InternationalLiving.com

I’m a typically skeptical Canadian. If it sounds too good to be true, then it isn’t true. So when my restless husband announced that we needed to go to International Living’s Ultimate Event back in February, I had my doubts. Wasn’t International Living only about real estate in obscure countries, in which I had very little interest, except for the enviable fact that their citizens didn’t have to shovel snow? And wasn’t Ecuador, the venue for the conference, a country people left in order to come to a better life in Canada?

So I hedged my bets. If my husband could find a flight from the Bahamas, where we were going to vacation ahead of time, to Quito, Ecuador, where the conference was being held, I’d go. I thought I was safe—who flew to Ecuador? A lot of people, it turns out. He found a flight.

Doomed!

I thought we were doomed. A couple of mutt Canucks with five words of Spanish between them, probably about to fly in a one-prop plane to a war-torn country with a small capital full of poverty-stricken people, to be exposed to sales pitches for swampland in Colombia? We should have our heads examined. I took a deep breath and prayed.

The first slap to my skepticism came when we landed. Hmmm. No armed soldiers at the modern, clean, and efficient Quito airport. The customs people spoke English. We had less trouble retrieving our luggage in Quito than we do at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. It was a far better experience than I had expected.

The second slap came when we arrived at the hotel. The Swissotel, where the Ultimate Event was held, was as modern as anything you'd find in downtown Toronto. In fact, on the drive from the airport I was struck by the similarity of Quito (population 2 million) to Toronto (population 3 million). The same kind of highrises, same highway structures…even the same type of posters on the walls advertising the upcoming concert of the Jonas Brothers!

Mist-covered Volcanic Hills

This is not to say that there was nothing different about Quito—it will be a long time before anyone in Ontario’s provincial capital wakes up to a view of mist-covered volcanic hills with houses spilling down their sides, reminiscent of those wonderful Mediterranean photos in International Living magazine, only greener. It’s just that Quito turned out to be NOT so threateningly alien.

But as they say, a fool and her money are soon parted. I was determined not to be a fool, so never mind that Ecuador was not the scary place I had envisioned, there was still the conference itself. The Ultimate Event was where I could expect attempts to be made for scamming us out of our hard-earned cash. Unfortunately for me, the final slap to my skepticism was the Ultimate Event itself.

Good, solid, informative presentations were made on destinations, such as Ecuador: Legal Considerations for Living and Investing Here and Uruguay: Keys to Immigration, Taxes, Banking and Purchasing Property, to name only two. The speakers openly and honestly gave both the pros and the cons of the countries they discussed rather than the hard-sell stories I was expecting.

Other presentations addressed financial concerns for those thinking of leaving their home continent, such as U.S. Tax Considerations for Living, Investing and Working Overseas; Protect your Wealth with Offshore Opportunities; and, particularly pertinent to a cowardly Canuck, Canadians Going Offshore.

My Favorite Part of the Ultimate Event

A third group of sessions tackled the nitty-gritty basics of living in another country, issues that tend to stump such pragmatic and practical thinkers as myself. Presentations titled Quality Healthcare at Affordable Prices; The Hook-Up: Moving, Utilities Insurance, Finding Craftsmen and More; and even Staying Connected with Friends, Family, Bankers and Brokers left me without a leg to stand on for continuing my skepticism. And the approachability of all the speakers, the many tables set up with displays relevant to the presentations, and the absolutely priceless opportunity to mix and mingle with people who have actually made the move to South or Central America, and had nothing to gain by giving their opinions, completely demolished my cynical point of view.

By the end of the four days, it was obvious that selling me questionable real estate was not the objective of International Living’s Ultimate Event.

So, you ask, have we bought any real estate in South America? Are we planning on moving soon? Eventually. Let’s just say that I’m far more open to it than I would have been if we hadn’t gone to the Ultimate Event. We took advantage of one of the tours offered by a developer at the conference, which gave us both the chance to see more of Ecuador than we would have done otherwise, and to verify that what we had learned at the conference was indeed valid.

In fact, if you want substantial and verifiable information about living or investing in South and Central America, if you want to know the advantages and disadvantages of moving from Canada or the U.S. to live in a warm, sunny climate, if you need details like what to expect when you make your move, you must go to International Living’s Ultimate Event. Because of the Ultimate Event 2009, this is one Canuck who's heading south!

Editor's note: Registration for the Ultimate Event 2010 is officially open. Get full details and a list of discounts here.