In my recent scouting trip to Panama, my Spanish language skills were tested to the max. Now, I'll be the first to admit it's not a high hurdle. I figure my Spanish is at about the level of a bright two-year old's. All my verbs are present tense and my vocabulary is severely limited. Think, "See Spot run" and you'll have a good idea what my skill level is. Armed with a pocket Spanish-English dictionary and lots of brazen self confidence, I figured I could manage. On the whole, I did pretty …
“I’ll Take ‘Panama’ for $1,000, Alex. . .”
Earlier today, a reader asked me "So, how was your scouting trip to Panama? Could you see yourself living there?" Our recent trip to Panama was supposed to answer two questions for us: Can we see ourselves living in Panama? If yes, do we prefer the David or Las Tablas areas? I think we've been able to answer both questions in this game show called Life: Category, "Panama." #1. Can We See Ourselves Living in ______? This is the first and most important question to ask yourself when …
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Let Someone Else Pay for Your Explorations
I've just returned home from my first scouting trip to Panama. My husband and I spent a week traveling the country, from Panama City to David to Las Tablas, to answer these two questions: Can we see ourselves living in Panama? If yes, do we prefer the David or Las Tablas areas? This was a no-frills trip. But even a trip with no frills costs quite a bit these days. Airfare, lodging, meals and travel within the country all add up. Fortunately, I've found a way to get paid for it, and so can …
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“That’s Unpatriotic — Moving to Panama”
My MIL (mother-in-law) has struck again. Last month I told you about my attempts to get my in-laws -- my well educated, well traveled in-laws -- to discuss our plan to move abroad. It's become the elephant in the room. I told you that I'd decided to write a letter describing the dreaded elephant from our point of view and inviting them to begin a dialog, and that I'd let you know how it turned out. The letter was written (by me) and sent as an email (by my husband) about 10 days before …
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Why You Should NEVER Attend an Expat Conference
Recently I paid some serious money to sit in a room for three days in a foreign city. Over the course of the three days, I: listened to more than 36 speakers on as many subjects attended two cocktail parties met dozens of people from all over the US and Canada, as well as Cyprus and Britain heard stories from a half dozen expats living in the country I was in Panama City, Panama at the Live & Invest in Panama Conference put on by Kathleen Peddicord's Live and Invest Overseas …
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Eco-Tourism, Charity and Shopping in Panama
Here in Las Tablas, Panama, a pleasant breeze blows through town during most of the day. We saw some rain yesterday morning for a few hours, but the afternoon was sunny with bright blue skies. The sun is hot, but overall we're finding the temperatures here much more tolerable than David. Before I get into details about our travels through Panama, though, I want to share one more time about some of the events of the Live & Invest in Panama conference I attended last week. Eco-Tourism in …
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