The notion that uprooting one’s life from North America and moving to a Latin American country somewhere in South America is somehow going to make our life better is unlikely, for everyone. Let us tell you why we think this way and who it works better for.
Why it’s Unlikely
When we look at history of expats that have moved to Ecuador or anywhere else in Latin America it clearly shows that many of them decide that permanent living abroad is not for them. Now, there’s nothing wrong with these feelings and there is nothing wrong with moving back to your familiar surroundings, after all that is your home; it’s actually quite normal.
In short, the emigration pattern shows that life abroad is not for everyone.
To elaborate on this a bit more, we can say that reading the hype the pumpers continuously print can mislead us into believing a certain way about a place until of course, we experience it for ourselves. Along with this buildup of how great somewhere is comes certain wording and adjectives that writers use to heighten a positive awareness in the reader; such as calling a city magical or whimsical or ideal or paradise or eden or….well, you get the point.
And then there’s always the part where they simply leave out anything that might sound negative and that’s because they NEED people to go there and spend money, stay in gringo priced rentals, buy property and so on and so forth. The insiders know what is good for their business.
This propaganda for pumping certain cities to death is designed to delude the reader to such an extent that they can’t wait to be entertained in this new magical, paradisaical city and so what do they do? They uproot their entire lives to move somewhere they only visited for 3 weeks while on a vacation.
We’re not at all saying that some of this stuff is not true because it is but there has to be a balance, otherwise the reader gets sucked in to a realm that isn’t. Deluding retirees and young families into believing so much greatness from so many different media outlets about one city on the map is ridiculous to say the least. Did we say, “Over the top”? Did we mention overblown, out of proportion and just plain out of this world, weird?
We have fully recognized over the years the people that fall for these overblown, glowing reports are the people who usually only read the positive pitches about a place because they do not want their dream of moving to an exotic foreign country crushed. They don’t like people who tell it like it is” and some of them become hostile over it.
People Do Not Want Their Dream Crushed
Even though there are some bloggers that do talk about the negatives of a place, it seems that readers shy away from the REAL TALK or SCOFF at it or JUSTIFY reasons why they will be able to deal with that negative aspect. So, in reality we allow ourselves to be sucked in rather than carry a sensible head on our shoulders and half of the expats leave after a year or two.
Most of our followers who have hopes for Cuenca Ecuador have totally denounced Panama, saying things such as "Who would want to live there?", "Ecuador looks better than Panama" and we got a kick out of this one, "Why would you leave Ecuador for Panama"...like "what are you nuts?" But these people have never set foot in Panama! Do you see what we're saying here?
BTW, we're not touting Panama, just making videos of our travels there. We're not telling anyone to move there!
OK, we understand, no one wants their dream crushed! We don’t want our dreams crushed either but at the same time we don’t want to waste money or our time going to a place that we’ll not fit in. We have to fit-in otherwise we’ll feel disconnected and lonely for the familiar of home. So, what that means is our dream might be crushed for that particular place.
What really helped for us is that we came to Ecuador with our whole family. We would never have moved to Ecuador had our three sons not been on board and that is because we are very family connected and is the main reason why we chose Ecuador. Ecuador is very family-oriented and family-connected and that connection helps us to fit-in.
The health care can be great, the weather perfect, the landscape beautiful, the people pleasant and the food abundant but if you feel disconnected none of it matters…do you see? Where and how do you fit-in to your new place abroad is the deciding factor? There needs to be a foundational connection about your life now that will help you to fit-in wherever you decide to move.
Moving somewhere because it is touted as cheap or glorious, or paradise is not a good enough reason to move there.
Ok, we reiterate again “moving to Latin America is not for everyone”… but then who is it for?
Who is Latin America Residency Better For?
Latin America works better for people who have a sense of adventure over sense of materialism.
It’s better for people who have the “live and let live attitude” rather than the “it must be my way attitude”.
Latin America works better for people who prefer living in the local neighborhoods and interacting with the locals, rather than living in the gringo enclaves and only interacting with gringos. (This doesn’t mean you do not have gringo friends and acquaintances, it only means balance in your friendships).
It’s better for people who actually LEARN the language because they need and want their interaction enhanced with the local people.
Latin America works better for people who love to walk, are healthy, energetic and active.
It’s better for expats who live in Latin America that understand what being respectful of other peoples and cultures is because it does make life easier for you and for the local’s.
We don’t have to change our beliefs to move to Latin America but we must be tolerant and accepting of others, otherwise Latin America will not work for you.
Latin America works great for retirees who understand the behavioral changes they will need to have to stay safe and secure from not just petty crime but home invasions and robbery. This is important for your safety and protection.
Moving to a Latin American country is better for those people who have a humble persona rather than a flaunty one.
And lastly, Latin America works better for those expats who understand the financial differences in Latin America and respect those differences with their own lifestyle.
Is Latin America a good fit for you? Only you have the answer to that. Whatever you do, do it with thoroughness.
To end this, we say to you, the world is a big place, step outside of the few countries that the RAMM magazines so much love to pump every year over and over again and take a look around. Open your minds, study, research, travel, explore and learn.
There’s a lot more than just a Cuenca Ecuador out there!
If you are truly gung-ho about moving abroad we offer extensive, personal video consultations that can answer all of your pressing questions or concerns you might have about one of the most important decisions of your life.
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Welcome to Gringo Good Samaritans, integrated with our 8 years of living in Cuenca Ecuador and traveling the world. We create informative videos and articles helping people come to awareness of what's happening in our world so they can enjoy their retire early lifestyle with their families, healthy, happy and free!
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