Thread: Panama sounds right for us!

I am glad to have found this forum, there seems to be a lot of interesting and fun people here!
I am 23 and currently enrolled at Oregon State University (OSU) and will be graduating after this Spring term in Business Administration. My wife and I have been married since August of '05. We honeymooned in Cozumel and Cancun, Mexico and loved it! We also went on a cruise along the Mexican Riveria (Pacific Ocean) and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.
We are native Oregonians, except we can't stand the cold or the depressing winters. Sad, huh? We love heat and easily prefer it to the cold. We'd take 100° F compared to 40°F.
I've been halfway considering a move to another location, more specifically outside of the US because of it's political and social direction, but for a good part of the reason, the weather. Over the last few months, I've been trying to think of where else in the US or the world we could live. Besides the Southwestern US, there aren't many other locations in the States.
"Why live in a place you don't like for your entire life?" I thought to myself. So I started looking for locations throughout the world. I finally came across Panama and it sounds like a great place to live!
What I want to know is if this is a place for a young married couple (NO KIDS!!!) to live.
We made a list of things we need/want/don't want. (They are not in any particular order of importance.)


Needs:
-Pet friendly
-Jobs
-Warm weather
-Internet
-Food
-Electricity
-Apartment


Wants:
-Close to ocean (warm)
-Close to medium size city (50,000-100,000)
-Somewhere to work out
-TV
-Housekeeper
-A/C
-House (Bed & Breakfast?)
-English speaking area
-Motorcycle


Don't want:
-Snow
-Cold
-Flooding
-Hurricanes
-High taxes
-To live in the middle of a big city

Does this list sound like something that can be accomplished in Panama?
I doubt we would be able to move for a few years, but we want to vacation in Panama within the next year.
Any input? Feel free to ask any questions you feel might be able to better help you give us advice! I am continuing to learn what I can about Panama!

Come down and visit. You can have everything you want and don't want. You have to look and see for yourself. Spend time (a few days) in Panama City, rent a good 4x4, get a map, cooler, beer, bread, cold cuts, buy a map, start driving for the next 14-30 days. If you are going to make the move make sure you get acquainted.

We definitely will visit some time, once we get enough to get plane tickets.
Have you or anyone else been to Cozumel, MX? We really liked the atmosphere there, totally relaxed. Do they compare?
When we come down, I was thinking of flying into San Jose, CR and somehow traveling down to Panama City. How you recommend doing that? I tried to search for trains to Panama but couldn't find anything useful. Seeing as how you recently moved to Panama, if I read correctly, what were the steps you took from being interested in moving to actually moving (Did you visit for an extended period?, Do you currently rent or own a place?, did you buy a house? Did you stay with people? How many times did you visit before moving?)
Thanks for the response, I appreciate it!

Word of advice ! Visit many times before deciding to move to Panama . Rent first before you buy anything . A job may be difficult to find unless your job profession is specialized . Most Gringos I know own there own business . Panama is a great place to retire too .
Your wants and needs can be found here . Have fun .

I agree, you are going to have to get a comfort level with it. You must visit, meet locals, plan. I had no idea the amount of effort there was involved in changing your life to a foreign country. A good thing you could start doing is document yourselves properly. You will use that no matter where you wind up.

If you have retired in Panama and bought a house or condo and you had it to do over again what area would you move to or would you stay where you are? I’ve spent a lot of time on web sites and Volcan seems to be the kind of place. Having grown up in So Fla I find I want no part of hot humid weather 12 months an year and everyone says it’s 68 75 degrees year around there. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Note: 11 months until retirement.

If I were considering to move to Panama (or really any other location), what part of the year would you recommend visiting: The best time of the year, the worst, or average?
Here's what I think the order of visits should be:
1. Best time of the year. I would want to see what it is like when the location is at it's best (based on weather, tourist season, and other factors).
2. Worst time of the year. This would help show just how bad it can be and if I can withstand the conditions. For example, Canada has very nice summers, very pleasant and long. However, the winters, not so much.
3. Average time of year. This likely to make up most of time living in a location.
4+. The BEST, of course.

Would you agree or disagree with me?

Walkabout, no worry about hurricanes. I was pretty happy to find out about that since I lived in Tampa for almost 13 years. No major storms hit us but insurance went up just the same. As far as the highlands go Volcan is a nice area. Close to hospitals if needed, not over built like Boquete. Much more relaxed and less uptight.

Kidchico, come during the worst of the year, rainy-season. You will get to see the weather at it's worst and you will realize that it is no big deal. It also allows you easy room and board anywhere. No competition with allot of tourists although there are still plenty. It is nothing compared to Canada in the winter, trust me.

Now that I think of it, we almost always travel during a location's low season (Cozumel in August, Mexican Rivera in December.) We really liked those locations despite the off-season. By what I've read, I wouldn't be too worried about the rainy season in Panama. I'm sure it beats the depressing 40° F rain in Oregon. I saw you mentioned hospitals to Walkabout, is there a demand for healthcare services? Any idea where I could find more info on a US nurse working in Panama?

If you can handle the Pacific North West for 12 months out of the year then this is nothing. Make sure you rent a good diesel 4x4 so you can go explore, get all of the insurance. As far as working down here I dont know specifics on nursing but more than likely it would pay crap if you even could land a job. In the US it is instant money with that degree. I would recommend putting my sights on setting up a business and also forget being a Panama retail outlet. You are just starting this journey and you will have to spend time to investigate. I have a list of attorneys sent to me by the US Embassy back in 2004. If you wish I can send them to you. Come on down, check the country out, see if you like it, meet attorneys for free consultations with you list of questions. Do yourself the favor and get familiar with the country.

Part of the reason we would be leaving is because of the weather, but like I said before, we tolerate heat much better than cold. We have been able to deal with the weather, it's just not our favorite climate.
As far as working goes, my wife is an RN at the hospital in town. I would not coming looking for a job in particular, but rather have some sort of online job or start a business down there. I would need to look into it much more; like you said, our journey ha just begun. As far as cost of living goes, would it be safe to assume that overall it is half of what it is in the U.S.? I wouldn't mind making half of what I could in Panama compared to the U.S. if on average everything cost half as much, or close to it. Does this sound about right?
We are already learning about Panama! We are looking at plane tickets to both Panama and San Jose, CR. I think we would like to travel to SJ and make our way down to Panama and to fly home from PTY.

If you live in the interior and learn to live like a local you can live real cheap. It all depends on what you need to be comfortable. But my recommendation is to live like a local as much as possible. I rarely even take hot showers anymore.

Whomever you fly with make sure it is not SpiritAir.

Okay, I'll bite. Why not Spiritair?

Absolutely no customer service, do a google search on Spiritair and you will see in the top 5 a complaint website about them. I flew down with them and did not like the service I received.

No problem there, they don't fly out of Portland, or even Seattle! Are there any other smaller airlines that offer cheap service?

I usually fly Copa.

A lot of what is said, is true. Especially the part about coming to see for yourself first, renting to see if you really like it here and trying it out.

Your last message....seems like DAVID would be the place to head for.

It's away from the wet and cool mountains, it's close to the beach (Playa Barqueta or Las Lajas are within about 1/2 hr), it has several gyms, it has high speed internet (for your online business), it has English speaking networks of people here (If you haven't already done so: see yahoo groups gringos_in_David_Panama and Chiriqui Chatter forum). You can have a live-in maid for less than $200/month. Everything you have on your list is in David - except for one perhaps: jobs. You are young with a career ahead of you and jobs in Panama, aren't like jobs in the US. You mentioned an online business...the internet services are here so that would be possible. Get started with that now so it will be up and running when you decide to come down.

Travel via San Jose...Check out Chiriqui Chatter's article regarding Taca Regional. They have a whole list of flights that can come directly to David via San Jose - same day. Otherwise, most flights via PTY will require you to stay over in Panama City.

Good luck. Hope this is useful.

PS Don't know why someone voted against Spirit Air....you get what you pay for ! So it should not be a surprise.

In regards to David it really is a busy, busy town. I heard it has decent neighborhoods but I would personally not want to live there. It is a good place to have an office or place of business, major hub of trade. Beaches are 1/2 hour away and it is pretty warm and humid there. Allot of business opportunity down here especially online.

I guess now that David has its second traffic light, it might be considered as a busy busy town. It's still possible to get from one end to the other in about 10 minutes though, even when there's traffic (rare).

There are lovely places to live in David...not downtown, but in and around David.
There's Bella Vista, El Terronal, Las Palmas, San Antonio, and many more areas...

I am glad that you are happy with David.

I will be flying in March 1st to PC and need to pick up some new orange life vest for my boat . The ones in Bocas are super expensive . Do you know if the "You Do It" center would carry any or am I stuck going too Abercrombies on Balboa Ave ?????

Hey tarzan, I have a "You do It" center near me and I will check and see about the life jackets.

Dear Ben,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Yatzel and I'm panamanian. I was reading about your need to live in a warm place just like Panama. Let me tell you that you will have many opportunities and advantages if you decide to come here. As you know Panama is consider one of the best places to retire and to live for many reasons such as the US currency, the security, a great banking center, most of the things are very cheap like cloths, shoes,etc. the expansion of the Canal will bring more opportunities of employment. I lived in Argentina for 2 years with my husband and both decide to come here because there are more advantages and opportunities to grow. And of course you will find a good house from 50,000 to 100,000 in good areas near of everything. If you need more information just let me know.
Bye
Yatzi ichi_24@hotmail.com

Originally Posted by kidchico

I am glad to have found this forum, there seems to be a lot of interesting and fun people here!
I am 23 and currently enrolled at Oregon State University (OSU) and will be graduating after this Spring term in Business Administration. My wife and I have been married since August of '05. We honeymooned in Cozumel and Cancun, Mexico and loved it! We also went on a cruise along the Mexican Riveria (Pacific Ocean) and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.
We are native Oregonians, except we can't stand the cold or the depressing winters. Sad, huh? We love heat and easily prefer it to the cold. We'd take 100° F compared to 40°F.
I've been halfway considering a move to another location, more specifically outside of the US because of it's political and social direction, but for a good part of the reason, the weather. Over the last few months, I've been trying to think of where else in the US or the world we could live. Besides the Southwestern US, there aren't many other locations in the States.
"Why live in a place you don't like for your entire life?" I thought to myself. So I started looking for locations throughout the world. I finally came across Panama and it sounds like a great place to live!
What I want to know is if this is a place for a young married couple (NO KIDS!!!) to live.
We made a list of things we need/want/don't want. (They are not in any particular order of importance.)


Needs:
-Pet friendly
-Jobs
-Warm weather
-Internet
-Food
-Electricity
-Apartment


Wants:
-Close to ocean (warm)
-Close to medium size city (50,000-100,000)
-Somewhere to work out
-TV
-Housekeeper
-A/C
-House (Bed & Breakfast?)
-English speaking area
-Motorcycle


Don't want:
-Snow
-Cold
-Flooding
-Hurricanes
-High taxes
-To live in the middle of a big city

Does this list sound like something that can be accomplished in Panama?
I doubt we would be able to move for a few years, but we want to vacation in Panama within the next year.
Any input? Feel free to ask any questions you feel might be able to better help you give us advice! I am continuing to learn what I can about Panama!

Hey Yatzi,
thanks for the extra info, I am so jealous you live in Panama! For the most part, I will respond via this board just because I hate it when people post an email on a board and a lot of information is passed just between emails. Hopefully, some of the questions (and answers I have received!) will help others learn more about Panama!
I do have questions for you Yatzi, and I guess for anyone else who wants to add:
1. What do you do for work?
2. What were some hurdles you had to overcome during your process of moving to Panama?
3. Besides visiting and reading as much as about Panama as I can, what else should I do?

Don't be afraid to ask questions for me too!
Thanks!

Does anyone out there have any opinions about Portobello or Isla Grande as an area to retire to. We've always hoped to retire to an island in the carribean, or even on the mainland next to the sea and after finding out about Panama we thought we could manage it earlier than we'd hoped .
We like a simple life so don't need to be to close to the city. The only problem with retireing early, is we still have two kids at home so we need to be near schools. Spanish schools are ok because the kids have had a spanish education and are both fluent.
Any info would be greatfully accepted.
Bob.

Responding to your questions:

• I’m a real state agent.
• As I told you before, I’m Panamanian, so moving from Argentina to Panama wasn’t a problem, all my family are here in Panama, but I can tell you about my husband. Was not an easy decision to come here for him, because he miss a lot his family but we evaluate the economic situation and we know it’s better to get things in Panama.
• I suggest before you come to Panama to be clear what are going to do for living, you are a young couple, so I don’t know if you are planning to get a job here or to come as an investor and put your own business. It will depend what do you plan to do. All the process to get a house and where it’s not difficult, of course takes time and you should come first to see by yourself.

I hope I can help you, if you have any further questions, do not doubt to ask.
Bye, Yatzi

Hi Bob,

The area you are looking for it's just beautiful, I mean Isla Grande, it's a paradise, but let me tell you there are no good schools in Colon Area, how old are your kids?? It's a nice place to retire but I will not suggest for your kids. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Bye, Yatzi

Hi Yatzi,
My daughter is 10 and my son will be 16 in september, he wants to do his bachillerato so finding a school for him could prove difficult. He was thinking about joing the Royal Air Force at 16, but when we said we were thinking of moving ,he decide he wanted to come and finish school in Panama.
Why wouldn't you suggest it for the kids, is it because its to quite around Portobello and there won't be much for them to do or some other reason?.
Are all the good schools centred around Panama City or is that just mainly the private schools?.
Do you sell rural property or only city? if you do, do you have a web site and could you give me the address?
Regards Bob.

Hi Bob,
I don't know what happened but I answered you today in the morning. It doesn't matter, I will repeat it. As I mentioned before there are no goods and private schools in Portobelo, so I consider will be not a good education for your kids also they will get bored. Yes, I sell rural property and in the city, so to help you in getting one you can tell me specifically what do you want and how much you are planning to invest. You can write me to ichi_24@hotmail.com for any other questions.

Best Regards,
Yatzi