Things to know about living in Ecuador as an expat

For Expats, the highlands of Ecuador are the most attractive area. Although some do not adjust to high altitudes, the cooler temperatures make the weather springlike year-round in Quito, its suburbs, Cuenca, Cotacachi and Vilcabamba.

In recent years, the Pacific coast has attracted increasing numbers of new arrivals.  However, that trend may be over for a while.  The extensive damage caused to coastal communities by the April 16th earthquake has changed both the landscape and the perception of this Ring of Fire area.

In addition to posting on this thread, please use the search function of expat.com on the Ecuador forum welcome page and visit wikipedia.com's Ecuador page to find out more about the country and your areas of interest.

1.  Why would you like to come to Ecuador?

2.  What activities do you foresee in your retirement?

3.  How is your Spanish?

cccmedia in Quito

priyabatu wrote:

After much research on the web and with International Living Mag. looking for a suitable place to settle down as a  retiree, I decided to visit Ecuador towards the end of the year for a month or two to see whether I could fit in to your life style. I am in my mid sixties and already retired. Born in Sri Lanka and after having a fruitful career there, in the field of Marketing and General Management in the fields of Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods etc. moved to USA as a Permanent Resident and now a Citizen. Here in USA worked for Fedex Office as their District Auditor in San Francisco and retired in 2012.
I would like to get much information as possible about the country, especially about people, their customs, things to do and not to do .

This is my perspective which is primarily limited to Quito. Ecuadorean are nice people. We haven't had a bad experience in terms of nastiness with an Ecuadorean yet. They are traditional and to clarify that they have strong family ties. They are more conservative in the Andes and more so than coastal people, as far as I know. Many are religious, music and dance is a big part of their culture, and they celebrate hard, whether it's a weekend or birthday party, they just start earlier than many other bigger cities.

I'm not sure about what things to do, or not to do, you can do whatever you want, and in general aside from something illegal it won't matter because you're a foreigner. And you'll forever be that, unless you speak Spanish and begin integrating with the people.  There's no short cut, even if you're “adopted”, or you frequent a place where people know you. You'll be limited to those specific situations, and even then you won't know this from that when people talk in Spanish.

That's what the customs, people, and culture are like they are all interacted in the Spanish language, or Castellano as someone was explaining to me today in a conversation, telling me Espanol is incorrect, and the language is Castellano, I have no idea if he's right or wrong, will google that later.

So the more Spanish you know the more you can interact with the people, enjoy or adopt the culture, and just have a better life.

Thank you so much for your kind advise. I really appreciate it.

Hi! Hope all is well.  I think he is correct.