Thoughts on Buenos Aires/Argentina and South America in General

So this is my second trip to Buenos Aires, and I've spent nearly 10 days total here.  If not for the fact it's located so far south, and the summers are too hot for my delicate constitution (not to mention said summers are "backwards" due to being in the Southern Hemisphere and thus messing with my concept of Christmas), this place would totally be at the top of my retirement list and here's why:

• It just has a cool "vibe." I know this is hard to describe, and for most folks it's different, of course, but almost immediately upon being out and about in the city, it just felt right/cool, and made me realize Quito was a bit lacking in that regard - again, at least for me. I think that "vibe" stems from the following:
• Tree-lined streets and awesome architecture. There's a reason Buenos Aires is called "the Paris of South America" and you see it in the boulevards, the architecture, the cafe culture, the tree-lined streets, all the bookstores, etc.
• Yeah, the bookstores. There are a TON here and I love it. Beyond its beautiful flagship store, El Ateneo has multiple locations, and even the small ones are beautfiul and cool places to browse/hang out. Tons of others, too.
• The metro serves the city well, and they also have an EXTENSIVE bus system. With Uber and tons of taxis available, the combo means you can easily survive w/o a car.
• The people are very, very pretty - and for reasons similar to all the attractive people you see in the states: the indigenous population has mixed with waves of immigrants from first the Spanish to the Italians to the Germans. Just a beautiful population in general (altho, from what I understand, most of them are too aware of it! lol) 

And while I wouldn't necessarily retire here, the fact that this awesome city is on the continent gives South America a boost in general as a place to consider for retirement since I could come visit periodically.  

As already mentioned, I may have to check out Cuenca in Ecuador as an option if Europe proves too expensive, AND I also need to spend some time in Medellin, Colombia.  My brief stay in Cartagena opened my eyes to that country, and while I initially still dismissed it due to weather (too hot/humid), I've read Medellin is MUCH more hospitable, climate wise, and is an increasingly popular option with expats - due partly to proximity to the states and the Caribbean.

Final Review on Ecuador as a Retirement Option & Where It Ranks For My Options Out of Every Country I've Lived In

Using the same criteria I did for Mexico, here's my "review" on Ecuador's suitability as a retirement option with grades for the major considerations:

Weather: A- The only thing keeping this from a solid A is a bit too much rain for my tastes. A big plus is the consistency/lack of extremes. Every. Single. Day. pretty much the low to mid 5os at night and low to mid 60s during the day. When it was rainy, it felt colder, when it was sunny, if felt warmer. The UV is high. My understanding is Cuenca is better than Quito (more on this below)

Safety: B+ It's this "low" only coz of anecdotal stuff I've heard, and even then more of an issue in coastal cities and not Quito. But lots of tourists (int'l and domestic) means there's petty crime if you're not careful (as DJ discovered when his phone got filched coz he didn't have it tucked away in his backpack)

Food: B+ Points off for lack of variety, and they REALLY like their meat. But man is it CHEAP. The two of us could eat out in lots of places for $6 total. The best fried rice I've ever had outside of China. A fair amount of American fast food and other chains if you miss that, and some nice high end places. Lots of pizza. Lots of sandwiches.

Infrastructure: B+ Our electricity never went out, even with storms. We had some internet issues, but not as much as I did with Cox in the states, and our landlord admmitted he needed to change providers so there are better ones out there. The airport is modern, although a good hike (hour by car) from central Quito. Not as many run down or abandoned buildings as in Mexico. Roads in good condition, but lots of traffic. Extensive bus system we never used coz we could use the (new and modern) Subway for anything we needed outside of the historic center.

Health Care: A Can't give this an A+ coz we didn't experience inpatient care, but I hear/read it's good. Click HERE where I give more detail on our experiences, and as a follow up, I would add I later had an "elective/cosmetic" procedure done to get rid of of some Keratosis things that would have set me back $500-$600 in the states (why I didn't do it there), and in Quito, it cost.........$22.  The cream to heal after was pricier: $30.

Costs: A  Our smallish apartment was around $500 a month (2 bedrooms, 1 bath, washer but no dryer) and included all utilities and internet. As mentioned, dining out was dirt cheap, movies were about $3 (at night!). Subway was 45 cents. On the whole, I would say our cost of living was LESS THAN HALF of what it was in Oklahoma.

Social/People: C There IS an expat community here, but not large (bigger in Cuenca), and the locals are friendy enough. I didn't make any real local friends, but didn't really try, either. DJ got lucky that there was a boy a little younger than him in our building, so they hung out some. We did find Ecuador folks to be friendly and helpful.

Culture: B+/A- There's a shit ton of cool historic buildings to see in Quito and also a ton of museums. Large malls that are still heavily trafficked with lots of shopping, multiple screen movie theaters (altho sometimes hard to catch movies in English). Large parks and plazas with frequent festivals, carnivals, and parades, etc.

Flora/Fauna: A- Ecuador is a beautiful country that we barely scratched the surface of. The altitude and weather combine for virtually ZERO bugs/pests in our apartment. We never saw a roach, never had ants, saw 2 flies in 3 months, and only DJ claimed to see a spider. The city is ringed by mountains, which look very striking in certain parts of town. There wasn't too much flora within the city of Quito itself. Of course the Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador and if we weren't so poor, I would have done that.

Location: C I've found it's expensive to fly into/out of/around South America which is a negative for a travel whore like me.  It' not TOO far from the states, tho, which I GUESS is a plus. Quito is in the Eastern time zone which made it convenient in a lot of ways for keeping in touch with friends/family.

At the end of the day, Ecuador moves to the top of my current rankings for places I'd consider for retirement, ALTHOUGH I would definitely check out Cuenca and would probably choose it over Quito. From what I've heard, read, and talked about with other folks, although it's smaller, Cuenca has a much larger expat community, is more "charming" and less chaotic than central/tourist heavy Quito, the housing is even cheaper, the weather is even better (i.e., less rain) and it's not as high up.  That being said, if for some reason, Cuenca didn't do it for me, I'd be perfectly happy living in a modern apt, in the Inaquito area of Quito.  Click HERE for more deets on my previous ranking, just moving each country down one spot with Ecuador now #1.

Next up: Portugal - which I EXPECT to be my new #1, but we'll see!