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Dear friend Paul:

In late-September 2023, we decided to vacate the farm we had rented for many years in NE Washington state, relocate to and live permanently in Ecuador, and accomplish this by no later than August 2024. Because of our personal circumstances, we had to do all due diligence long-distance: decide upon the area where we wanted to begin our new life, find a suitable rental property, deciding upon what things to keep and how to ship them, track down and meet the necessary documentation- and visa-requirements — it was a very long list of unknowns.

One major uncertainty was how to pack-up and move those things we were not willing to part with (like heirloom art work) from «here» to «there». After getting moving quotes from several US-based household «movers», we found out that all they did was getting our shipment to the entry port just fine, but not into Ecuador — we’d have to figure that out ourselves, and arrange it all on our own. Because we didn’t speak Spanish, and didn’t know about nor understand that process, this was a formidable obstacle just by itself. And from what we had read in various places, many expats had run into major problems trying to do this on their own without local help.

Fortunately, we came across a podcast in November 2023 featuring Paul Wilches of «Relocation Services of Ecuador» («RSE») who was doing business out of Cuenca, Ecuador. Unlike those earlier moving quotes, Paul offered us door-to-door service: while we were only responsible for inventorying, packing and loading at our old place, he would take care of everything else: leasing and transporting of the container, booking of the shipment to Ecuador, unloading and customs inspection if the household items at the port, reloading of the container and transport to our new destination,  and then unloading of all our things and moving us into our new rental home. Because of the positive testimonials of his services, we decided to go with Paul’s proposal and sure are glad that we did.

Based on what we wanted to ship, Paul suggested that we’re better off using a 20ft container instead of several lift-vans. Paul was available to us at every turn by phone and email. He advised us what to pack vs. leave behind, how to pack, and how to organize it all. Since we had no idea, he showed us many pictures and video clips of what such household moves looked like. His instructions to prepare our household inventory were impeccable, and his experience working within the Ecuadorian bureaucracy is absolutely priceless.

Paul patiently stood by as we dealt with many setbacks and delays in getting all our US-documents in order and get Ecuador’s «Jubilado» Visa approved,. Then he orchestrated our shipment on 30-days notice when we were ready. Paul’s cost estimate was spot-on even though we were not sure of our final destination until last July, and didn’t actually ship to Ecuador until late-August 2024.

Paul also was correct in his time estimates of the «live loading» of the container (it only took 2.5 hours instead of 4), and the final unloading and move-in at our new rental home (it also took only about 2.5 hours). With Paul’s relocation experience, his ongoing support of and patience with this old couple, we were able to setup a functioning household a mere nine weeks after vacating our old farm rental and leaving the United States. We highly recommend his services to anyone who wants to relocate to, or from, Ecuador, and will be happy to answer any questions.

Warm Regards,
Bruno and Charlene Schmidt