The negatives about retiring in Ecuador

MikeGray41 wrote:

Dominick -  I stopped receiving your emails in late May, early June.  How do I get back to receiving them?
[email protected]

Dom's blog is ecuadorrealestate.org

FYI, several of us have stopped receiving his e-letters since May or June, as has been related on the missing person thread.

Kindly do not include personal email addresses in your posts, per expat.com policy.

cccmedia

Ooooooops !!

I agree

Health insurance has risen considerably....it is now 17 % of what was declared as your retirement amount.  It was 78.00 for my husband,, now it is a hell of a lot more.

I think the negative is ultimately, “change”, which is part of an expat life, especially in the developing the world. So an increase in health care cost for IESS members which is a justified correction of previous unsustainable costs is a specific of change. The same is true for people who suffer from currency exchange, like Canadians, that too is a specific of change. There are more specifics such as changing laws, etc.

Change is inevitable whether it is in Ecuador or another country.

there are plenty of rural buildings in the US where they post signs asking you not to flush your toilet paper. Typically either the old pipes are small and easily clogged or the building is on a septic system.

I would think escaping family would be a key motivating factor for such a move.

I've read the comments about not flushing toilet paper.  I've not seen any discussion, however, of what one actually DOES with the toilet paper after one has used it.  Does one place one's used toilet paper into plastic bags in order to keep the poop smells and the unhealthy poop from getting into one's living areas?  I guess the simplest question would be this:  What does one do with used toilet paper if one cannot flush it?  Hopefully, an answer isn't going to be one doesn't use toilet paper.  This kind of thinking makes me remember learning about some of the aspects of the culture in the country of Turkey.  I was stationed in Turkey for a year (August 1969 - August 1970, or almost forty years ago) while in the U. S. Army. 

Prior to being stationed in Turkey, we soldiers participated in classes in which we learned some of the cultural taboos or Turkish "no-no's."  We soldiers were told to NEVER use one's left index finger to request that a Turk come closer to one.  We soldiers were told that doing so is about as terrible of an insult as one could ever do to a Turk.  We soldiers were told that this is because Turks use the left index finger to wipe themselves after defecating.  We soldiers were told that Turks do NOT use toilet paper.  Therefore, Turks (at least forty years ago when I was stationed in that country) would not ever have any problems concerning flushing toilet paper down the toilet.  A discussion about not flushing toilet paper would be irrelevant.   There was no toilet paper to flush. . . .

We soldiers learned other things to avoid in order to keep ourselves out of trouble while stationed in Turkey.  They are beyond the scope of this thread, but they were as different from Western culture as how one cleans one's self after pooping. . . .

There's almost always a tiny waste basket next to the toilets here.  However, there often is not any toilet paper provided (it's BYOtp).  And yeah, a lot of older buildings had/have small wastewater pipes.  If it's a tourist area, usually there will be a sign saying to either "do not throw TP in toilet" or "please throw TP in toilet", either in English or Spanish.

Hi Zenspike....

I read your info and having spent two month plus trips in Ecuador....

I am interested to know if u are still there and still happy?

I am considering retirement from Bermuda far more expensive than even USA

And an planning a trip next year for another month...

Happy for you to reply to me ..I am in italy at present with my partner Santo

My email address is ***
And I am on Facebook and messanger...
Thanks
Gayle

GayleVentures wrote:

Hi Zenspike....

I read your info and having spent two month plus trips in Ecuador....

I am interested o know if u are still there and still happy?

I am considering retirement from Bermuda far more expensive than even USA

And an planning a trip next year for another month...

Happy for you to reply to me ..I am in italy at present with my partner Santo

My email address is.    [email protected]
And I am on Facebook and messanger...
Thanks
Gayle

If you go to his profile and read his last posts from November, 2017, you will know his situation.

Thank you...

I have found that when traveling to other countries you have to pick 2 or 3 things that are a must for you and you must adapt to the others.
For me the only thing I really need is the internet for my laptop to do my banking and business .Even my phone (magicjack) is on my computer.
Anything else I can handle and adjust to . And even my one necessity can be adjusted to . For example if my internet is out one day I can usually find a library or restaurant to use their internet. While in India I would do this while having a cup of coffee  or cold beer. Not too bad at all.
I have been to many countries and the key word is adapt.
I have been to Cuenca and going back again soon. While there I had no real problems . Even the Post Office worked fine there for me.
As far as the toilet paper thing  just adapt and remember to empty your trash often.
I do not remember as much rain as some people have talked about.

armyvet7 wrote:

I have found that when traveling to other countries you have to pick 2 or 3 things that are a must for you and you must adapt to the others.
For me the only thing I really need is the internet for my laptop to do my banking and business .Even my phone (magicjack) is on my computer.
Anything else I can handle and adjust to . And even my one necessity can be adjusted to . For example if my internet is out one day I can usually find a library or restaurant to use their internet. While in India I would do this while having a cup of coffee  or cold beer. Not too bad at all.
I have been to many countries and the key word is adapt.
I have been to Cuenca and going back again soon. While there I had no real problems . Even the Post Office worked fine there for me.
As far as the toilet paper thing  just adapt and remember to empty your trash often.
I do not remember as much rain as some people have talked about.

Exceptional attitude. Good for you!