Well, My Bags Are Packed & I'm Ready to Go-----

For anyone interested, the dryer showed up today right on time. I'm going to give that company glowing recommendations in every online publication in Cuenca!

As an IL correspondent I'm always writing about why readers should consider living in Ecuador. But nothing is ever mentioned about what’s involved with leaving, so since I’m about to depart for the U.S. to visit family on the way to IL’s big Fast Track Your Retirement Overseas conference in Las Vegas, I thought you might be interested in knowing what’s involved, at least for the Staton family, preparing to board the plane.

Refrigerator—empty. Furniture—covered. Curtains—drawn. Plugs—unplugged. I’ve given all the perishables to our neighbor downstairs who is especially helpful because of her bilingual skills. She has also been given envelopes with next month’s rent for the landlord and payment to our housekeeper for this month’s services.

We pay our maid when we’re away for two reasons, even though our home obviously doesn’t get very untidy in our absence. One is out of loyalty. She has been with us for four years and depends on the income we provide for her family. Second, we ask her to visit the apartment every week just to make sure everything is OK. And finally, with the extra time she gets the chance to take care of some extra chores like washing windows since the regular top to bottom cleaning isn’t necessary.

All of our utility bills are automatically deducted from our checking account so we never have to worry about payment. I purchased a new tank of propane thus we’re sure to have hot water when we return in October.

Since we travel frequently we’ve designed our life to be able to “lock and leave.” That means among other things no plants and no pets. We live in a secure building with double gates and our front door has double locks, so we never give a thought to the possibility of an intrusion in our absence.

I checked in online for my flight this morning. Most Ecuadorians don’t do this, which means when I arrive at the airport I’ll bypass the inevitable line and hand over my luggage to an agent. They also don’t have much of an interest in bulkhead or exit row seats, so nine times out of ten I snag one of those coveted seats for free.

Well, it’s about time for me to call a taxi to the airport (it will cost me $2.50). I’ve packed some favorite recipes to prepare for the family with a special focus on fresh corn, peaches, and heirloom tomatoes, which we don’t have here in great supply and my daughter says are still in season. And juicy steaks to cook on the grill—our beef in Ecuador is not the greatest, to tell you the truth.

U.S.A., here I come!