Comforts of home
Monday, February 21, 2022 at 12:38PM
9 Mile Creek - hiking in the cold and ice
I’m back home in Minnesota after spending four weeks in Ecuador. What in the hell was I thinking coming back so soon?
The two hikes I’ve done since getting home were on icy paths, among those few that were not closed for cross country skiing. The wind and air temperature made staying warm without working up a sweat a challenge. Few other walkers were out and about.
High temps this coming week will mostly be in the single digits (some above and some below zero). A major snowstorm is predicted. Politics, COVID, gun violence, Russian aggression, dismal stock market performance, teacher strikes, and inflation dominate the headlines this last week of February.
During my stay in Cuenca and Vilcabamba, I met quite a few US and Canadian expats. They were in Ecuador for the long haul - either all winter or even all year. Ecuador’s climate, low cost of living, and political stability were the primary draws. I figured I could stay at the Izhcayluma resort for about $80 a day, $2400 a month (room, two meals, bottle of wine, laundry, and a 75-minute massage). Nice houses, I was told, could be rented in Cuenca for less than $500 a month. I met a woman who has been house-sitting in Central and South America over the past few years, not just avoiding paying rent, but getting paid to live in a warm place. I found the people of Ecuador friendly, the infrastructure sound, the streets safe, and my minimal Spanish=speaking abilities adequate. I thought it interesting that I had less problem getting wifi to my phone via a local SIM card in Ecuador than I did in Germany last summer. My local newspapers, books, and writing tools traveled with me digitally, of course.
Yet, yet…
I don’t think I could be an expat - either permanently or even as a snowbird. I came home not just to the cold, but to friends, favorite restaurants, my comfy bed, my old recliner, and activities I enjoy. I missed coffee I brewed myself and wine I had selected. I missed the regulars for whom I provide volunteer rides and the other volunteers with whom I grocery shop each week. I missed my weekly walks with my buddy. It was comforting going to the supermarket this morning and cruising the aisle for the perishables, knowing where they will be. It was good to hear familiar voices on Minnesota Public Radio. It was good to hear the click and whoosh of the furnace as it kicked on.
Of course, I am already planning future trips. Short ones to see family in Iowa and Kansas City. And even more adventurous ones with Heidi. As much as I love home, cold weather and all, I love anticipating the next journey as much.
Reader Comments (2)
Welcome home. That's the problem with traveling to someplace very different: eventually you have to return to someplace that's now also very different.
We have friends we've known since college who have been ex-pats in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for about twenty years now. It's a nice place to visit, and not excessively different in climate and culture from the southwestern US where we all lived for many years, but I still don't think I could move there permanently. Like you, I guess I've just become used to the familiar of where I am.
Hi Tim,
The more I think about it, the more I realize it is people who really anchor me to a place - friends, family, club colleagues, etc. I'm sure I could make new acquaintances wherever I moved, but it wouldn't be the same.
Here's to an early spring!
Doug