Streaming Ecuador

Can't make it to Ecuador during the pandemic?

Consider streaming some of the videos on YouTube or other web sites.

I just discovered an online sub-site called "Itchy Feet on the Cheap."  A 40-ish Canadian Expat living in Quito and his teacher/wife or partner move to a new country every few years and make videos for other Expats and prospective Expats.  There are 400 videos so far, according to his count, from his Expat travels.  Late last year they decided she would accept a teaching-job offer in Cambodia and exit Ecuador.  He says he/they would like to return to La República some day to retire.

The cheeky videos offer insights and comparisons that go beyond what the average Expat has figured out .. with plenty of chuckles along the way.

To find a selection of these video takes, go to www.youtube.com and enter in the search box itchy feet on the cheap ecuador.

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This thread welcomes recommendations for other online videos about Ecuador from whatever source.

cccmedia

A US Expat couple, JP and Amelia, based in Olón three blocks from the Ecuadorian coast*, does a good job in their videos of preparing Expats for the cost of living there .. including annual videos breaking down virtually all their expenses with commentary.

There are countless YouTube videos from myriad filmmakers about EC cost of living.  This couple does a superior job IMO with an easygoing style, usually sharing the off-camera microphone.  They have been renting a furnished three-bedroom condo for themselves and their dogs for $700 including Internet.

They previously lived in a rental house in Cuenca and 'v-logged' from there.

Their choice to rent and not buy has made moving easier and gives them freedom going forward without having to resell a property in an oft-volatile market.

Cost of living is not the only subject JP and Amelia tackle.  One video is called The Ten Things That Shocked Us the Most About Ecuador.

For cost of living in Olón:

www.youtube.com
searchbox term... amelia and jp expats in ecuador cost of living olon

*Due to lesser coastal breezes, living three blocks from the Pacific Ocean normally feels much warmer than an upper-floor oceanfront condo.  The oceanfront unit will cost more as a rule whether renting or buying.  Another advantage of renting an upper-level condo is that cracks can develop in the walls if an earthquake hits nearby, potentially rendering the unit uninhabitable;  a renter can usually pass that problem on to the owner of the condo without taking the full force of the insurance and rehab headaches.

Let's expand from videos to include (audio) podcasts.

If you are interested in the following topic -- Growing Old in Another Land -- I commend to you a podcast episode of that name from YouTube sub-site Gran Colombia.  It was produced and voiced by an older USA Expat who retired early due to cancer and has since moved to -- and traveled in -- Ecuador and Colombia.  (Two centuries ago, part of the liberated Ecuador was inside what was then called Gran Colombia.  The antigua Gran Colombia encompassed what essentially became modern-day Colombia and Panama plus all or part of Ecuador and Venezuela and small pieces of Peru and Brazil.)

The narrator explains that, despite losing his heroes over the decades, he has come to appreciate his later years .. and is pleased with his choice of Ecuador to live.  He says he recovered from the cancer.  He produces podcasts and videos despite loss of energy from taking his daily medicine.

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search:  google podcasts gran colombia growing old in another land

Gracias! Very kind of you! JP

We appreciate your videos.  Informative and fun.

Gracias!

One of the more compelling videos I've seen about Expat motivations to relocate .. is in JP and Amelia's "Expats in Ecuador" series on YouTube.  The video is titled The Real Reasons We Left the United States (and why we can't move back).

I guessed two of the reasons upon seeing the title and before watching the video -- the high costs of health care .. and the rising cost of living in the U.S. 

JP and Amelia had a monthly cost of living of $6,000 in Denver, Colorado .. and cut that by well over half in Ecuador.

JP tells about a medical issue in the States that cost a million dollars and left him temporarily unable to walk.  Then his insurance company essentially dumped his policy .. leading the couple to realize that another medical operation would destroy them financially.

Watch the video to learn the other reasons JP and Amelia left the USA.

www.youtube.com
Insert the first part of the video title in the searchbox.

The Home Office just opened a new health thread reachable from the Ecuador forum welcome page .. and migrated to there some health-related posts that had been posted on this thread.  Thank you. :top:

That new thread is called Emigrating for health care.

Here's a reminder that this thread is Streaming Ecuador.  We invite all to post here about YouTube videos and other online clips and vlogs pertaining to La República.

cccmedia

USA Expats JP and Amelia have left Olón, the small beach town, after about a year .. and moved their YouTube productions to bigger-city Manta, also on the Pacific Coast.

Why did they do this?

Olón is too small, even for a small-town Kansas boy.

Olón is too noisy.  The neighbors played loud, copyrighted music which the Expats
could not incorporate into their videos without violating YouTube copyright rules.

Manta has an airport.  JP and Amelia can fly to new destinations to film their videos.

Olón was never supposed to be a long-term location.

Search at YouTube.com... the real reasons why we left olon

My wife is from Manta & that is where I'll be settling down. It's a fairly nice city.

Damon.

Manta is a great city! We really like it so far!

Thanks for the share! You can include links to videos: The REAL Reasons Why We Left Olón (Plus, Manta Ecuador Dentist)

A mini-documentary about Ecuador currently streaming on YouTube was produced  in 1956.

"The Golden Equator," 17 minutes long, is a presentation of RKO-Pathé and is shown in black-and-white.

The mini-doc depicts the projects, industries and cultural activities going on in Ecuador in the 1950's, including Cuenca's hat industry with hundreds of Panama hats* in one location bleaching in the sun .. the historical center of Quito on display .. the then-nearing-completion projects of roads and railroad construction .. and the enormous banana industry whose profits provided funds for the construction projects.

Search at YouTube.com... golden equator rko documentary


*The script explains how Suez Canal builder Ferdinand de Lesseps bought an Ecuador-made hat in Panama .. and it led to such hats made in Ecuador being called Panama hats forevermore. 
(Lesseps, a French diplomat, successfully built the Suez Canal in Egypt in the 1860's and later failed in his efforts to build a Panama canal in the 1880's.  Lesseps died decades before the Panama Canal was successfully completed. --Wikipedia)

Thank you!