Anybody here with local knowledge of actual day-to-day life in Ecuador?

blueslover, but he hasn't posted in several years...you might find some info in his post history though...

I've traveled there a few times with a guy who moved to Ecuador 20 years ago from Florida in order to guide at an Amazon basin lodge. He's since married a local and is raising a family while running a couple of eco-lodges. He really likes it and has no plans to return to the States though he will probably send his kids to the US for college educations. Quito is in the middle of the country and is a fairly typical large South American city. It's pretty scenic at 9,000+ feet in a mountain valley and has a nice new international airport. Quito does have it's problems with traffic, some crime, and poverty. And increasing narco violence and political protests in the country in general.

Ecuador also has some of the best ecotourism on the planet and a fairly short distance out of Quito both to the east and west are great cloud-forest and highland lodges in beautiful areas. And also some hardcore lowland rainforest both in the Amazon basin and the Pacific lowlands; but that requires further travel from Quito. Also near Quito the Andes can be pretty stunning. It's easy to drive to spots that are higher than any mountain in the lower 48. Antisana and Cotopaxi are not bad drives out of Quito.

The other main city is Guayaquil on the coast. I've never been but it does not have a very good reputation. Hot, humid, buggy, and I think it's where the narco activity is focused now. Cuenca is a higher elevation city to the south that has been getting quite a few American expats and is a place I'd like to visit, though I doubt I'd ever move to Ecuador full time. But it's one of my favorite countries to visit.

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Are you retiring there or have a job opportunity? Id assume where you are living will be a major factor.

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High school student looking at doing a year abroad there.

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Tigris

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Thank you.

How removed from the world does it seem? It just strikes me as such a backwater that one might feel too cut off.

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Heh, I like being removed from the world. It really depends on where you are in Ecuador. Quito is pretty connected to the world. And if you have good internet you can be about as connected as you want, wherever you are. If you are good at Spanish it will help a lot - there is a lot of Spanish language news on in restaurants, hotels, and bars (mostly local news, though). Seriously, Ecuador would be one of my top picks for places to live that are not English speaking. But it also depends a lot on the location in Ecuador. Down in the lowlands could be kinda crappy; a tourism area like Mindo or a nice area of Quito could be great.

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This is for a high school student. One of the other options was Spain, but that was full. Spain just seems so much better as a jumping off point for other touring.

I have a good friend who grew up there. It can be very dangerous. Muggings are common.