Veteran moving to Ecuador

Veteran35,
Have you given thought to what climate you prefer to live in? And what size city you prefer? Cities in the Andes run on the cool side and cities on the coast run much warm to hot, especially in the summer (Dec-Feb). There are the biggest 3 cities (Quito, Cuenca in the Andes) and Guayaquil (coastal --- the largest) with lots of smaller cities, towns and villages inbetween in climate.

I've personally enjoyed living in Cuenca for the past year and a half. Life here can be as simple as you chose to make it. Speaking Spanish, even the basics, makes life easier.

Best wishes on your search for the ideal place to call home.

On the opposite extreme there are tiny fishing villages, simple farming communities, isolated mountain valleys and deep rainforest where you can turn your back on civilized life for as long as you want and yet find your way back to the mainstream in less than an hour.  Your pension will afford you far more than a basic living in a country where the minimum wage is $388 a month, and pensioners are allowed residency visas with only $900 a month to support themselves. 

In this less-than-perfect world if things were perfect, what would your life look like?

Joeyroo wrote:

there are tiny fishing villages, simple farming communities, isolated mountain valleys and deep rainforest where you can turn your back on civilized life for as long as you want and yet find your way back to the mainstream in less than an hour.

Dear Veteran,

Welcome to the Ecuador forum.

Dorothy wrote in her post above that having Spanish-language skills makes things easier.

Amen to that.

As far as relocating to one of the "tiny fishing villages, simple farming communities, isolated mountain valleys and deep rainforests," that's not a recommended first move for most new arrivals.  In Ecuador, there is safety and security in the towns and cities -- whereas physical isolation in an unpopulated place can make a Gringo a target. Since you did not express a desire to avoid society by liviing in some remote or isolated venue, learning Spanish and living with neighbors around probably makes sense, at least in Year One.

cccmedia

Solid advice, as always, cccmedia.

Another side note. Ecuador is a noisy country. I know of a few veterans that couldn't stand the constant explosions of fireworks, "sonidos" (fireworks with no colour and only a big boom), as well as the car alarms and sirens (we have an air-raid siren in Cuenca that's used by the fire department.) They were forced to move back to their home country. This might be something you want to think about, if you have battle experience. Even if you were living in the smaller villages you wouldn't avoid this issue.

With regards to fireworks they can occur at any time, and I mean that literally. This Friday morning at around 3:00 am, out of the blue, some person(s) set off loud fireworks which lasted about 15 or so seconds.

With a monthly budget of $4,000, and a desire to seek a life of solitude, the best advice is to expand the list of possible countries. Primarily for the reasons previously stated. Unless of course the OP is adamant about living in Ecuador and in which case my recommendation would be Quito's valleys like Tumbaco or Valle de Los Chillos. While mostly suburbs, the further you are from the city the more sporadic the houses are. In a country where the language is not your native tongue it is easy to attain solitude.

And of course visit the country and check it out for yourself.

Woah! $4000 a month at 35? That will go a long way just about anywhere in Latin America......depending of course on your habits......and vices........You must have gotten hurt bad in Iraq or Afganistan to get that kine pension........Are you physically funcional? Do you speak any Spanish at all? Economically I doubt that you will have any challenges, but there are many other factors in the equation........

PEI Red wrote:

Ecuador is a noisy country. I know of a few veterans that couldn't stand the constant explosions of fireworks... as well as the car alarms and sirens....  Even if you were living in the smaller villages you wouldn't avoid this issue.

Excellent point about the "noisy country."

I doubt I could have stayed in South America (been here since 2013) without the world's best earplugs:  Flents Ear Stopples.

They're not available in the stores in Ecuador, Colombia or places in South America where I have visited .. and when I attempted to order them from Amazon in 2016, the company did not provide delivery of them to these parts.

So I order them through a medical supplies company in the USA called Steede.

Google:  Flents ear stopples Steede medical

And I don't use them just for sleeping.  They're great for swimming .. and for noise reduction in restaurants, stores and taxis that overdo it with loud music, which is probably at least 60 percent of them.  (99 percent in the case of Quito taxis.)

  -- cccmedia

Where do you keep them to be able to get at them for quick emergencies? LIke blasting reggaeton in taxis for example.? And what distinguished them as superior to the foam cheapies which are found most everywhere? So Ecuador is as noisy as Panama them? Geez......that about clinches it.......