Find information in Quito, Ecuador
Where do you turn for assistance when traveling long-term or looking to relocate to South America? A membership with the South American Explorers Club should be high on your agenda.
Just like World Winder, South American Explorers Club was founded by a travel minded wanderer from New York State. When Melissa and I moved to Kozoji, Japan a decade ago (10/17/2001) we sought adventure, enlightenment, and our first full-time means of employment. We
A welcoming space in Ecuador's capital
departed to work for a greedy, now defunct company that literally left rotting food in our refrigerator not to mention an unsanitary toilet. Simple pursuits, such as, getting a library card or renting videos became daunting and cumbersome. Luckily our new Aussie mate and colleague Kerry helped us sort things out.
Perhaps Don Montague from Ithaca, New York experienced similar growing pains prompting him to create the South American Explorers Club in the late 1970’s. Since then the member supported non-profit has been easing traveler woes as well as actively contributing to local communities. There are currently four clubhouses located in Lima and Cusco, Peru, Quito, Ecuador, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. They
Elizabeth, a manager for South American Explorers Club
have affiliated offices at other locations.
A $60 annual fee entitles travelers to benefits including the use of clubhouses, access to staff, maps and customized itineraries, listings of volunteer opportunities, luggage storage, and mailing addresses far from home. In addition, members receive discounts for accommodations, restaurants, and bars. Each clubhouse also organizes local events for its members.
We visited the Quito office as soon as we reached the Ecuadorian mainland and were treated to a tour by Ohio transplant Elizabeth Shumaker. We were fortunate considering she normally heads the Cusco branch. Elizabeth patiently listed our
Volunteer opportunities and trip information are available to members
seventeen questions and endured an hour-long Q&A session. After that barrage she even invited us to that week’s pub quiz at The Turtle’s Head, a local expat bar in La Mariscal district.
That Wednesday, we recruited our homestay roommate Diana for trivia night and while we didn’t win any prizes we made a decent showing for newcomers on the scene. After a busy day at the South American Explorers Club Quito, Elizabeth summoned the energy to host the pub quiz. She kept order and the score
Our roommates at the homestay in Quito Ecuador
while thwarting unwanted advances from males in the crowd.
If you are in need of information on South America or a friendly place away from home look into a membership. Tell them World Winder sent you and study up on your world capitals before you head out.
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Beautiful pictures and great pointers for travelers. You seem to have a knack for meeting helpful people. Thanks for sharing! You may just open up avenues for people who normally wouldn’t think of venturing out.
Hiya!
I love the insight into the world of South America… I’d love to be able to travel there sometime really soon, and explore the whole continent. Ideally I’d like to go for a year, but I think there may be a couple of financial restraints there. I’m really curious to know how you came to the decision to travel, and how you go about planning it without experiencing what I call “airport meltdown” (I hate flying. I always have. A bumpy flight tends to make me a little tearful.).
(:
Best wishes!
Sarah (:
Hey Sarah! Neil and I will have slightly different answers to your questions, though overall it’s the same…
After college (10 years ago), we looked at the saggy job market and the horizon of 9-5 jobs and pressed shirts with high heels. I got scared and wanted to run. So we ran to Japan, teaching English for a year and then backpacking the long way home, 3/4 of the way around the world. Before we left, we had a plan to save money for about a year. We had our bachelor’s degree, so finding jobs wasn’t a problem. Of course, we had each other so transition was easy. But alot of solo travelers have done what we have, the majority of them being women.
Fast forward to 2 years ago, we were working at schools, teaching and really settling into a conventional NY lifestyle of dinners out and stressful jobs. Don’t get me wrong. We had great paychecks and fabulous coworkers. My boss/principal was one of the best around. But you can’t force a trapezoid through a square hole and that’s kinda what life/work felt like. Quitting my job took ALOT of tears and over two weeks of saying “I’m serious, I’m serious.”
My advice: Do it!! Make your life goal about travel. When you want to go for dinner at a restaurant, think about your travel budget. When you want a new iPod, think about your travel budget. Things will align eventually and money will start to accumulate. If you have debt, get rid of it! Pay off your credit card bills, the best you can. Save, save, and save. Then take out a map and circle all those places that you wanted to visit. That’s what we did and we’re now on our second world winding trip, this one for 2 years. People will say you can’t do it. Those are the one who have no idea what you want to do.
-Just my two cents.
Oh, for the flight jitters, I recommend dramamine…or similar.
Hola Sarah,
Glad you are enjoying our perspective on traveling through South America. We are into our second country now and really enjoying the pace of life here. A year is a great amount of time to spend here. Of course you can easily spend a decade and not explore everything. We decided to travel and try to make a career out of it because we crave the excitement and interpersonal connections created from life on the road. I enjoy learning about people from around the globe. The lives of locals, travelers, and expats become entwined when people shed their preconceived notions and just interact with one another.
So far we haven’t felt an airport meltdown because we have been taking buses all around. I too am wary of taking flights, although I’ve never been on horrible ones.
Try to save up as much money as possible and follow your dreams of wandering the world.