International investments bring
wonderous things!
By Gary Scott
Sweet scents hang in the
mangos and the sun boils orange on sunrise
morning mists. Merri and I sit in the quiet Ecuadorian garden of
daybreak counting blessings and hummingbirds that sip at the sweet
nectars of dawn.
Why do we love this travel between nations, jaunting along cultures
and crossing over mountains, valleys and seas? What mysterious thing pulls
at our souls and coaxes us from the warm comfort of familiarity? Why do we battle
with new sights, sounds and customs as we plod through new languages and terrain
when we could be in one place and call it home?
Well, there are many reasons…good ones, to be a traveler.
The financial side counts of course. All the years of our travel and
living abroad we have found incredible opportunities. For example, in
Ecuador a high standard of living is very affordable. Houses cost
almost nothing. We saw nice condos in Old Quito for $21,000 and
wonderful houses with majestic views high in the Andes for $50,000 and less. Gas
is $1.48 a gallon gas (plus tax) and low cost drivers with cars make transportation
cheap. Organic lettuce in the next door
garden costs 10 cents a head and the local markets are piled with
fresh vine ripened vegetables and fruit. Where else for $2,000 a month could
you have a nice patio home, maid, gardener, excellent fresh organic food, plus
plenty of money to wine, dine and enjoy nights out?
There is much more. Beauty inside for instance. Just take a look at
where we shop.
This portrait of commerce repeats itself in every city and town where
sweet, humble people offer delicious food and do so because they
really want to please.
Health services are special as well. The costs are really low, but
there is more, the old patient/healer communication that has
disappeared in the West remains. Medicine remains a humanitarian art
more than a business so I prefer the dentist and doctor system in
Ecuador. See these articles. BITE THIS and MEDICAL PROBLEMS RESOLVED AT A LOW COST and THINGS MONEY CAN'T BUY
Dining, entertainment and culture are rich yet really inexpensive. You
can enjoy a good three course meal in the center of the capital for
$2.50. Your food server will not try to be your best friend. Nor will
he or she will interrogate you (“where ya from, what do ya do”?)
nor
will he try to fool you with a theme. Instead you’ll find a desire to
happily serve good food in nice ways without the demands of a big
tip.
All this is good about Ecuador, but wanting to be a traveler is about
more than any one place. This yearning to move to new locations, see new
sights and sounds, tastes, smells and feels goes way beyond the economic stuff.
I believe that integration and assimilation are part of our being. Nature
demands that every thing in existence mixes and blends. Perhaps we could even
say that existence is the process of mixing and blending. Our universe is
one big melting pot and we happen to be blessed to live during a time when we
can so easily move around.
When we travel, we fulfill a role that has already been written within
us and when we are in tune with nature every part of our body is
enhanced. We grow and this helps us feel better despite the natural
turmoil that comes with growth and change. Broadened horizons add an inner
excitement and glow.
There is more. Travel erases boredom, that evil inner sanctum that
dulls even the most brilliant aspects of our being. Boredom takes
miracles like the sun, moon and stars and dashes them with the dust of too much
ease and familiarity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson observed the wickedness of this boredom when he wrote:
"If the Stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would
men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the
remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out
these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile."
To sum this up, travel helps us grow. Growth is the fermentation tank of joy.
Watch a baby take his first step or see the wonder in a child’s
initial ride on a bike and you will see.
All things are always in a process-growing, maintaining or transforming. Sometimes
when we misunderstand transformation we try to maintain too much and this stifles
our learning process and puts us in a rut. We are so afraid of dying that we
forget to live.
Ruts bury growth like graves with the ends kicked out.
When we enter a new land, arrive at the never before seen airport and fly over
unknown cities where millions live happily in such completely different ways,
we grow. We climb out of our ruts and live.
So whether you come to Ecuador or any other of the countless
delightful places in the world, expand your perspectives wherever and
whenever you can. Travel in your mind and though your body. Doing this is natural
and is what the entire history of mankind has made easy for us to do now.
Get out and travel! Shake
the dust off your boots and experience other worlds other
cultures. You’ll be glad you did.
Until next message, happy journeys to you!
Gary
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