The expat plunge: It’s time for ‘Letting Go’!

Editor’s note: In February, Cuenca expats Edd and Cynthia Staton launched the first of three books about their decision to move to Ecuador and the frantic rush leading up to their departure from the U.S. Today, they discuss the second volume in the series, “Letting Go.” To read their conversation about the first book, click here.

Cynthia Staton:  Well, this is a big day. Volume II of our trilogy Mission: Rescue Your Retirement is being released!

Edd Staton:  I know, and I’m so excited! Readers are gonna love this one. Look, “Leap of Faith” was so short I’m sure some people were thinking, “This is a book? More like a pamphlet if you ask me.” That volume was necessary to set the stage for “Letting Go,” which is 5 times longer and 10 times funnier!

CS:  “Letting Go” is all about our first two years in Ecuador and we sure had our share of adventures. And misadventures. Do you have a favorite story from the book?

ES:  Wow, there are 250+ pages and 85 stories in this book so that’s a hard question. Let me think. I’d say it’s a tie between “To Hell and Back for Fifty Cents” and “Pour It and They Will Come.” I like the first story because it vividly describes how our naive curiosity often got us into so many crazy situations. The one about the field trip to a local rum distillery is such a hoot. A busload of old gringos so drunk they can hardly stand up and it’s not even lunchtime. What a memory! How about you?

CS:  I like “Broom Man.” You really nailed an important metaphysical lesson with that story. And “Fly-Fishing with E.T.” is a great example of our gung ho “why not?” spirit in those early years abroad. Without giving any more away what can we share with readers about this next book?

ES:  SPOILER ALERT–we survive. But in some ways just barely. My goodness, you and I were so wide open back then. It wasn’t unusual to meet people for lunch, others for dinner, then go to a party afterwards until–let’s just say until too late. And alcohol was part of almost every social engagement.

CS:  More than once you said, “Cynthia, we’re acting like we’re in our twenties. And we didn’t act like this when we were in our twenties!”

ES:  Yep. But we had so much fun, didn’t we? Here we were, arriving in Cuenca hoping we’d made a wise decision relocating to a foreign country where we knew no one and couldn’t even speak the language.

CS:  And quickly discovering we were unexpectedly thriving! Compared to today’s Cuenca with all kinds of special interest groups and online publications, in 2010 we newbies had nothing except each other. So anybody who you heard speaking English was your new best friend and inviting you to a party!

ES:  We had no way of knowing it, but like growing up in the ‘60s, there was a palpable energy back then that will never be repeated. It was a special time and I’m anxious to share it with our readers.

CS:  Me too! Like you, I just know people are going to enjoy “Letting Go” and I hope they’ll share their thoughts about the book on our Amazon page.

ES:  Buckle your seat belts, everybody. You’re about to go on a wild roller-coaster ride that lasts for two years!!

Click here to order “Letting Go”!