Woman Moves to Ecuador for 'Short Time,' Accidentally Clocks Seven Years of Adulting

KEY POINTS

•In 2018, Kirstynn Joseph relocated to Ecuador expecting a brief stay but ended up living there for over seven years.
•She explored Ecuador's diverse regions, favoring the Andean Highlands with their mountains, historic cities like Quito, and unique foods such as locro de papa.
•Outdoor adventures included hiking over 15,000 feet on Rucu Pichincha, hot spring relaxing in Papallacta, and kayaking on the Quilotoa volcano's crater lake.

In 2018, Kirstynn Joseph hitchhiked her heart to Ecuador ‘for a short time’ — spoiler: she ended up living there for seven whole years, the kind of commitment most of us reserve for Netflix subscriptions. With the Andes Cordillera allegedly 'one of the most impressive mountain ranges,' she ignored the flashy Galápagos Islands and Amazon rainforest to obsess over towering volcanoes, potato-cheese soup locro de papa, and kaleidoscopic markets in Otavalo. Her must-do list includes hiking at altitudes where even your dignity gasps for air, lounging in Papallacta’s hot springs (because why not throw in cold plunges too?), and kayaking on a turquoise crater lake in Quilotoa — basically the Instagram universe’s high-altitude holy sacrament. Meanwhile, Quito’s Virgin Mary statue surveys everything, probably judging anyone stopping there only briefly.