There are lots of ways to travel. Some people travel fast -- and I'm not talking about fast jets. They cram as much as is humanly possible - sometimes more! - into the smallest time frame possible. These are the people who "do" Europe in 5 days. Heck, I can't even do Epcot in 5 days! Of course, the way you travel depends in part on the reason you're traveling. If you're a tourist on vacation, you'll travel differently than someone who's making a move to a new place. For example, when my husband …
What are the Best Countries to Retire in 2017?
"What are the best countries to retire in 2017?" is a question I often see. The short answer is, "it depends." Are you moving abroad to work at a job, or to retire (or something in between)? The best place for a retiree might be lousy if you need to work, or if, like me, you've developed a portable career and need good internet. Places that are great if you're working tend to be more expensive than the places that are great for retirees living on fixed incomes. How can you tell the …
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Moving to Panama: Do As I Say, Not As I Did…
When my husband and I were moving to Panama, we did nearly everything wrong. Well, not wrong exactly, as we ended up in the right place at the right time. But the way we went about it was driven by desperation rather than proper planning. It all worked out in the end, but if you're thinking about moving to Panama -- or anywhere overseas -- there are better ways to do it. Recently I was invited to record an interview about my expat experiences. Tony Argyle of The Expat Chat reached out, …
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Moving to Panama? Don’t be Clueless [Book Review]
Panama's a wonderful, low-cost place to live. As with any overseas relocation, though, moving to Panama is not for the faint of heart. But this couple -- well, if there's a way to move from the US to Panama in the most difficult, expensive, and upsetting way possible, that's how they did it. Just for comparison (and I grant you, my husband and I were slow): Time it took us to make our overseas move, from the time we started thinking about it. . . 6 years Time it took, from the time we …
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Thanksgiving Traditions — Are they the Same Overseas?
There's nothing like the holidays to bring out the best -- or the worst -- in you when you're living overseas. If you're lonely, disoriented, or homesick, holidays can make you feel much worse. If you're enjoying your life, holidays can be a lot of fun. But guess what? That can happen when you're in your home country, too. It's really about your overall quality of life and what you make of it. For a few years before we moved to Panama, Thanksgivings seemed very odd to me. No longer were we …
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I Miss Panama! Here are 10 Reasons Why
Last week my husband and I flew out of Panama's Tocumen International Airport for the last time. Well, maybe not the last time forever, but for at least a couple of years. If you're not on my mailing list, Facebook page or Google Plus page, you might have missed the announcement. Long story short, my husband got an unexpected job offer that's bringing us back to the US, for at least a couple years. Temporarily, we're in South Carolina. (And, frankly, the culture shock of living in the Deep …
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