When Dan Prescher and Suzan Haskins moved to Ecuador, they soon realized that they were able to stretch their money a lot further than in the U.S. But they also realized that America offers one thing other countries just can't compete with.
"Whatever else the United States is, it is the most convenient place on the planet," Prescher told HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd.
Living in Ecuador means not having a wide selection of brands to choose from when buying any one item. It took some getting used to, but the limited number of choices ended up teaching the pair a valuable lesson about the way Americans tend to attach themselves to their "stuff."
Prescher and Haskins have adjusted to their lifestyle in Ecuador so well that they now feel slightly unsettled when faced with the vast options in American stores. Now they say their philosophy is "the lighter we travel, the happier we are."
"I almost have a panic attack when I go back to the States now and I go into Walmart or Target or any major supermarket, because I don't understand why there has to be 30 brands of toothpaste and 40 brands of detergent. It makes no sense," Haskins said. "It's so much easier to go into a store here and have just a couple of choices because what's the difference, really?"
Catch the full conversation about leaving behind an ordinary life at HuffPost Live HERE.