  You know what else has been a surprise?

E:  The film production company contacting us from the UK?

C:  Well, yeah, that for sure. I’m talking about the number of people who have shared that what we’re about to do—freely roaming the planet with no agenda—is a dream of theirs too.

E:  That’s true. I think “freely” is the key word. Whether it involves travel or not, who doesn’t want to enjoy a sense of freedom in life?

C:  Yet so few are willing to do what it takes to...

“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...

It’s exciting to see nuggets of optimism that the worst of this pandemic is behind us.

According to the CDC, the percentage of new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions has declined over 60% since the first of the year.

As of now around 70 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the United States, with over 1.5 million more doses of vaccine happening each day.

Many states are starting to loosen restrictions, and entire countries are once again opening their borders to visitors.

All this good news is giving a lot of people hope that life will soon be back to normal.

But that’s not going to happen. The COVID-19 pandemic was a global game changer, and things will never be the same.

The economic, social, and psychological disruptions have been so disastrous that the damage is still being assessed. Even the most knowledgeable experts are uncertain what the future holds.

Where does that leave each of us? What will our new normal look like?

While we individuals have...

Cynthia:  Well, it’s that time of year.

Edd:  I love Valentine’s. It’s the official day to celebrate how much I love my forever sweetheart.

And our lunch at Rosée yesterday was fantastic!

C:  That’s so sweet, but I wasn’t referring to Valentine’s, Romeo. This is the time of year when we schedule our medical appointments.

E:  Yikes. Why are you bringing that up? Going out for a romantic meal is so much more fun to talk about!

C:  Because it’s what we do every January and February. And taking care of ourselves is part of how we’ll get to celebrate Valentine’s Day for many more years.

E:  Can’t argue with that. I think a lot of folks in the States try to squeeze their medical stuff into the end of the year before new deductibles kick in. That’s not an issue for us with 100% coverage and $0 deductible.

C:  Right. We do it now because 1) we always return after the holidays...

If last year had been “2020-The Movie”, it would have been a box office disaster, would you agree?

And thus far trailers for the sequel, 2021, don’t look remarkably better.

Many Americans are becoming nostalgic about how life was for them growing up and longing for simpler times when:

• You didn’t bother to lock your doors
• Kids freely played outside until it was time to come home for dinner
• You knew and socialized with your neighbors
• People behaved civilly and respected each other’s property

“Ah,” you think sadly, “those days are gone forever.”

In much of the U.S. perhaps, but not elsewhere in the world, we’re happy to report.

We recently returned home to Cuenca, Ecuador after a long trip to the States. Not surprisingly, our refrigerator and pantry needed restocking after 3 ½ months away.

Stepping out of our building to go to the grocery store, the restaurant owner across the street saw us, smiled and said,...

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,...

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...

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...

Edd:  I’m noticing something.

Cynthia:  What?

E:  We’ve been in North Carolina for a week.

C:  You just realized that??

E:  Stop it. Already we’re starting to establish a routine. After about that amount of time the same thing happened during the first half of our trip in New Jersey.

C:  And…

E:  That when we go somewhere different we flounder around for a bit, but once we get our bearings we unconsciously create a version of our “normal life.”

C:  I hadn’t thought about that but OK. There’s more, right?

E:  You know me well, my love. It made me think about when we first moved to Ecuador and how much we struggled in the beginning.

C:  Boy, did we! Knowing no one. Jumping into a Latin American culture with pitiful Spanish skills. There were days when we thought, “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

E:  It was overwhelming for sure but also fun and exciting. We were...