I'm moving to Cuenca, Ecuador! - Interview 

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I’m a 61 yo woman from USA. I spent a month in Ecuador, about 30 minutes north of Cuenca. I had the immense pleasure to visit Cuenca several times. I LOVE ECUADOR and CUENCA. Such wonderful people there, Cuenca was quaint, modern and GORGEOUS all at once. I also have thought often about moving there. Just LOOOOOVE it there!

Really good interview. I like the way he thinks. I think he is right on in saying that a city of 400,000 is about right. And I would like to stay below 1M. I have travelled to Cuenca twice and loved it. Make sure you go to Cajas. Beautiful.

thanks for interviewing this sweet person. Its cool to get info without having to go thorough all the search!

Great information. Thank you 2 for sharing.

As a fellow Bay Area nature-loving vegetarian, I'm glad to hear that Cuenca might be *the* retirement spot

Very interesting interview, well done, Karen!

Amazing gentleman & interview!

Very cool! I had heard about Cuenca as a possibility as somewhere to live. It definitely seems to at least be somewhere to visit.

It’s winter in Ecuador…so cooler, wetter, cloudy frequently……GREAT JOB on this interview

Hola, watched this video half dozen times. Learn somethingi new every time plus get a sense of the momentum to move. He's a dear. You both are. Are you still in Cuenca ? How are you doing ? How is it going ? Are you staying awhile ? I'm heading there '23 so thirsty for information, show and tell. Thanks for all. Looking forward to your next video. Hope you are happy and doing well. Making friends.

Good interview thank you

I came to your channel to see if you had a new video this weekend and realized I didn't see this last one! I can totally relate to what Reese says about not finding anywhere else in the US as an attractive place to move to.. at least compared to options in Latin America with better weather and more affordable at the same time

We have Cuenca on our list of possible retirement spots. We are currently in Nicaragua. We still plan to visit- San Cristobal de las Casas and Cholula, Mexico. Antigua, Lake Atitlan, and Xela Guatemala. Manizales, Colombia Cuenca, Ecuador Arequipa, Per Tarija, Bolivia Salta and Buenas Aires, Argentina We love cool weather, reasonably safe, good hospital, friendly people, and lots to do. We do speak Spanish and we are 55 and 60.

Buenos Dias Both of You In This Video, Thanks Karmencita For Dion This Interview, Also Thanks For Intrducing A littla Bit More Of Ecuador To The World; Since Now And On I'll Be Watching Your Videos As Much As I Can; In Other Words I'am Gonna Be Your Follower For Both Of You. Talking About Fruits, In Ecvuador There Is A Bunch Fruits That Possible You Never Have Seeing Before; Example The One You Were Just Talking ( naranjilla ) Its Pretty Sweet If You Make A Cold Juice, and added a Little Bit Of Sugar Like I Use To Do, Some Others They Drink Just As It Is, and They Liked A Lot. Welcome To Ecuador, And I Hope You Liked And The Country Will Treat You Good.

Good job Karencita 👍

Hola! This was a great video. You did a great job interviewing your guest. Your guest echoed many of the wants/needs that I had when I first started looking for a place to retire. I went to Cuenca but, it really didn't appeal to me. 14 months into my travels I realized that I didn't have to "live" anywhere. Now, I just travel full time & pretend that I'm looking for a place! Hahaha! In 2020 I got a resident's visa & stayed in Mexico for the past 2 years of the pandemic. In Sept 2022 I headed back to SE Asia. It's funny how your priorities change after two years. As much as I love Bangkok, I don't think that I could handle the intense heat. Currently, I am in Cesme, Turkey & will be heading to Athens on Sunday, en route to Albania. I will head back to Canada in July &, back to Mexico in Sept. I am surprised by how much I miss Mexico; the people, the food & the culture are unrivalled, for me. 9 years of travel has slightly inched my retirement pendulum decision over towards Mexico. I did love Ecuador when I was there in 2012. As a Canadian retiree, the conversion to US dollars takes quite a chunk out of my retirement funds. Alas, if I've learned anything from 9 years of travelling, it's that there is no perfect place. Deep meaningful conversations are way more important to me than anything else. I get that almost every day when I'm in Bangkok and Vietnam. I find it very difficult to get to those levels of conversation in Latin America because I can't really speak the language well enough to get my ideas across. It gets frustrating when you have to keep digging for the translator every 2 minutes. It really is a challenge. Anyway, keep finding new places that you enjoy &, stay safe in beautiful Ecuador.

Karencita, I love your top. It looks cotton. People say cotton is difficult to find in EC. Did you get that in Cuenca ? Thanks for interview. I'm moving to EC '23/ Workiing on visa; unloading farmhouse (oh my!) Where to land in EC is difficult. Reese, appreciate your insights. Cuenca looks lovely. I'm in MI now; worked for SUNW years ago, know your dilema, and area you live. I hope you two do a part two. Thanks again.

thankks.

Qué emocionante Don Ludlow decidió irse a vivir en Ecuador.

Let us know when you get here. I've lived here almost 12 years. I'm old so I can be your gringa abuela :)

Good interview skills. Some try to conduct an interview, but keep cutting off the guest and answering for them. Very patient Karen. Thx!

I'm particularly interested that @rhyslud chose Cuenca in part because of music. He has eclectic music tastes, as I do. When I visited Cuenca I got the sense that the contemporary arts scene wasn't very vibrant or original. Ironically, that's why I've been looking into Colombia, and Manizales, in particular. Rhys, if you're reading this let's compare notes sometime!

This guy was interesting and I agree w a lot of what he said

🌈

Super informative interview. Great job from both of you. We had Cuenca on our list as well, but rejected it after visiting last fall and finding the pollution and traffic to be a bit too high for our tastes. While it's true that the city is most walkable--and the river walks are indeed lovely, the death defying run to cross the street every 3-4 blocks obliterated the relaxaion of walking throughout the city. In Ecuador, pedestrians don't have the right of way, and these sweet and loving people can be absolute maniacs when they get behind the wheel! We utlimately settled on the smaller town of Cotacachi to the north, which we enjoy very much. Always love to hear the stories of other expats and why they chose Ecuador as their new home.

Karencita, what are differences Ecuador spanish and mexican spanish? Will your classes adapt ?

I like what your guests considered in his analysis of possible retirement locations. Water source will certainly be much more important in few years. But I would like to ask him if he is concerned about Cuenca high elevation. It is not just about breathing, but also about being too close to the sun - the climate change will possibly push the UV index into very dangerous levels. Also, in the last several months we witnessed how easy it is to isolate access to Quenca - any worries about protests and uprisings?

Watching this video from Jingletown Oakland, CA.

I lived in China, trust me man, you don’t want to live in most of it, it’s a very harsh place. I think few people looking to live in Asia would choose it, even when things were more open 10 years ago.

I hope you're doing alright, Karen, since I know Cuenca has had a bunch of flooding and other things.

Hola Hermosa Amiga Karencita Saludos Desde puerto rico la isla del Encanto 🇵🇷🐠🐟🎣🏝️🌅🚣🌄😊😉.

I would love to know about assisted living facilities in Cuenca!!

Does it rain more in Cuenca than in Medellin? This is a great video. I am vegan as well

I too have been looking & paying attention for the past 10 or more years - at the entire continental US - and - ended up with El Paso also - for the same 'main reasons' you described ! --- Ironically - I arrived at Cuenca - just recently - for the exact same reasons !!! -- Health care pushed them over the finish line for me as I really liked much about Tagaytay Philippines also. The over 65 benefits in Ecudor is some icing on the cake too. - ? - Allows perhaps for some travel in my rather modest budget. --- Maylasia was also 1 of my considerations - it's cheap - '''realizing''' that some 70% speak English and the rest want to learn ! - But - the heat !?!?! = No thanks. --- Mexico has gone crazy with their 'requirements' and the peso is gaining strength as the value of the USD is less. Otherwise Chapala was my consideration also. Essentially Mexico is becoming too expensive for my liking. --- Medallion is worth considering too as the climate is really to my liking. Lack of English is an issue for me too !

He should have looked into Cuernavaca, Mexico 🇲🇽 “The city of eternal spring” 😁 I like Ecuador too! I’m not sure where I will end up? Ecuador offers a high quality of life, for someone on a small pension.

Voy a ir a las Cuenca los Lunes proximo semana

Please go now🎶🎶🎶🤫

VISIT ECUADOR BATHROOMS ALSO THERE IT IS VERY NICE.

What about the people? are the people nicer in Cuenca or Manizales?

Hello Karencita, I came across your Cuenca video and am considering subscribing to your channel. When you have a moment would you please be kind enough to turn on the Spanish subtitle option for this video? My family and I watch together via a Roku connected TV, so it's a limited function App. If the subtitles aren't selected by the channel manager, we can't turn them on. If you do this for all of your South American videos, we'll subscribe, watch and might even drop in a few comments and likes. I look forward to watching this with my multi-lingual family. Thanks for your consideration. Have a great night.

This guy lays it out very plainly: "At retirement, we were going to be out of money in 10 years, or have to work until we died." And bam...in one sentence he explains 90% of the retirement dilemma in the US. If you are lower middle class, or anywhere on the working poor spectrum, get prepared to live in poverty in your elder years. Because the US Social Security is not going to be enough to sustain you at the level of inflation in the US.

So I hear there was a coup in Ecuador. Un golpe de estado. It happened yesterday? How are you guys? Are you still in Ecuador?

Naranjilla You don't eat it , You make juice off it

Could you do a day trip to Ambato Karencita?

Looks too cold 😭

Karencita: Watch out when you use the word travel. It comes out as trouble...In Spanish you would write it trafel....

Please don do a RU-vid channel pleeeeease I think you’re interesting!!!!

The reason I don't like central America is the food .🤮 It's bland and not very tasty , I love spicy food and it's not very good . 6 months in Panama was totally gross .

Don't come there are many problems in Ecuador right now.

Cute Filipina ❤

It’s the most boring town in the world

Karen...This guy was very boring....I enjoy your point of view as a Mexican young lady...Geoff from SW Mexico.

You guys gotta do an interview with JP & Amelia while you're in Ecuador.