{"id":22585,"date":"2023-06-13T00:01:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T07:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=22585"},"modified":"2023-06-09T06:40:26","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:40:26","slug":"life-as-a-digital-nomad-part-5-ecuador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/06\/13\/life-as-a-digital-nomad-part-5-ecuador\/","title":{"rendered":"Life as a Digital Nomad: Part 5 (Ecuador)"},"content":{"rendered":"By Mike Huber<\/h6>\n
As the plane was race tracking to land in Quito, the capitol of Ecuador, I could see how large the city was and was reassured in the coin toss that had me choose this country.\u00a0 This would be my third\u00a0country to call home for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/1-600.jpg\")
Having been in Panama and Nicaragua with such little luggage it was important to keep my packing to a minimum.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t very difficult as the countries I had been visiting were tropical and very warm.\u00a0 I was certain Ecuador would be the same, as Quito was on the equator.\u00a0 Where could be warmer than the equator.\u00a0 Well, it turns out a lot of places could be much warmer?\u00a0 Quito was indeed on the equator but is also nestled in the Andean foothills at an elevation of around 10,000 feet above sea level.\u00a0 To add to that it was August, so technically it was winter there (although the ambient temperature doesn\u2019t fluctuate very much).<\/p>\n
Quito is a beautiful city with even more beautiful people.\u00a0 As the cab dropped me off, I was still over a mile from the Aparthotel I had booked for the next month.\u00a0 The issue was it was Sunday and the roads all going into Mariscal Foch (the city center) were closed and open only for bicyclists. Since I had been running almost daily in Nicaragua and had dropped some weight, I slapped one backpack on my back and one on my front and thought I\u2019d just get a nice run in as I made my way towards my Aparthotel.\u00a0 This would help warm me up, too, since I was only in shorts and a t-shirt. That was another bad idea. I quickly learned that running at 10,000 feet elevation wiped me out quickly.\u00a0 I think I made it 4 minutes before my hands were on my knees and the packs were sliding off my back.\u00a0 This I am certain was quite a scene for the locals who were casually riding their bicycles up and down the main street staring at me as I felt like I was about to die.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Once arriving successfully to the Aparthotel I first confirmed the wi-fi to assure this location was suitable for my day job.\u00a0 The connectivity worked great, but there was just one hitch. The wi-fi knocked you offline every 60 minutes.\u00a0 To me this was a simple fix of logging off it before each conference call so that it wouldn\u2019t force me off mid-stream during the calls.\u00a0 That was easy enough and worked perfectly without any problems.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/3-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
That photo at the top of this blog?\u00a0\u00a0Every Friday night the police held a formation in the central square (Marisol Foch) and I would chat with the moto cops.\u00a0 It was fun.<\/p>\n
Once settled in Quito, a wave of relief fell over me knowing that I could relax and focus fully on work for the next month.\u00a0 That was important as there had just been a reorganization and I had a new manager.\u00a0 Three months into traveling through Central and now South America and still no one knew I was anywhere but Boston, nor did they ask.\u00a0 I was fine with that and made it a point to keep it quiet, but not because I wasn\u2019t performing. I was performing and at an elevated level, but I thought someone might be upset it they knew I was doing this and would put the kybosh on it.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t about to let that happen, so I took steps (to include disabling my social media accounts to ensure my secret wouldn\u2019t get out). \u00a0I had a peer who was trustworthy so I let him know just in case there was a volcanic eruption or political uprising so they could let my manager know that \u201cMike may not make it to work today.”\u00a0 Of course, the chances of that were slim so it was time to settle into a productive routine.\u00a0 I knew Ecuador might be my new home for longer than I had planned, and I had no problem with that at all.<\/p>\n
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