Chucking out Cuenca

BubbaNsissy...You need to get a little more specific with your questions.  Check out everything here and elsewhere for all the info you can get.  I researched for a year and then just said To hell with it and went for 10 weeks.  I am not going back to try for a retirement vise.

That's about as specific as I get, I usually just make shit up as a go

Sounds like a good way to go.  I just reread my post and it should read that " I AM coming back in November to TRY for a retirement visa.  If all goes well, I will be living there permanent.

bubbaNsissy wrote:

a trip to put eyes on Cuenca....getting the skinny about the ups and downs of retiring here.

Yo, Bubba...

Here's "the skinny":

The ups:  milder weather than Houston, TX...your housing costs will be way less than in HOU if you don't need a penthouse with a pool...Some of the best medical care in EC....Plenty of ops to "farrear" with Gringos...Senior benefits package when you're of age....Lack of terrorism or Ebola scare, to date....

The downs:  the bureaucratic "pesadillas" that EC has become famous for....more rain than you're used to at certain times of year...El Supremo outlawed the casinos two and a half years ago.

Send our best to Sissy.

cccmedia, campaign operative, Nards Barley for Presidente 2017

Stick
Good point you make regarding stay for 10 weeks: anyone wanting the skinny needs to check out the scene (as opposed to chukking out same), wherever before taking the plunge. Sure goes a long way to learning the lingo, or at least a working knowledge. Save you time and $$ over the long haul. Just my thoughts.
CCmedia appears to have a good deal of info and spends a lot of time on this site and has a lot of info so the Houstonians would be well advised to hook up with him (aka Elvis) for more skinny regarding the move to EC process in general and the skinny for Quito, specifically.
I look forward to my next visit to EC in Feb: will be arriving UIO and staying for a week then to la costa for most of the rest of my stay.

Salud a todo el mundo, feliz ano nuevo!.mugtech note: translation is health to all and happy new year!

My wife and I came EC for a three month vist to see what it is like.   First week in Quito, and the rest of the time in Cuenca with some side trips.
She is from Holland, I'm from the SE US.   I  spent 25 years in the US Army and moved every three years until I retired.  I had another 13 years of government service and traveled to more than 50 countries altogether  so we have been around the block a few times.  We are both in our mid 70s
After five weeks here we have concluded that it is not really for us.  We like the beauty of the country, the people and the weather, but our economic situation does not require us to give up all the things that we enjoy doing in the US.   
Specifically, we have a problem with the quality of life here - the food (meat in particular) and adopting to the apparent EC diet.  Eating in the better quality restaurants and hotels does not seem to result in better meals, just bigger bills. 
Additionally, I am having a problem with the altitude here and don't seem to be adapting to it as well as I should.  We also miss the live entertainment venues and shows which we had available in the US.
If our circumstances were different and we had to live here for economic reasons I am sure that we would eventually adapt to local conditions.  Fortunately, we are not in that situation therefore I expect that after our visit to the Galapagos Islands we may cut our visit short and return to the US.
In final, nothing wrong with EC, it just does not suit our lifestyle for the long term.