Last week, I met someone who had recently been to Ecuador, and our conversation devolved into a long discussion about how amazing Ecuador is and “why don’t more people go there?”.
Seriously, why don’t more people go there?
I suspect a lot of people only think of Ecuador as the launching pad for visiting the Galapagos Islands, and the Galapagos has gotten a reputation as one of those Once-in-a-Lifetime, Bucket-List, Extremely-Expensive destinations. In fact, there’s so much more to Ecuador than Darwin’s turtles (and in truth, the Galapagos Islands can be more affordable than you think).
Ecuador has everything you could want from a vacation destination: beautiful landscapes, vibrant culture, perfect weather, delicious food. It offers something for every taste: jungles, mountains, beaches. And it checks all the boxes on a practical front, too: safe, affordable, easy to get to…it even uses the US dollar as its official currency.
One of my #LifeGoals is to encourage people to travel outside of their comfort zones. If you really want travel to be broadening, you need to go places that don’t feel exactly like home; if you really want to understand the world, you need to go places that are different from anywhere you’ve been before. From that perspective, Ecuador is a good “gateway” destination: it’s different, but not scary different.
Mockingbird has made it super-duper easy for you to experience Ecuador: all you have to do is sign up for our small group tour. If you prefer to visit Ecuador on your own, we’re also happy to help you plan your next vacation there. Either way, just go. I need more people to talk to about coca tea and Mindo hummingbirds.