After being sidelined for over a year by COVID-19, a beloved Mérida event called Biciruta was recently reactivated.

From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Sunday the east lane of the city’s most famous boulevard, Paseo de Montejo, is open for bicycles only.

Thousands of riders and pedestrians enjoy the beautiful views along this shady avenue patterned after the world-renowned Champs-Élysées in Paris.

At the end of the 19th century the outbreak of the Spanish-American War created a shortage of hemp, the fiber used in nautical ropes, from the Philippines.

This caused the price of henequén, a similar fiber produced in the Yucatán, to skyrocket. And for massive wealth to be created almost overnight. At that time there were more millionaires in this small Mexican state than anywhere else on the planet!

Paris was THE most envied city at the time, so newly-monied Yucatecans developed their own version of Champs-Élysées lined with massive mansions.

No wonder folks turn out in droves to bike....

After months of preparation our global adventure finally began last week when we departed for our first stop—Mérida, Mexico.

Why Mérida? Capital of the state of Yucatán, it’s a vibrant city of about one million residents with a rich Mayan and colonial heritage.

Several factors have made Mérida an increasingly popular expat destination:

• Easy access to and from the States 
• Proximity to the beach (less than an hour’s drive)
• Boatloads of culture 
• Central location for exploring lots of surrounding UNESCO-designated archaeological sites, including Chichén Itzá, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World

And the low cost of living that we’ll report on at every location we visit.

In the Mérida airport we got Mexican pesos from an ATM to pay for the taxi ride to our Airbnb rental.

After using the US dollar in Ecuador all these years it felt weird to be handling foreign currency. Fortunately, the conversion is simple—one peso roughly equals a nickel.

During this initial trip we’...

Edd:  Can’t even begin talking about “Living the Dream”, the title of the last book in our trilogy, without referencing the Thoreau quote that has guided us all these years.

Cynthia:  “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” That refrigerator magnet message has followed us everywhere.

E:  Last time I mentioned a Dan Fogelberg lyric: “Where do you go when you get to the end of your dreams?” In our case the answer is simple—create some new ones!

C:  Ever since I can remember our dream was to chase perfect weather around the globe. As we related in a previous blog, we found that special climate, or at least our version of it, in Cuenca. Now we’re embarking on the second part of our original vision.

E:  The Great Recession of 2008 unexpectedly knocked our life way off course. Consequently, those dreams got put on the shelf for a while. But we never, ever, forgot or gave up on them.

C:  Nope. Everyone probably has fantasies when they’re young abo...

Cynthia:  Last time we started talking about how our new adventure is repeating the stages described in the titles of our trilogy of books. Specifically that we’re once again taking a “Leap of Faith.”

Edd:  The second volume, “Letting Go,” is my personal favorite. We could have called it “Cutting Loose.” My Gosh, it seems like we partied for two straight years!

C:  We arrived in Cuenca so broken from the financial strain we’d been under. The sheer joy of being released from that burden translated into a nonstop celebration of freedom.

E:  Totally unsustainable but what a blast while it lasted! We truly were leaving behind so much. Not only the money hardships. We were also saying goodbye to the stress and pressures of everyday life in American culture. The multitasking and over-scheduling. Traffic. Never feeling relaxed.

C:  What do you think we’re “letting go” of now?

E:  Well, our belongings in Cuenca certainly shrank. It was definitely time to go through everything we own once ...

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.

C:  Like we say about living abroad in general—it’s ...

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 achieve it. Like we frequently say, hope without action is only wishful thinking.

E:  You know me with the song ...

“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...

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 no con...

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 to enjoy summer here in Cuenca, and 2) it makes our life simpler to get doctor visits out of the way so we...

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, “Welcome back! We missed you!”

As we were walking up the sidewalk,...