5 Days in Ecuador

As you may or may not know, I started this journey with intention to permanently move to Ecuador. When I landed in Quito, I was so excited to explore. Quito is a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, almost 2 miles above sea level. Too cold for me!

I went to Manta to start, it was perfect on paper - a city with hospitals, an airport, city necessities that you don't realize you need until you don't have them - and, it was a beach city!

When I arrived in Manta, it was not what I expected. I was expecting beach city vibes like San Diego, or Puerto Viejo... It was a fisherman beach city! Much different than I've experienced before. It was cool to see them building boats on the beach. I saw many boats in progress and felt like I witnessed the whole process!

My first Airbnb was not enjoyable. It was really dirty and I didn't know how safe the area was. I had a huge culture shock. Every building had giant gated doors with locks on them. I went searching for food in a nearby market and was shocked at how little options I had. While I was searching for food, a man with two black eyes and a bloody face had walked up behind me and it scared me. Nothing happened but it brought me into the reality that I wasn't as safe as I was in Costa Rica. I ended up going to a new Airbnb. It was slightly cleaner but still too dirty to feel comfortable cooking (that's all I wanted!). I also was uncomfortable because someone followed me on Instagram that was friends with my first Airbnb host. I immediately felt unsafe. I also had one taxi driver tell me he was my boyfriend and another taxi driver texted me after my ride to tell me I was pretty and ask my name and age. I really did not feel safe as a solo woman! On top of all of this, I also read that I should avoid restaurants that didn't have locked gates as I was more likely to be robbed. I also made a friend in my first Airbnb and he told me to be careful with my phone because I could easliy be robbed and eft phoneless. He had just come from Colombia and had been robbed 3 times. Once by gunpoint and twice by pickpocket. All of this was too much for me and I wanted to be back in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica where I felt safe as a solo woman. All of this being said, I would really like to go back to Ecuador as a tourist. I was told that the pacific coast isn't as safe as the tourist spots, I just wasn't aware of how unsafe I would feel. I would prefer to tour all of south america with a boyfriend of some sorts. I would feel a little safer having a male bodyguard to protect me :-) I learned a lot in my 5 days in Ecuador. In meeting my friend from Colombia (who was born and raised in Montenegro - Europe), I learned a lot about European and South American politics. We had a good discussion about the reality of things and what's wrong with the word (hint - money). I also quickly learned that I needed to be near the Caribbean. The pacific has been my safe and comfortable ocean but the Caribbean has been my dream ocean. And I came out here to live my dreams! Lasty, I learned that I am finally ready to date again. I have been single for two and a half years. I finally feel healed from my past relationship and ready to put myself out there again. I'm now bac in Puerto Viejo and making some progress in staying here long term. It's actually much easier than Ecuador. Here I can do a border run every 3 months and come back to a home. In Ecuador, you are only allowed 90 - 180 days in a whole year, so it was going to be much more difficult to find a permanent pace to stay. Puerto Viejo is 1.5 hours, by bus, away from the Panama border. So every 3 months I can take a mini vacation to the islands of Bocas del Toro, or take time to visit other countries in the area. It's very cheap to fly between countries in central and south america. I have a lead on a studio home for $380/month with utilities included. I'm currently paying $800/month at an airbnb I found so I will be checking out this other place on Tuesday and seeing if it's somewhere I can stay for a bit. Would be much more affordable! Unfortunately, they do not allow pets so it would have to be a temporary stay until I can find a more permanent home for me and Chuck. Now that I have more stability, I am shifting my focus on bringing in an income. I plan to look into some online jobs, as well as promote my art, human design / astrology readings, and creating an internet following. If I can make $2500/month I can apply for a digital nomad visa and have a year long residency, meaning I wont have to leave every 3 months. So this next part of my journey is about establishing a permanent home, bringing in income, and finding love! Wish me luck!!