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The Galapagos Islands begin for the foreign visitor with a two-hundred-dollar entry fee, a mandatory financial hurdle that effectively serves as a ticket to ride within the archipelago for anyone over the age of two and presumably keeps out the riff-raff like Charles...
By Garry Vatcher For those of us who have lived in Ecuador for a while, we know a familiar pattern: new processes and rules are introduced to solve a problem… but often end up creating new ones. And if we are patient enough, sometimes those changes are eventually...
By Sian Ferguson Reading isn’t just fun — research suggests books can actually extend your life. “Reading is more than a pastime; it’s a powerful tool for cognitive health,” says Kathleen Jordan, MD, and Chief Medical Officer of Midi Health, a longevity program...
Margaret was standing at a bus stop in Cuenca when she noticed the woman beside her staring at her phone. She had seen that look before. The woman would look at the screen, then at the approaching buses, then back at the screen again. Finally, she turned to Margaret....
Margaret hails from Texas. The earliest memory she has is of her father holding her in his arms and singing; he was a boisterous but unsteady man, self-shamed simply for being diminutive. He spent long months away from home, traveling the world to supervise the...
There was a time when setting up home in a foreign country involved a refrigerator, a bed, some curtains, and eventually, if you were prospering, a television the size of a washing machine with a walnut veneer cabinet and perhaps a lace doily and a vase on the top....
Every week the internet offers fresh advice on how to live your best life. Some experts recommend mindfulness. Others recommend yoga, cold showers, quiet changes, herbal tea, journalling, intermittent fasting, coffee enemas, or rising at five in the morning to...
By Garry Vatcher There are a few topics that spark lively debate among Expats living in Ecuador-religion, politics… and yes, even peanut butter. But right up there with them is the question of IVA/VAT refunds for seniors. What is Value Added Tax? The Impuesto al Valor...
If you spend enough time watching YouTube in Cuenca, a man will eventually appear in your apartment to inform you that your working life is over. He will be standing in front of a Lamborghini, or inside a glass office with Dubai Marina visible through the...
When Cuenca feels like home is rarely the day you expect. It doesn't arrive with a visa, a property deed, or a date on the calendar. Instead, it slips quietly into an ordinary moment that almost goes unnoticed. Tuesday afternoons at Miguel's were becoming a habit for...
Ezra Klein, an opinion columnist for the New York Times, recently noted that among the most profound sociological changes that North Americans have experienced in the last 30 years is the catastrophic increase in loneliness. An October 2020 survey conducted by Harvard...
The United States recently celebrated 250 years of independence, which prompted the usual mixture of fireworks, patriotic oratory, a guest speech from the King of England who said that there were no hard feelings, and arguments about whether the founding fathers would...
By Drew Wood A $2,000-a-month retirement in Ecuador is not a fantasy, but it is not a blank check either. It works best for someone who chooses the right city, keeps housing modest, has a plan for the years before Social Security begins, and understands that visa...
The other day I was sitting in Parque Calderón watching a group of teenage girls taking selfies beside the cathedral while an abuelita marched past submerged under a sack of potatoes. It occurred to me that a surprising number of young American women now look at...
Daily rituals in Cuenca rarely begin with dramatic moments. Most expats discover they belong through ordinary routines that quietly become part of someone else's day. Long before they think of themselves as locals, someone else has already started treating them that...
Riley, an Airedale Terrier, was my trusted companion for sixteen years. I no longer mourn his passing that ended many years ago, but every now and then about this time of year, a whisper of melancholia will brush my cheek, reminding me of a dog who was once my best...
Every July 4th I find myself with a slightly uncomfortable question. Exactly what is it that Americans celebrate other than fireworks, barbecues and watermelons? The easy answer is freedom, but the harder answer is freedom for whom and from what? Growing up in...
Provenance, Psychology, and the Painting Above the Chimney Over the past two weeks we have followed Han van Meegeren from his garden shed in the south of France, through the Rijksmuseum's acquisitions committee, and into the art collection of Nazi Leader Hermann...
Most people who move to Cuenca know about the first suitcase. It holds the practical things. Clothes. Documents. Medications. Chargers. A few favorite items from home. Maybe a sweater for the mountain evenings and a pair of shoes that will survive uneven sidewalks....
One of the many head games I play while wandering in the kaleidoscope of mayhem surrounding the Rotary Market is imagining (and occasionally wildly exaggerating) the personal lives of couples who capture my attention. High on my list of likely suspects are couples who...
Week of September 06
U.S. sinkings of Ecuadorian fishing vessels trigger court scrutiny after 28 crew members are released.
Cuenca targets a November launch for its first new international link to Chiclayo.
Exports hit a quarterly record, but Ecuador’s import bill is rising even faster.
