Full disclosure: I’m stereotypical gringo from the USA, but I haven’t lived in the USA for roughly 10 years. I met my Ecuadorian wife in Kenya a few years back. We did long distance for while, now we’re married, and we moved to Ecuador a bit ago. She lived in the USA for about four years so I can only report on her experience. Since moving back, she has a lot less tolerance for inefficiency. She gets frustrated with having to do anything with the government. She also adopted a US American approach to time. She always wants to show up “on time” and I’m the one who has to hold us back so we’re not there two hours before everyone else. She loves her country (as do I!), but she definitely plays the comparison game and gets frustrated.

I also have a buddy who was born here in Ecuador. Moved to the US when he was 15. He visited throughout his time in the US, but only recently returned full-time. He’s loving it. He “fits in” but he says he gets a lot of questions about where he’s from as he uses his Spanish a little differently than someone who grew up here their whole life.

I went to Antarctica and can confirm no roaches. Cost of living was actually super affordable - I had a job at a research base so all the basics were free, and I got paid on top of that! The food was a lot better than you’d expect, but we did have to go a while without fresh fruit veggies as the deliveries couldn’t get in. But we survived and the cooks did an incredible job!