INTRODUCTION



View from our balcony.

I bought a beach home (and the lot next to it) in Ecuador in the fall of 2007. More on this later, but for now, let’s just call it a wild hair.  My then boyfriend (Todd) and I were able to spend a few months a year there, and fell in love with the country. We’re not quite ready or old enough to retire yet, but we ARE headed well into the territory of getting senior discounts without getting carded. After our first few visits to our new South American property, we thought it might be interesting to rent it out to vacationers during our absences.  Much to our surprise and delight, this somewhat impulsive venture has led us to a number of interesting people, challenged our characters, honed our life skills, and proved to be moderately successful.

After spending three months in Olón (pronounced like the English word "alone", but with an "O")  in the spring of 2009, we decided – perhaps rather rashly and prematurely – to move there permanently. Though there have been some rugged (and a few grim) moments between that June 2009 resolution and the day we arrived here in June 2010, we would do it all again, even knowing what we know now.

In addition to our Olon, EC beach home, I owned a great 3 bed/3 bath home in a Historic Palm Springs neighborhood that we loved, but we also were starting to recognize it as an anchor.  We were prepared to sell virtually everything we owned, including the Palm Springs house to live “la vida tranquilla” in Ecuador, and take our chances from there. After all, we had a beach home (and a lot) on the coast, many local friends, and a reasonably successful vacation rental business. It was time to take that life by the horns, and live a grand adventure!

Let me tell you something about that “selling everything you’ve owned part”: it is not easy.

At least not at first.