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Bryan Haines

Hi, I'm Bryan Haines. And I'm a co-founder of Storyteller.Travel. I'm a traveler and photographer.

I also blog about photography on Storyteller Tech.

Does Grapefruit Seed Extract Really Work?

Living in Ecuador has given us a variety and quality of food that we literally couldn’t imagine enjoying back in Canada. The fruit is cheap, fresh and delicious. $1.00 pineapples are huge and extremely sweet. Mangoes are sweet and messy (er, juicy) and cost $0.55 per kg! Grapes, papaya, oranges, limes, and bananas are all …

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Whats Your Question About Cuenca, Ecuador? 580+ Questions and Answers

We’ve been covering Cuenca, Ecuador and expat life in general for just over 5 months in more than 100 posts. And we’ve built a pretty solid set of content. We are often told that we are the best Ecuador site for expats – but we want to be better. And we need your help. What …

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Guide to Ecuador Rentals: 3 Ways to Find, 4 Reasons to Rent, Expectations

3 Ways to Find Rental Property in Cuenca, Ecuador Food, shelter & clothing… those are our basic needs. Finding food in Cuenca is easy. Finding clothes that fit the usually taller and often more “robust” expat population can be a little more challenging in Ecuador. Finding a house here can be a real challenge at …

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Can I Bring My Pets to Ecuador? Flights, Litter, Culture Shock

Our pets often become a part of our families. So when we relocate, it opens up the question of how to move them to our new city. In this post, we’ll cover moving pets to Ecuador, how to fly with a pet, litter training a dog for apartment living, and how a new pet can …

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How to Buy a Vehicle in Ecuador (Plus Ownership Costs) What I Learned

Buying a car is something we swore we would never do when we moved here a year and a half ago. We were terrified of the style of driving and the apparent lack of road rules. Well, we’ve loosened up a lot since then, and we are ready to be independently mobile once again. Our …

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How to Send and Receive Mail and Shipments in Ecuador

We receive lots of review materials. Mostly books, but some software too. Some publishers are hesitant to ship to Ecuador, telling me that their shipping department is “unable” to ship out of the US. Other publishers (especially Wiley) must have broken the difficult shipping secret because I regularly receive review copies from them. I have …

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How to Do Your Banking in Ecuador (What We’ve Learned)

When we first started to seriously consider moving to Ecuador one of the many questions that came up had to do with banking. Of course, ATM cards and credit cards work fine here, but what if a card got lost or stolen? What if our U.S. bank card expired between trips to the U.S.? How …

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Guide to Cost of Living in Ecuador: Monthly, Start-up, Increases

One of the questions we get asked the most is: What’s the Cost of Living in Ecuador? Well that’s a tough question. Whats the cost of living in United States? Some people may do well with $1000/month and others “scrape by” on $4000/month. So cost of living is subjective. While some people might find (and …

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123 Papiamento Phrases: How to Speak Papiamento (Word List and Resources)

Planning a trip to the Dutch Caribbean islands? You might want to learn a few Papiamento phrases. In this post, you’ll get key Papiamento phrases (123 word list) and get the resources you need to improve your skills. How to Speak Papiamento: Word List / Resources The first words you’ll probably hear when you arrive …

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Guide to Visiting Salinas Ecuador: How’s the Beach?

Ecuador is for hiking and jungle exploring – right? Who goes to Ecuador for the beach? That’s what Mexico and Aruba and the D.R. is for, isn’t it? Check out this new video – and let us know what you think. This guide is a work in progress. We’ll be updating this in the coming …

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