By Roger Ellis In my 11 years’ experience as an expat, most of the things you don’t hear about in the glowing reports about life overseas turn out to be unpleasant. (“They didn’t tell me how hard it would be to learn Spanish … or how difficult it is to deal with a banana republic […]
Could the foods you eat help determine when you start menopause? They might, says a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Researchers found that women who ate more fish and beans and other legumes started menopause at a later age, while women who ate a diet heavy on refined pasta and […]
According to Quora Digest, the southern hemisphere houses 12.2% of the world’s population. I was aware of this prior to moving to Ecuador; it was one of several determining factors that propelled my decision to move here. When I arrived, I quickly learned that the city of Cuenca ideally suited my needs in several important […]
By Kara Godfrey In February, Tori Ann Lyla Hunter was carrying medicines which, despite being prescribed by her doctor in Australia, were illegal in Indonesia. When they were discovered in her luggage at an Indonesian airport she was taken immediately to jail where she remained for almost a week. Tourists may be under the illusion […]
By Becky Sorrensen Does moving abroad really make you happier and healthier? The answer is yes, according to several studies by international expats. The studies also show that the many of those who have lived overseas but returned to their native countries, regretted the decision. Some, even plan a return to expat life. Expats interviewed […]
By Bob Itami Chimborazo Volcano (‘Taita’ or father by the indigenous people of the area) is the highest mountain in Ecuador at 6268 meters (20,564 feet) and the summit is the furthest point from the center of the earth. Chimborazo is within the Reserva de Producción de Fauna, founded in 1986, and is the home […]
By Ted Kyle Brush your teeth, wash your hands, take a shower. These are all good, healthy ways to clean up. Dietary cleansing and detox rituals? Not so much. So it’s surprising to see the Washington Post making itself a platform to promote a pseudoscience sugar detox cleansing ritual. Does It Work? n=1 The clickbait headline […]
A couple of years ago, while in the far reaches of Ecuador’s northern coast, I found something out. I had known to never fully trust any map since I was a scout. But I didn’t know the inherent differences in a “lighthouse,” as the term is used along the Atlantic seaboard of North America, in […]
By Jeff Van Pelt I lost my German Shepherd, Klaus, at 11 years from a neurological disorder. Any dog owner knows that is like losing a child and a best friend at the same time. Klaus was my camping and cabin buddy in the mountains of Virginia (USA). The Blue Ridge Mountains are one of […]
By R.S. Gompertz Puno, Peru isn’t pretending to be a tourist town. Puno is a hard-scrabble brick and rebar town hunched like a red condor above Lake Titicaca. The town has a provisional, unfinished frontier outpost feel to it. Puno is not the place to visit for art galleries, lavish cathedrals or colonial architecture. Aside […]
By Sylvester Grahame I can be shameless. There have been times when I have used the ruse of conducting an interview when, in fact, I just want to chat with someone because I find them interesting. My preferred interviewing style is sitting back, sipping something dark, and asking, “Whattup?” So, I knew I was in […]
By B.J. Miller As a hospice and palliative medicine physician, my job is to help reduce suffering. At the end of life, that job becomes especially intense when time is short, when machines and data seem to be taking over, and so many intense emotions surround a body that is trying to die. But here […]
Dear Readers, It’s been noticeably cool of late, cold enough for the Canadians and Yankees who live here to agree on something, a rarity unto itself. The mornings are often crystal clear. Bracing even. Beautifully woven alpaca shawls of every hue are luxuriously wrapped over cotton blouses and swaying skirts buffering women scurrying to work, […]
