{"id":5906,"date":"2021-02-02T11:28:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T16:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/?p=5906"},"modified":"2024-05-14T12:45:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T17:45:55","slug":"business-spotlight-my-ecuador-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/02\/business-spotlight-my-ecuador-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT &#8211; My Ecuador Journey:"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5906\" class=\"elementor elementor-5906\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-505e8c2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"505e8c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-89c30e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"89c30e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">1001 miles alone in an economy car A travelogue of ridiculous proportions<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aeb1cae e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"aeb1cae\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa2bf52 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"fa2bf52\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ce6ebcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ce6ebcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>In late 2020 I started paying attention to my friend Joe\u2019s Facebook posts about the retirement life he\u2019s creating in Vilcabamba. His commentary and photos piqued my curiosity. Long story short, after 18 years in Hawaii, my retirement plans A\u2013Y haven\u2019t worked out. I\u2019m of an age where that matters. So, I\u2019m looking for Plan Z. After watching videos and doing online research for a couple of months, I started thinking Ecuador could be a real possibility. I liked that it offered a tropical environment similar to Hawaii. I decided to take a fact-finding journey to see if the country would welcome me. In late February 2021 I made a spontaneous decision to book a trip\u2026 for the following week! I chose four areas to visit during those 17 days: Cuenca, Manta, Salinas and Vilcabamba.<\/p><p>After 20 hours of travel, I arrived in Cuenca on a Saturday morning. I spent three days there\u2026 that\u2019s another story. (Excerpt\u2014Coastal Areas)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78c5b94 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"78c5b94\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Day 4- Cuenca to the Coast<\/span> <\/strong><\/p><p>I rented a car\u2014gulp\u2014an economy car, with a stick shift and no cruise control\u2014double gulp. At first, I couldn\u2019t get the GPS to work and I didn\u2019t know how to get from the rental car lot to the highway leading to the Andes overpass. Thank goodness my first Ecuador earth angel, Walid, an expat living in Cuenca, was able to talk me through it on the phone! What a beautiful drive through Cajas National Park, until\u2014well\u2014I didn\u2019t do any weather research in advance. It turns out this is the rainy season\u2014and it\u2019s a rainier season than most\u2014so there were landslides all over and I was driving this tiny economy car. What the hell was I thinking?!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10bd188 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"10bd188\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c0dc77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c0dc77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>At one point I had to get out of my car and move rocks from a rock slide that were too big for my car to drive over! A thought came to mind: living on the Big Island of Hawaii was the only thing that could\u2019ve prepared me for this. The conditions were similar I\u2019ve learned to always be aware of treacherous road conditions and prepared for unpredictable delays.<\/p><p>I made it to the other side of the Andes in a few hours, and was headed for the coast. GPS originally said it was a six-hour drive, so I expected to get there during daylight. Nine hours after I left the rental car place, I arrived in Santa Marianita. It was already dark, so I couldn\u2019t see how beautiful the location was until morning. The manager of Soga Hostal, Oswaldo, speaks fluent English, and greeted me warmly, He laughingly told me, \u201cwhatever GPS says, double it\u201d. He\u2019s right. Oswaldo offered me a beer. I normally drink maybe one beer a year, but a cold beer sounded good and it turned out this brand, Club (pron. Cloob) wasn\u2019t bitter. I liked the taste and it helped me relax. I slept great that night and awoke to a spectacular ocean view from my bed, for $35 a night!<\/p><p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Day 5- Santa Marianita<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p>Oswaldo\u2019s mom made breakfast, delicioso! I went for a walk on the beach, ate fresh fish for lunch on the malec\u00f3n (boardwalk) and did some work on my computer. Being a lifelong ocean lover, I immediately felt at home in Santa Marianita. When Oswaldo got off work from his day job, he introduced me to some neighbors, Jen and Pete. Pete is from Ecuador; Jen is from Philadelphia<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b50bbc5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b50bbc5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-14f640a elementor-widget-divider--separator-type-pattern elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"14f640a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 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stroke-miterlimit=&#039;10&#039;%3E%3Cpolyline points=&#039;0,18 12,6 24,18 &#039;\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;);\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a6d0dd e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4a6d0dd\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8dddcfa e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8dddcfa\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-146f646 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"146f646\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 29-01-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"368\" height=\"504\" src=\"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/santa-marianita-2-special-issue.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5910\" alt=\"santa marianita 2 - special issue\" srcset=\"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/santa-marianita-2-special-issue.png 368w, https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/santa-marianita-2-special-issue-219x300.png 219w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-63bd2e6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"63bd2e6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>They spontaneously and graciously invited me into their oceanfront home and we visited for about an hour. They had been living in Cuenca and recently moved here. Jen put me in contact with her friend Annie, an expat from Connecticut, who has lived in the area about four years. Annie ended up inviting me to lunch the next day.<\/p><p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Day 6 &#8211; Manta<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p>Annie is one of the few people I met who has a car. She picked me up and we went to Manta, shopped at Super Kywi and to the mall, which could be anywhere in the US. We had pizza at an Italian restaurant. With Manta\u2019s conveniences, I could see myself living in Santa Marianita\u2014just a short taxi ride away. I\u2019m a small-town girl, so living near a city, not right in it, appeals to me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-86e0b68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"86e0b68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9c5ec6f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9c5ec6f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>That evening Oswaldo introduced me to another expat, Donna, who told me about the Facebook group for Manta area expats.<\/p><p>Everyone I met was so nice and helpful\u2014the Aloha Spirit that Hawaii is so famous for is alive and well in Ecuador. What would it be called in Spanish, Aloja?<\/p><p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Day 7- The Coast<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p>Friday, I headed south along the coast, stopping at Puerto Lopez and Ol\u00f3n. Both have beautiful white sand beaches and crystal-clear water. The towns are sweet, lots of cute shops and restaurants. Around six hours later I arrived in Salinas, where I had reserved another ocean view room for $35. I walked to the beach, and waded in the water at sunset.<\/p><p>I had connected with new friend Dee Dee via one of the expat FB groups. She met me at the hotel and we walked along the malec\u00f3n, then went to dinner at a small restaurant, where we were serenaded by a young musician. We got back together in the morning for breakfast and a tour of several Salinas neighborhoods where Dee Dee has lived in the past nine years. Fun coincidence is that she lived in Kona and worked for the same newspaper I did, just different decades. Small world! Dee Dee published a biography. One thing she wrote, about retiring in Ecuador, is she\u2019s a \u201cfinancial refugee.\u201d I resonate with this statement. After leaving Salinas, I continued my journey to Vilcabamba and back to Cuenca with all kinds of twists and turns, which I will document another time.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dc74d0c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"dc74d0c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d7cf13 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6d7cf13\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Stay tuned\u2026this story hasn\u2019t ended yet.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1001 miles alone in an economy car A travelogue of ridiculous proportions In late 2020 I started paying attention to my friend Joe\u2019s Facebook posts about the retirement life he\u2019s creating in Vilcabamba. His commentary and photos piqued my curiosity. Long story short, after 18 years in Hawaii, my retirement plans A\u2013Y haven\u2019t worked out. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":5946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,52,407],"tags":[12,351,442,265,327,441,427,443,190],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5906"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6403,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5906\/revisions\/6403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expatsmags.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}