So you want to be an expat? Do you got what it takes? Well, if you haven’t got insurance, you haven’t got it all. Living abroad has much different ramifications than travel and any decision to make a go of it should include an investigation into health insurance plans. Continuing from our article two weeks ago where we checked into travel insurance plans, I had a look into different health insurance plans especially designed for long term overseas stayers. What’s important to understand is that your health insurance plan back home won’t be applicable overseas, thus it’s essential to have a reliable comprehensive plan for life’s uncertainties abroad.
While searching through the top 10 Google I stumbled into Read more
You know it’s gonna be a rough one when your mate hands you a stiff Bloody Mary at 10:30 am and receives a call from a girl he can’t remember kissing from the night before offering everybody a ride to what’s guaranteed to be a big piss up weekend. Such it was lying around on the benches at Finn McCool’s last Sunday. Each one was shaking off his own personal hangover from a kickoff Saturday night to the Carnaval weekend. Tate, myself and Kevin were tearing into Bacon breakfast sandwiches and prepping ourselves for the sure to be rattling heavy traffic laden bus ride to Ibarra, our jumping off point to the famed Carnaval party in the Chota Valley. Read more
It should go without saying that one should prepare for the unexpected while traveling. When you think of all the things to pack, travel insurance should be a key component. Robberies happen. Accidents happen. Lost luggage, missed flight connection, a broken tooth—going skeet shooting—you could shoot your eye out, kid. So why not cover for this? In the next couple months, I’ll be running a series of articles covering travel insurance, expat insurance, and what to do if something should happen here in Ecuador.
Travel insurances vary from all inclusive full coverage to basics. Basic components of insurance include trip delay/cancellation, baggage loss/delay, medical/dental, and accidental death and dismemberment. Some plans let you opt for different components and Read more
Ever wanted to feel like Butch Cassidy or Sundance riding free over the Andean hills of South America? Well, you don’t have to be a bank robber in exile to do so anymore. The Folks at Ride Andes have it all sorted for you. Just book online, fly down and they take care of the rest. Airport transfers, accommodation, horses—and you won’t have to worry about the cops tracking you down. Ride Andes is one of Ecuador’s most distinguished outfitters for Horse tour holiday adventures. Don’t know how to ride—don’t let that stop you. Ride Andes even gives riding lessons.
Most popular amongst the tours is the Colonial Hacienda tour. Imagine setting off on beautiful grassy tracks Read more
“The world is a book and those who don’t travel know only one page.”
St. Augustine
I just wanted to start this blog off with a bit of an apology to all my readers for being very slack the last couple months in answering comments. I just went through a back log of them and finally gave some responses. I became a bit preoccupied upon finding out that my dear Grandfather made the dignified decision to end his battle with cancer and to let life do what it wants. At the end of January I made the trek home to see him and honor him in his life. Truly a great man, he was a hard worker and Read more
It was one of those rides that makes you shut your eyes and wait for its end, untimely or the other. Greg, Sean and I sped out of Manta’s domestic terminal, all 8 cylinders of Greg’s jacked up 4×4 firing us into tomorrow, northward up the Ruta del Sol. Quick was the keyword for this trip. Flying to Manta took only 30 minutes from Quito a much reduced version of the 10 hour bus ride. And after the accident last months involving an overloaded bus rolling off the side of a cliff, more highly advisable. But now we were on to Bahia and the beach of Canoa. Two spots on the Manabi map on the verge of an Read more
I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere in the world without having had the occasion to meet up with an Irishman. And not far from any Irishmen you’ll find a pub, in fact, most Irishmen I’ve met have been in pubs. The two go hand and hand—sorry guys, you are the best, but you’ll never shake the stigma of being ineffable drunks. Best about the Irish expatriates is that wherever they go, they’re never satisfied with the available public houses and set about creating their own inevitably in the fashion of their own. And such is the case with Finn McCool’s which has become a cornerstone in the Mariscal gastro-drinking scene. And merry it is catering to both Read more
Living in the city can be a stressful experience. Living in the Mariscal I have developed the eyes in the skull and the flexible neck that cranes side to side for a peripheral scan while walking each day. Every car driving by carries with it a potential mugging and every person walking by carries a potential concealed weapon beware the groups of racially profiled youths standing on corners. There is the constant traffic. There is the the packed bus and trolley. There is the strain of work-a-day-dollar-in-the-pocket Mariscal and there is time for a million visions and revisions. Luckily enough, cities, for all their meetings of people and ideas are intersections for positivity, a cross cultural crossroads. And Read more
Have you ever wondered what is the maximum amount of days you can ferment a raw cacao bean?(6) At what event did chocolate make its debut in France? (The marriage of Marie Therese and Louis XIV). And did you know that white chocolate isn’t even really chocolate(made from the cacao fat, not the bean). Ah yes, guided tours. One always walks away with a wealth of trivia knowledge after, though I for one never really have sought out tours. Guided tours of the Amazon, tours of chocolate factories, wineries, etc., I just can never really be bothered to be at some place at a given time to shuffle feet along with a half dozen others straining my neck Read more
Hands down one of the best perks for retirees and expats living in Latin America is the ability to have your own maid. Most households that live in the middle class and up employee a domestic worker to help with the cleaning, cooking and washing several days a week, or even full-time.
If you are interested in hiring help for the house, the best way to do it is by getting a reference. As you get to know more people in Ecuador you can ask around for suggestions on how they found their maids. Ask them to ask their employees to recommend someone for the job.
Employing someone in your house is not expensive when compared to North Read more
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