A guided week, November 2026
Seven days on the ground with the people who actually live and work here. Not as a tourist. A week built to show you what it's really like, so you can stop guessing.
No payment at this stage. Applications are read personally.
You've watched the videos. You've run the numbers on a spreadsheet more than once. And you still don't know whether you could actually live there.
No amount of reading closes that gap. Standing on the street and learning from fellow expats does.
It happens at seven in the evening on a street you've never walked, when you work out whether you feel at home or out of place. It happens sitting across from someone who moved here at 68, asking them what they got wrong. It happens in an apartment you could actually afford, seeing how the light falls in it.
So that's what this week is. Seven days of finding out.
Some of you will go home having decided yes. But some will go home having decided no, and that's a good outcome too. You'll have worked it out for a couple of thousand dollars, instead of after you've shipped a household across a continent.
Because this isn't really a decision about Ecuador. It's a decision about what you want the rest of your life to look like, and that's not one you can make from a spreadsheet.
"You really have to come and see with your own two eyes."
Richard, retired in Cuenca, on Eric's channel
Mostly people in their sixties and seventies. Mostly retired, though a few are still working remotely and have no plans to stop. Most are travelling on their own. Almost none of them have made up their mind. Neither have you, probably.
The group is small and it stays small. You'll know everyone's name by Tuesday.
It's the first thing almost everyone asks. And you've probably seen the headlines about Ecuador, so here's the answer we'd give a friend.
Ecuador's serious crime problem sits on the coast and along the trafficking routes, in Guayaquil, Esmeraldas and Manta. Cuenca is in the southern highlands, a different economy and a different situation entirely. Almost nobody reading US coverage knows that distinction exists, and it's the single most useful thing to understand about the question.
But that doesn't mean nothing happens here.
What happens is opportunistic. Phones, bags, distraction, in fairly predictable places at fairly predictable times. It's the kind of risk you handle with habits, and you'll have those habits by Wednesday.
"What people are reacting to is that the violent crime rate has gone up along the coast, in Guayaquil, and in Quito even. But Cuenca has stayed relatively safe. I feel just as safe as I did the day I arrived."
Richard, retired in Cuenca, on Eric's channel
We're not going to tell you it's perfectly safe. Nowhere is, and you wouldn't believe us anyway. What we'll do instead is give you a proper briefing on Wednesday morning with a summary to keep, put the question straight to every expat on every panel and let them answer honestly, bad stories included, and then walk you back through the old town after dinner so you can judge for yourself how it feels at nine at night.
And if you don't speak Spanish. Everything on this trip runs in English, so you'll never be the person standing there not understanding. But we'd rather you didn't leave without finding out how far a little Spanish gets you, so there's one session at the market. You learn twenty words, then go and buy something with them. People are usually surprised by how well it goes.
More than half the people who've enquired are travelling alone. So you won't be the odd one out. You'll be in the majority.
The room supplement is the easy part to talk about. The other half is harder: seven dinners wondering whether you're intruding on other people's conversations.
You won't be. The week is built around a small group who arrive as strangers and mostly leave with each other's phone numbers, and the evenings are deliberately varied so nobody gets stuck in the same seat next to the same couple every night. There's a free evening on Thursday for anyone who wants their own company, and a WhatsApp group running before anyone gets on a plane, so you'll recognise faces at the airport.
And if you'd rather share a room and skip the supplement, say so on the application. We'll try to match you with someone.
Per person sharing a room
Per person sharing a room
Travelling on your own? The prices above assume two people sharing a room. A private room adds $375 for the week, so on your own it is $2,470 at the founding rate. We would rather you saw that here than at checkout. And if you'd sooner share and save it, say so on the application and we'll try to match you up.
"There's a lot of foreigners living here in Cuenca, and a lot of them are here because they have a very modest budget. I know people in two-bedroom apartments between $300 and $400 a month. And I know people paying $1,300, $1,400."
Richard, retired in Cuenca, on Eric's channel. His experience, not a quote from us.
Eric has spent years going straight to the source across Latin America, sitting down with the people who actually made the move instead of reporting on it from a distance. He hosts the week, moderates the panels, and keeps everyone honest.
YapaTree has been doing Cuenca property for eight years, rentals, sales and management. They curate the viewings, run the property sessions, and round up the expats you'll meet.
You don't have to take our word for either of them. Eric has already spent an episode with both.
Expat Law Group handles visas and residency, and sits down with you one to one on Friday. These are the people who actually file the applications, and the lawyers who deal with wills and property once you own something here. Not a commentator, not a blog.
And a licensed Cuenca ground operator handles the transport, the hotel and the logistics.
The week ends on the Sunday, but the decision usually doesn't.
Everyone goes home with a written summary of their own next steps, sent the same day while it's all still fresh. If that's a visa, the people you met on Friday already have your situation in front of them. If it's a property, the people who showed you around are still here and still looking. If it's neither, and you've decided Ecuador isn't the answer, then you've saved yourself the biggest mistake on the list and nobody's going to keep emailing you.
Nothing on this trip is a contract. But you'll leave knowing exactly who to call, and they'll already know your situation.
Cuenca sits at 2,560 metres. Most people feel it on the first day or two, usually as breathlessness on stairs and a broken night's sleep. That's why day one has nothing scheduled and day two starts late. Drink more water than you think you need. And if you've got a heart or lung condition, put it on the application and have a word with your doctor first.
There's downtime every single day, and the longest run of scheduled activity is about six hours. The walking tour and the market both involve cobbles and a few hills, and both can be cut short. Tell us what you need on the application and we'll build around it. You won't be left trying to keep up.
No. The whole week runs in English. That one Spanish session is there to show you it's learnable, not to test you.
Connecting flights come into Cuenca, usually through Quito or Guayaquil. Some people would rather fly into Guayaquil and drive up through the mountains, which is a beautiful trip. We'll send routing advice once you're booked, and we'll collect you whichever way you come in.
Very common on a trip like this, and not a problem. Just tell us on the application. Cuenca has good private hospitals, and the healthcare panel is on the schedule precisely because it's what people worry about most after safety.
The Friday sessions are opt-in, and they're there because people asked for them. Nobody's going to trail you around an apartment with a contract in their hand. And if you go home having decided Ecuador isn't for you, we'd genuinely rather you said so plainly than politely.
Everyone gets a full refund, hold included, and we run it early next year instead. You would not be out a cent.
Applying costs nothing and commits you to nothing today. We read every one personally, and you'll hear back within a couple of days.
We read every application personally, so give us a couple of days. If the dates work and you're ready to hold a place, you'll hear from us sooner than that.
