These days, Ecuador receives a lot of attention for being a paradise for expatriates—or expats. The cost of living, the climate, the wonderful people, the beautiful scenery and the slower pace of life tantalize us as we endure the hectic pace, commercialism, extreme temperatures and other shortcomings of life up here in the North. But…
I learned Spanish in Mexico as a kid. My command of the language is a little rusty but quite good. Nevertheless, in Loja I learned all kinds of new words—or new meanings for previously known words. Here are some examples:
My posts about Loja, Ecuador are the most popular on my multi-themed blog, and I’ve received many notes and questions from various readers about Loja (keep them coming, by the way—I love hearing from my readers!). I thought I’d share the answers to some of them in this post, and hopefully more people will find…
Last week I wrote about 19 different weird and exotic fruits you can find in Loja, Ecuador. This week I’d like to continue the trend by throwing a few weird veggies into the mix! (By the way, if you want a ton of great info about Loja, Ecuador, check out the book I am writing!)…
Most of my past week has been consumed with drafting my book about Loja, Ecuador. The act of writing brings happy memories to the forefront of my mind. One such memory is of all the exotic fruits we got to know while living in Loja. I do not exaggerate when I say that every single…
We’ve recently moved to Dickinson, North Dakota for a few months of work. While Keith puts in 70 or more work hours per week, I plug away on my books and business, cook our meals, keep the house motorhome in order and do my best to keep everything running smoothly. To prevent myself from completely losing my…
On Saturday morning, July 26, I sluggishly opened my eyes in a cute AirBnB bedroom in North Carolina. It had been a short night–we arrived at 1 a.m. after 16 hours on the road, where I got to see some parts of the country (such as St. Louis) for the first time ever. The previous weekend…
Wyoming One of the more interesting aspects of our lives as nomads is seeing where Keith’s work as an electrician will take us next. There are jobs all over the country and in the past 3 years since our wedding we have lived in Colorado, Louisiana/Arkansas (job was in southern Arkansas, but we started out…
Growing up in Mexico, we used to ride the bus a lot. The bus service got really nice in Mexico around 1990. You could still ride the chicken bus on the lowest price tier, but a first class bus didn’t cost much more and it was a really nice ride. Some even came with complimentary tea…
Nestled below the steep mountains of Southern Ecuador, a winding one-hour bus ride south of Loja, lies Vilcabamba, in the Sacred Valley of Longevity–that place made famous for its high percentage of centenarians (people over 100 years old). Researchers eventually found that this was a myth–Vilcabamba doesn’t actually have a higher percentage of centenarians–but overall…
James Michener famously said, “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” We loved living in Ecuador and highly recommend it to people who love the Spanish language (or are interested in learning) and love other cultures–particularly Latin American culture. Ecuador has so…
Wednesday morning, Feb. 12, we took the city bus to the bus station and bought tickets to Zamora for $2.50 each. No matter which direction you go from Loja, there is a steep climb out of the valley and usually a long descent on the other side, all on winding roads. This road drops into…