The constant sound of the surf is calming. We’ve always loved being situated at an oceanfront holiday home. The sad part of such proximity to the sea is the damage and wear and tear of the exterior and interior of the properties. Salt air quickly damages metal parts on kitchen appliances and electric equipment that are rarely fixable, short of replacing the items.
Most of the houses in Mirador San Jose are stucco on the exterior, and it is easy to see the damage over the years, resulting in expensive repairs most homeowners here can’t afford nor want to pay even if they can afford it. Even the houses not directly on the ocean show signs of damage from the salt air on their exteriors.
We also observed this when we were in Florida. The more expensive homes were mainly in excellent condition when owners could afford the upkeep. But, the mid-range and lower-valued homes were often sorely lacking in upkeep.
In life, there’s no “free lunch.” There is always a price to pay for whatever we love and may, on occasion, experience in excess.. whether it is food, drink, shopping, or exposure to sea air. Even spending too much time and energy engaged in favorite activities may result in a price to pay when ignoring loved ones or responsibilities.
We’ve also experienced the “no free lunch” concept in our travels when we get a great price on a property, whether it’s a hotel or holiday home. Once we arrive, we often say, “We got what we paid for.” Although at the time of booking such a property, we may have been enthused over an excellent price we negotiated, once we arrived, we assessed that it wasn’t exactly as we’d expected.
This isn’t always the case, and many times, we’ve been thrilled to find the location and the property is more than we anticipated. The same goes for cruises. Recently, we paid a higher-than-usual price for an Azamara cruise to Norway. The ship was fantastic, the food excellent, and the cabin acceptable. But, somehow, we’d expected more, although we loved Greenland, the passengers, and more.
So was the case here for this property in Ecuador. Yes, the house is lovely and was fairly represented in the photos. The owner is excellent and helpful. The pool is beautiful, as is the beach. But, with the limitations of being unable to dine out or socialize, we’ve decided to make the best of our time here.
We’ve been making delicious dinners and enjoying our evenings streaming shows on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Thank goodness, the WiFi on the main floor is working well. Although there was another power outage this morning, it only lasted for two hours, and we’re back online now, enabling me to do today’s post earlier rather than later in the day.
We are discussing where we’ll go when we leave here in 72 days. Nothing has been decided yet, but most likely, we’ll do so in the next week or so and provide our decision here for all of our readers to see. There’s nothing more we can do at this point.
That’s it for today, dear readers. We hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, October 30, 2013:
