Pure life and what made me want an Island life

I thought it may be interesting to go through my thought process of where I think is a good place to retire.  I put some of my criteria in my first post, but it was really location agnostic and more centered on general items, with the exception of wanting an island/beach lifestyle.  But a little bit of my history may be telling as to why I find this lifestyle so enticing.

Why an island/beach lifestyle, in general?  That's a fair question I suppose, but many people would say, of course you would want to live in that atmosphere, that makes perfect sense.  I grew up on a lake in the sticks in Florida and lived about a 45-60minute drive away from the east coast near Daytona Beach.  We always spent time at the beach and enjoyed ourselves.  Usually once a year from the age of 8-10 we started to spend 1-2 weeks at a condo each year. My grandmother would typically do the rental for the family and we would all stay there as a family vacation.  Those times were great and we had a fabulous time.

As I grew older those were all fine, but my father started going to the keys to go fishing and lobstering.  We would go down at least once to Marathon per year and typically go two times.  I think the first trip to the keys that I went on was around the age of 15. We had a fantastic time.  This would of been in '85 and Marathon was a little more innocent and laid back then.  There was next to nothing going on back then.  We would typically get up in the morning, go fishing and then come back in around lunch or shortly after.  We would clean what we caught and maybe take a nap or go for a swim in the channel.  The evenings typically entailed going to some local restaurant and then back to the "botel".  We stayed at the Vaca Cut Botel.  The location was second to none, but the accommodations were rudimentary.  That didn't matter in the least as all we needed was a place to cook, AC to sleep in and a good place to dock the boat, which in this case was about 25 feet from the room.  The location was a channel or canal off of Vaca Cut, which is a major channel through Vaca Key, where Marathon is the major town.  In the evening generally the parents would go to bed early and we (me and a friend or three) would stay up for hours and fish in the canal.  Typically we would catch tons of snapper and other fish.  Some fish we would keep and some we would throw back.  It couldn't possibly of been a better time for us.  Sometimes we would be bored and start jumping off of the little bridge in the canal, which was about 15-20ft deep and about a 10' plunge into the water depending on the tide.  What was really fun was if there was a brisk tide.  Sometimes you could dive in and due to the current you would end up surfacing 30' down stream.  If you have ever seen the movie "Stand by Me" I always think of this time of my life in that way.  Not in all senses, but just in the sense that it was a great time of my life and the times I had then we amazing and so innocent.  It was pure. That's probably not a common phrase, but to me that's how I look at that time.  Pure.

Can I find that Pure lifestyle again.  I think that I'm too jaded and rough around the edges now to believe it, but even if I can get close to that state I would be incredibly happy.  That being said, I do think I can "get there" again. There have been certain moments and places in my life that have brought about that feeling.  Living in those moments are what I would like to do.  If I think of all of the things that have brought those feelings they may not seem like they have similarity, but inside of me they are.  Hiking in the Cascade Mountains gave me that feeling.  Surfing in Central California. Relaxing and hanging out in Montanita EC gave me that feeling as well.  A short vacation in the Bahamas gave me that sensation as well.  I remember being in Montanita and thinking that I could disappear there for years and be a happy person.  That was a decade ago.  Time absolutely stopped there for me and that is the constant in all of these locations.  I find myself very reflective on my life and of myself in these times.  I feel as though time stops and I am completely relaxed and at peace, with not a care in the world.  I wish I could explain the feelings and sensations better.

I have devoted the last decade to building my career and saving so that I could return for good to the location I could have this Pure lifestyle.  Most of the last decade I was sure it would be EC.  Only in the last year have I decided that it may not be where I would be most happy.  That has brought about it other concerns, but everything is manageable.

I will cut this blog short, but will follow up with more in the coming days.

Small Key off Grand Bahama

Destinations; Why not Ecuador

Bear with me as I am rambling a bit today.

I've had a relative and friend retire to "mecca" to use my previous terminology.  I say it that way because if you read all of the proliferation of content on the web you would think that everything is perfect in Ecuador.  It is very "innocent" I will admit and there are some truly wonderful places to visit and stay, it just has to suit what you want out of a destination.  

I feel like waxing philosophically about a "final destination" and channeling George Carlin and his rants about airlines and their ridiculous phrases.  I'll probably misquote, but I believe he said, "all destinations are final you idiots".  My other favorite while we are on this tangent was about the "boarding process".  "Get on the plane?!, Screw you I'm getting in the plane!" He had a great way of drawing attention to the funny things that we say/hear in daily life.  

What was I talking about? Ah yes, back to Ecuador.  I love the tranquility and the opportunities that exist.  There are a great deal of amazing sights to see, experiences to have and places to go.  There is also quite a bit of things that I can do without.  While I by no means expect US, 1st world, experiences I also don't really want to watch as a child takes a dump on the street either. While it was sad and humorous all at the same time, it's not my idea of a good time in a destination.  

I mentioned opportunities and by that I meant business opportunities.  Good grief are they everywhere.  Places that are growing fast have endless need for businesses.  Be them, real estate, bars, restaurants, electronic goods, stores, services(catering to expats) and just a multitude of other things.  If you are reputable and build up a reputation of delivering to your customer/market the world is your oyster.  The amazing thing is that you can take things that are hardly bleeding edge market trends and be the leader of the pack and in a world of your own down there.  There's a few exceptions where the expat community is dense and you would have more competition in those locations.  From a business perspective, it is amazing.  There are downsides, sure, but so are there with everything and if the bottom line says it's a good idea from a business perspective then there is no arguing.  The upside is that most business there is a "relatively" quick ROI.  Generally speaking you can pick a business and get 100%+ back in 1yr.  Some are FAR better than that, you just have to be flexible.

Bahia de Caraquez, Manabi, Ecuador

Now you are really asking yourself, is this guy crazy.  Well yes, but that's besides the point.  What is it that he isn't willing to accept to move to Ecuador and take advantage of these good, nay great, opportunities?  Just some shat on the street??

I think that isn't a straight answer, but more of a series of things.  I've stated that I really want the Island and beach vibe/lifestyle.  I think that Montanita EC had some of that vibe, but that some of that feel had disappeared over the last decade.  It's not the town that it was 10yrs ago.  I would like it, just not daily.  Bahia had some of that vibe, but it is a very sleepy town.  So what was missing for me when evaluating for retirement?

• Internet connectivity is really piss poor
• Access back to the states (multiple flights with likely a night layover in Quito)
• Horrible water, especially on the coast.
• safety, although it's really not that bad
• Quality of life (I do think overall this is not as high as I wish because of all factors)

It is high on a lot of things however.  Cost of living(minus housing) is dirt cheep.  Business opportunity is abundant, visa process is fairly easy and they have no way to enforce income taxes so that's a bonus. Like many countries though they extort from you if you want to move money out of the country.  That becomes problems in only a couple scenarios however.  One is if you make a shit-ton of money and the other is if you sell real-estate to someone who pays you in Ecuador.  Many prefer to do transactions with people of their native country to keep the money out of the country.  

So I've said some of the reasons I don't like it and some of the reasons I do like it in Ecuador.  As this is my main comparison, when visiting Roatan and Belize I will always compare.  I do like EC and just because I'm choosing not to go their on this initial destination of retirement doesn't mean that I won't end up there on a different destination down the road.

How does Belize (specifically Ambergris and Caye Caulker) and Roatan compare when put under a similar magnifying glass?  I think that will be my next topic.  In the mean time here's a few pics of EC from previous trips.

On the Road back from Cotacachi

Bahia

Ecuador out, Belize and Roatan in

Since I was 10 I've always known that I wanted to be retired.  "Sounds" funny to put into writing but it is true none the less.  Now into my 40's it seems desperately long ago.  I remember when my maternal grandparents retired when I was about 9yrs old.  At that time I thought, heck a swimming pool, playing golf everyday, that's not so bad.  I can do that.  Roll forward a few decades and here we are today "finally".

I started getting serious over the last year as finances have started lining up and the plan is starting to pull together.  There is still much to be done however and that is where this blog is coming into the picture.  Lots of sales of goods and financial planning still to take place.

I have travelled some over the years and have been to a few places that are widely considered to be retirement Mecca's and some that are less "mecca".  Ecuador(EC) being the former has been a frequent destination.  I first travelled there about 10yrs ago and have been back several times since.  I have a special place in my heart for EC, but I do not think at this current time that it is the retirement location for me.  That's not to say it won't be, but currently it is not the primary destination.  I really desire and want to live in a tropical beach/island location.  While there are some areas that fit that bill in EC, I have not found any that meet all of my requirements.  Perhaps this is a good place to list some of those "requirements".  In no particular order...

• Safety
• Commerce (read: grocery store, electronics, services, etc)
• Business opportunities
• Quality of life
• Cost of living 
• Cost of housing (I separated this from living as I see them loosely connected)
• Internet connectivity/speed
• Ease of commute back to States
• Ease of Visa/Residency

Now, to be fair with EC, I have not been everywhere in the country.  I have been to the places that I thought would be possible for me to live.  I have been to Guayaquil, Quito, Manta and Bahia de Caraquez.  Of all of them Bahia has the most hits for the most value on the list above.  So I guess the question is, If not there, then where?  Well that's a damn good question.  Now comes the candidates.  Belize (specifically Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker) and Roatan, Hondouras.  I have a trip planned to go to both in the next 2 months.  This "planning" trip should be quite educational.  I have read so much and done so much digging about the two that I am chomping at the bit to go now.  I am busy with work currently so it can wait the 8weeks or so before I leave, I suppose.

I can't say that I am a patient person and when I get this close to something I will sometimes move forward with it at all costs.  I think the left brain is winning out on this adventure however as it has a little more grave of implications if I do it wrong.  I could lose loads of money and cause myself a whole lot of aggravation.  There's a part of me that just feels that the more that I delay, the more I am just putting the rest of my life on hold.  I suppose it's the story of my life where there is an internal debate going on inside of me.  The endless caricature of the devil on one shoulder and a angel on the other.  I'm not so sure I ever had an angel on my shoulder however.

My next blog will be about some of the reasons why Ecuador didn't suit me and what I think about my research on Roatan and Belize.