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...

Note ~ While on vacation we’re sharing some favorite stories from our best-selling trilogy of books, Mission: Rescue Your Retirement. Here’s Edd’s Choice from Volume III, “Living the Dream.” Enjoy!

Self-help gurus often recommend stepping "outside the box" as a way to learn more about yourself. After uprooting our lives and moving to Ecuador over three years ago, I can certainly attest to the wisdom of this strategy. I've discovered how to live life more fully than I could have ever imagined. I’ve relished reviving dormant talents and interests like art and writing.

But you can also learn a lot about yourself by doing something you haven't done in awhile.

Like taking care of two babies full-time after 35 years.

We had planned on visiting our family in the fall anyway, so when our son told us he and his wife wanted to attend an out-of-state wedding and asked if we would consider watching our oldest granddaughter (2 years, 3 months) and grandson (almost 8 months) we jumped at the c...