Our return to the United States was a stark reminder of what our life used to be like before we moved to Ecuador.

We were stressed about so many things: Cost of living, work life balance, inflation, gas prices, politics, and healthcare.

According to the World Happiness Report, the United States ranks at number 16, but for us, that’s a hard statistic to swallow.

Spending a month back in the U.S. was a good reminder of what our life used to be like before we moved abroad. It was stressful, frantic, busy, unhealthy.

We spent a huge chunk of our time driving. We ate out way too much and we both gained weight because we didn’t have time to cook or exercise.

After 1 month, we left the U.S. feeling a year older!

After returning home to Ecuador, it didn’t take long to get back to feeling happy and healthy so in this article, we’ll share 10 reasons why we’re happier living abroad and why we think you will be too.

New Adventures

Living abroad brings a constant sense of adventure. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in a new culture, language, and activities.

In the U.S., we often found ourselves stuck in the same routine, eagerly awaiting the weekends for a brief escape.

In Ecuador every day is an opportunity to learn and explore, and every weekend feels like an adventure as we discover the incredible beauty of this country.

Global Friendships That Go Beyond Work

Back in the U.S., our conversations often revolved around work and our professions. Our friendships tended to be with people from similar backgrounds.

However, in Ecuador, we’ve forged meaningful relationships that go far beyond work. We talk about our lives, share experiences, and engage in various activities with friends from all over the world.

It’s a chance to learn about different cultures and worldviews, broadening our horizons.

A More Affordable Lifestyle

The cost of living in the U.S. was a constant source of stress for us. Rent for a tiny one-bedroom apartment alone consumed a significant portion of our income.

Healthcare and everyday expenses, such as food and transportation, were prohibitively expensive. In Ecuador, we’ve discovered a more affordable way of life.

Our rent here is a fraction of what we paid in the U.S., and we no longer need a car. Healthcare costs are significantly lower, making it accessible to everyone.

Better Food

Ecuador has spoiled us with its higher quality, better-tasting, and more affordable food. Healthy eating is not only achievable but enjoyable here.

Restaurants take pride in presenting their dishes, turning every meal into a delightful experience.

A Healthier Lifestyle

Our time in the U.S. often had us stuck in traffic or sitting at our desks for extended periods. Unhealthy convenience foods became our go-to because we were too exhausted to cook.

Ecuador’s climate and abundant green spaces have encouraged us to walk more, and we’ve lost weight as a result.

We can enjoy year-round walks without extreme weather conditions, whether in lush green parks or along beautiful beaches.

Accessible Healthcare

In the U.S., we often had to wait for months to get a doctor’s appointment, and emergency care was prohibitively expensive. This led to postponing necessary medical visits.

In Ecuador, we can see a doctor promptly and communicate directly with them. Even without insurance, healthcare here is affordable, making it easier for us to prioritize our well-being.

A Commute-Free Life

In the U.S., Amelia spent hours stuck in traffic during her daily commute. Now, with the flexibility of working online, we spend more time together, reducing stress and improving our overall quality of life.

A Life with Less Stress

Ecuador offers a calmer pace of life. We no longer worry about making ends meet, allowing us to save for our retirement and enjoy each day without the rush and chaos of our previous routine.

Para-Political Bliss

One of the great advantages of living abroad is being removed from the political turmoil of the U.S.

Ecuador has its own unique challenges, but we’ve found peace in being detached from the political baggage we left behind.

An Expanded Worldview

Living abroad has broadened our horizons and shattered stereotypes and myths.

The world no longer seems as intimidating, and we’re excited to explore more places long-term, armed with a newfound understanding and appreciation for different cultures.

Final Thoughts…

Our quality of life has significantly improved since we left the U.S.

Ecuador has become our happy place, but the benefits of living abroad are not limited to a specific location. Regardless of where you choose to live, the adventures, global friendships, affordability, better food, and improved healthcare can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life.

So, if you’re seeking happiness, don’t hesitate to explore the world beyond your comfort zone—you might just find your own version of paradise.

Watch Our Video About the Perks of Living Abroad

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Amelia and I grew up during the 1970s and 80s in the heartland of America. Amelia is from the Chicagoland Area. I was raised on a lake outside a small Kansas farm town.

Our parents told us we could do or be whatever we wanted when we grew up. The sky was the limit and opportunities abounded.

Our fathers had good corporate jobs with good benefits, including affordable health insurance. We were taught that if we got a job at a good company, the company would take care of us.

What they didn’t realize was that they were the last generation to experience that kind of employer loyalty.

When Employer Loyalty Died

In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, company benefits like health insurance and education reimbursement were slashed. Profit-sharing and pension plans were replaced with employee-funded 401k plans. And annual layoffs became a popular way to boost stock prices ahead of quarterly earnings reports.

Meanwhile, as the corporate mindset was shifting, the Internet boom was creating more opportunities for employees.

When I worked at Sprint in Kansas City, my annual pay raise was between 2% and 5%. Even when I got promoted two levels, my pay only jumped 10%.

In 1999, after 5 years of working at Sprint (and saving the company more than $24 million), I was only making $42K per year.

By quitting Sprint and going to work at a different company, I almost doubled my salary overnight to $80K per year.

My wife at the time also quit Sprint and more than doubled her salary at a different company. We went from making a combined $80K per year to $160K per year. Overnight!

Why on earth would we have ANY loyalty to a company that was cutting benefits, laying people off for no reason, and giving us mediocre raises when we could jump ship and immediately double our salaries?

When The American Dream Died

Somewhere along the way, companies forgot that employees were their most valuable asset. That caused employees to chase the next shiny object until there were no more shiny objects to chase.

Instead of weathering the economic storms like employers and employees had done in the past, it was everyone for themselves.

While this shift was occurring, the cost of food, housing, health care, and education were all outpacing the increase in wages, especially for those who remained loyal to a company.

Americans started using credit cards to buy food, borrowing a lifetime of debt to pay for education, and going bankrupt due to medical expenses.

This perfect storm of events killed the American Dream, at least for most middle-class people living in the United States.

The American Dream Lives Abroad

Thankfully, there’s more than one country in the Americas (as our viewers from Central and South America like to point out whenever they get the chance).

If you can bring your income with you, meaning you either have a pension, social security, or work online, you can still achieve the American Dream, it just won’t be in the U.S. of America.

The foundational component of “living the dream” is being able to afford it. If your expenses exceed your income, your life isn’t a dream; it’s a nightmare.

Most developing countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and even parts of Europe, have areas that feel a lot like the US, only for a fraction of the cost.

If you go outside the major metro areas, it can feel a little old-world, but near the major metros, it feels remarkably first-world.

That means you can have all the benefits, like high-quality food, housing, and health care, while paying a fraction for them compared to similar things in the U.S.

We calculated that by moving to Ecuador in 2017, we have saved over $250K in living expenses! That’s a quarter of a million dollars just by reducing our cost of living!

What have we done with that money?

Well, we paid off all our debt (including $43K in student loans), we took an amazing trip to Amsterdam and India, we’re traveling more in Latin America, and we’ve put more money into our retirement funds than we had in the previous 15 years combined!

Final Thoughts…

It’s a shame that millions of Americans have already had to leave the US to find the American Dream, but that’s the reality in which we live.

The US is quickly heading toward a two-class society: the uber-rich who don’t need to leave and the uber-poor who can’t afford to leave.

The middle class is being decimated by a high cost of living and stagnant wages, which means the majority will have a tough decision to make over the coming years: stay, and risk poverty, or leave, and move to a country where The American Dream still lives.

George Carlin said, “It’s called The American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

Based on my experience living abroad, I’d like to modify his quote: It’s called the American Dream, but you have to leave to achieve it.

See Also: 

• How To Leave The United States (or Canada)
• Top 10 Cheapest Countries for Expats
• Top 10 Countries with Cheap Rentals
• Safest Countries in Latin America
• Cost of Living in Ecuador
• Our Ecuador Healthcare Experience

Watch Our Video About the New American Dream

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING WE GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH OUR LINKS. THERE IS NO COST TO YOU AND SOMETIMES YOU'LL EVEN GET A DISCOUNT BY USING OUR LINK. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and after 5 years of living in Ecuador, we were prepared for a huge dose of nostalgia going back to the United States. However, there were a lot of things about the US that felt really foreign to us!

Here are some of the most shocking (and sometimes hilarious) things that required some readjustment. Number 22 had us laughing out loud!

 1. Extreme Heat

During our time in the US, the temperatures soared to 105F. While not a cultural issue, it was a huge adjustment for us as the weather in Ecuador is reliably temperate. It rarely goes above 75F / 24C, and there isn’t much fluctuation between seasons.

Hanging out all day in the air conditioning with its dry air certainly took getting used to, and we’re thrilled to be back in the cool Ecuadorian climate.

 2. Drug Ads

It was impossible to go a day without seeing an ad for a drug or medication. They are all over the television and on billboards. After three years without these showing up, it was a bit of a shock to hear all the side effects listed off, especially DEATH!

 3. Fancy Highways and Bridges

Driving around in Ecuador, you become accustomed to having two-lane roads. You’ll find a few with four lanes, but nothing like the infrastructure you see in the US. Navigating the huge looping bridges and highways was a big change, but seeing all that architecture and engineering blew us away.

 4. Driving Everywhere

Speaking of highways, we spent a lot of our time in the US driving from one place to another. We’re spoiled in Ecuador with it being so walkable. It would be physically impossible to get things done in the US without a vehicle of some kind.

 5. Rushing Around

When so much of your day is spent in the vehicle, it can be hard to find time to make a meal or slow down. There’s always an energy of “I have somewhere to be,” which isn’t common in Ecuador.

 6. Gas Is Expensive

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In Ecuador, we don’t need a car, so gas prices have been the furthest thing from our minds. Even if we did need fuel though, gas prices are regulated in Ecuador, so they never get too high. That’s not the case in the US. We found ourselves spending three times our monthly transportation budget in just a week, all because of the ridiculous price of gas.

 7. Limited Public Transportation

We see so many buses and taxis on the roads in Ecuador that they feel like part of the scenery. On the off chance that something is too far away to walk, there’s a plethora of public transit options to get you where you need to go.

There was a distinct lack of opportunities for public transit anywhere we went in the US, which took some getting used to.

 8. Food Prices

Walking through a grocery store in the US gave us serious sticker shock. Every single item was exorbitantly expensive, which we expected, but it was worse than we could have imagined. There was also a lot of shrinkflation, meaning that we were spending more for even less food than before.

 9. Everything is Extremely Homogeneous

One of the things we love about Ecuador is the diversity, not only in culture but in stores and architecture. During our time in the US, we started to feel stifled by the aggressive sameness of the houses, malls, restaurants, and stores. Everything was a chain, and we saw the same storefronts and food options again and again.

10. Strip Malls Are Everywhere

The convenience of a one-stop shop can’t be denied. Everywhere we went in the US, we could count on being able to get what we were looking for in one shopping trip. This isn’t possible in Ecuador, as every store will have different things. If you’re in a new place, it can be a bit of a scavenger hunt to find everything you need.

11. Staff Shortages

Since the pandemic, America has been struggling with labor shortages. This is a huge change since the last time we were home, and it was almost eerie to see help-wanted signs in every window. The biggest shock was coming into a store and seeing only one person working in an area that used to have four or five.

12. Empty Shelves

This is another big difference from when we left the US. The transportation crisis and manufacturing shortages have led to empty shelves in many stores, which felt like we were in an apocalypse movie. This has gradually improved over time, but it was a noticeable change when we visited last summer (August 2022).

13. Eating Out

As a side effect of rushing around so much, we found ourselves eating out more often than not. It was nice because there was a huge variety of places to eat; however, we ended up spending a lot of money and gaining some weight.

The prices felt otherworldly: in Ecuador, if we decide to go out for a nice meal, it comes out to only $10-$15 per person. In the US, it was triple that, even for lunch.

14. Tipping Culture

No matter how much or little people interacted with us, they expected a tip. We have grown accustomed to only tipping for service that is above and beyond, but in the US, tipping is used to subsidize low wages, so we felt obligated to give a lot more than we would have otherwise.

15. Flavorless Produce

Fruit and veggies in the US didn’t taste like anything. We were so upset about unripe, low-quality produce because we’d been spoiled for years with rich and diverse fruits and vegetables in Ecuador.

16. Weight Gain

We’ve heard again and again from our friends that everyone gains weight when they return to the States. Between the convenience of snack food, lack of walking, and frequency of eating out, it seems inevitable. Plus, when food doesn’t taste as good as you’re used to, you’re bound to eat more because you aren’t satisfied.

17. Automated Everything

From vending machines to entire stores, automation in the US is through the roof. We could get everything by simply tapping our phones. This was great for convenience, but it felt like something out of a sci-fi novel.

18. Credit Cards

Cash barely made an appearance on our trip. Everyone uses a credit card or mobile phones for every purchase, no matter how small.

19. Fast Delivery

Same-day and next-day delivery is not a thing in Ecuador, so the prospect of being able to order something at night and receive it by the following day was mind-boggling. When we left, Amazon Prime shipping would get things to you within two or three days, so this was a huge change.

20. New Technology

The US gets more technologically advanced by the day. We were floored to see charging stations, Teslas, and other electric cars everywhere we went. In grocery stores, there were even digital displays to show you what was in the fridge without needing to open it – though oftentimes, the shelves behind the screen were empty.

21. Sloppy Clothes

Everyone dresses very casually in the States, which was quite a change from the everyday fashion in Ecuador. It’s not uncommon to see Ecuadorians walking around grocery stores in suits or dresses, while Americans will go out in a simple t-shirt and baseball cap.

22. Pubic Hair Commercials

By far, the strangest thing we saw during our time in the States was a commercial for grooming your pubic hair from Gillette.

It featured singing and dancing cartoon hair pleading with the viewer to give them the attention that hair on other parts of the body received. As funny as this was, it was certainly a representation of how ridiculous many things in the US have become.

If you think these culture shock moments were funny, you’ll love hearing all our other stories of being immigrants in Ecuador. Check out our content to learn how you can move to a new country and start having your very own reverse culture shock! We’re sure about one thing: we’re thrilled to be back home in Ecuador!

Watch Our Video About Our Reverse Culture Shock in the USA

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING WE GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH OUR LINKS. THERE IS NO COST TO YOU AND SOMETIMES YOU'LL EVEN GET A DISCOUNT BY USING OUR LINK. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.