For people living in the USA or Europe, one of the best ways to become freer is to move to another country. There are lots of places in the world that offer more real freedom than the place formerly known as "The Free World."
Ecuador is one of those places.
Many people find this to be a surprise, since Ecuador is a socialist country. People really do believe in that stuff here too. Several of my local friends are avowed socialists. Everywhere you go, you see pictures of socialist heroes like Che Guevara.
There are even Ladas (a car brand from the old Soviet Union) on the roads here. But in many ways, we are much freer here than back in the United States.
- People are generally more relaxed about life. The priority is family and friends, not money and prestige.
- Taxes are low.
- The government mostly leaves people alone.
- The endless flood of marketing BS you get in "the West" isn't nearly as endless here.
- There isn't the all-seeing government and corporate spying that goes on up North.
As a result of these and other factors, North Americans are flooding into places like Ecuador. In particular, they are coming here to Cuenca, a city that is often billed as the best place in the world for North Americans to retire. My brother is one of those people. He retired here almost 4 years ago and reports that he is very happy with his decision.
But no place is perfect, and living in Ecuador requires some patience. Flexibility, a sense of humor, and some luck can help too.
No Place is Perfect
Let me give you some examples. These are all things from my own life, all of which have come to pass in the last few months.
- Getting government services can be a pain. Ecuador got its government bureaucracy from the Spanish conquerors hundreds of years ago, meaning it is slow and unpredictable. And everything you do requires filling out lots and lots of pointless forms. But if you need something done for use in your home country, it gets even worse. Notarizing some documents for my mom's estate involved scheduling an appointment with the nearest US Consulate several days in advance, and a 3+ hour drive each way over the Andes to get there. Once there we had to pass through multiple layers of security, then spend a few hours sitting around with hundreds of other people. Everyone was friendly and helpful, but what would take a few minutes at your home town bank it took all day. And $140 for the guy who drove us there then waited for us in the parking lot for hours. And the Consulate charged $50 per item we needed notarized.
- Non-government services can be a pain too. Construction in this part of town has been causing frequent rerouting of traffic. That has resulted in trucks and busses driving on smaller, tributary roads. And that has resulted in scenes like the one below, where something big hit the cables on a side road, bringing my part of town to a screeching halt. The electricity was back on in several hours, but it took my ISP 4 days to get Internet access restored. Then it happened two more times (in different locations) over the next few weeks! In total, I lost almost 2 weeks of service in a five-week stretch. I also lost an online client due to this, as I completely blew a deadline for delivering some documents.
- For the second time in a month, thugs attacked a mining camp owned by the company my wife works for, taking hostages, wounding several people, and killing one cop. The second time it took the Ecuadorean Army to drive the attackers out of the camp. While my wife was not present at that particular camp during either assault, the idea of a loved one being held hostage (or worse) by a tribe of former headhunters was not something I planned for when moving here!
Conclusion
Happily, things aren't always like this. There have been long stretches where I have lived the stereotypical dream of many North Americans who have come here. Stuff like:
- Relaxing outside a coffee shop on a sunny afternoon while my friends back in New Hampshire are desperately shoveling snow in sub-freezing temperatures so they can get to work on time.
- Experiencing stuff I never would in the US, like a traffic jam caused by a herd of llama.
- Enjoying a high quality of life on an income that would be near poverty level back home.
You know, all that good stuff that causes people to move.
The big takeaway here is that to really be freer tomorrow you need to develop personal characteristics like patience and resilience. A sense of humor helps too.