The Balcony Above Calle Bolívar

Reader Confessions: a festival weekend in Loja, rain on San Sebastián's stones, and a stranger who shared their umbrella for the opening parade. I came for free street theatre. I stayed for the balcony.

Aftercare Isn’t Extra: How to Stay Close After Sex (When One of You Wants to Talk and the Other Wants to Sleep)

The minutes after sex are not leftover time. A kind, practical guide to physical and emotional aftercare — how to ask for what you need, what to do when your wiring differs, and why nobody owes anyone sex in the first place.

From Bean to Bar: Ecuador’s Fine Cacao, the Chocó Andino Route and Where to Taste It in Quito

Fine-aroma cacao grown on the equator, rainy-day chocolate tours in Mindo and the Chocó Andino, and bean-to-bar tasting rooms in Quito. A High Living guide with no medical claims — just flavour, craft and a good excuse to stay indoors when the Sierra drizzle starts.

Antisana National Park Without a Tour: Condors, Páramo and a Free Day Trip from Quito

Southeast of Quito, a free national park with Andean condors, glacial Laguna La Mica and páramo that feels a world away from Cotopaxi's crowds. How to go on your own — and when a guide still helps.

From Bean to Bar: Ecuador’s Fine Cacao, the Chocó Andino Route and Where to Taste It in Quito

Papallacta Hot Springs: A Night Soak at 3,300 Metres, Just Over the Mountains from Quito

Guayusa: The Amazon Leaf Ecuador Drinks Before Dawn (and What the Hype Gets Wrong)

The Balcony Above Calle Bolívar

Aftercare Isn’t Extra: How to Stay Close After Sex (When One of You Wants to Talk and the Other Wants to Sleep)

Rain on the Roof in Baños

Black Friday in Ecuador Just Moved: Why It’s Friday 20 November (Not the 27th) and How to Shop It

Black Friday from Ecuador, 2026 Edition: How the Courier 4×4 Really Works Now (the $20 Fee, the $1,600 Cap and the New Invoice Rule)

Halloween in Ecuador 2026: Costumes, Cemeteries and a Curfew on the Four-Day Puente

Antisana National Park Without a Tour: Condors, Páramo and a Free Day Trip from Quito

Cotopaxi National Park Without a Tour: Free Entry, the Refuge Hike and What the Volcano Is Doing Now

Cajas National Park: A Free Day Hike Above the Clouds, 40 Minutes from Cuenca

FIAV Loja 2026: Eleven Days of Theatre, Circus and Free Street Art in Ecuador’s Cultural Capital (12–22 November)

Mama Negra 2026: A Guide to Latacunga’s Wildest Parade (Saturday 7 November)

Cuenca Turns 206: A Guide to the November Fiestas, the River Craft Fair and the Republic That Lasted 47 Days