Fresh Perspective

In 2009 my stepfather got a job running distribution and operations for a European sugar company in Guadeloupe, a French territory in the Caribbean.

For several years, my brother and I spent Christmas there.

On the most recent trip, I spent a full three weeks. Every day I went to the beach.

Back home, there is really only 2 months where it’s warm enough to swim in the ocean. So given the opportunity, I took advantage. Didn’t matter if anyone else wanted to go, or if there was only enough time to be there for an hour or two. As long as there was enough sunlight to take a quick swim, feel the sea breeze, and catch the sunset, I was happy.

I never understood how my family could live there and not take advantage of the beach – until I moved to Ecuador.

The more we have of something, the less we appreciate it.

Recently my mother came to visit me for the first time in Ecuador. During her time here, we made a day trip to Vilcabamba, spent a couple of nights in Cuenca, and explored Loja. Having the opportunity to spend time with someone who had never been to Ecuador before made me realize how much I have started to take living here for granted.

Here, the skies are a different kind of blue, the grass a different kind of green, and the mountains and views will take your breath away.

Infrastructure, as good or better than most countries in the ‘developed’ world, Inexpensive, fresh food is widely accessible, and reasonably priced restaurant options are plentiful. All things that grabbed her attention were the same things that grabbed mine when I arrived in Ecuador for the first time.

One thing she said while she was here really struck me, “When you follow the news, it conditions you to think every country outside of the western world is substandard. Even though you told me how great Ecuador was, it was difficult to imagine that without seeing it with my own eyes”.

I believe she left here understanding why I choose to relocate to Ecuador – a little perspective is always a good thing.