Latest Expat Stories

Coiba Island really is a hidden paradise in Panama.  The largest island in Central America, it is located between the Azuero Peninsula and the Costa Rican boarder.  A former jail and surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, it is an oasis to intellectuals, adventurers or scientists who want to really discover a beautiful place.

 

Coiba Is an isolated, protected island that can only be visited with special permit from the ANAM, (the...

It is 83 degrees in my bedroom with all the doors and windows open, the black beach dog is up to her neck checking the gillnet for fish as the tide comes and the endless cycle continues. The dogs don't realize that my watchman has already claimed the half dozen green jacks that were caught overnight

and probably eaten them already. Timing is everything on the beach, if you miss the tide you have to walk to my house and carry the groceries bought back in the world of grocery...

I don't spend all of my time in Boquete, even though it is a very easy place to live with lots of good places to eat and the nice weather and cool temperatures there are times I need a little beach. Just two hours southwest of my home in the mountains is Limones, a little beach town that is home to Hooked on Panama, a gringo fishing resort that is finally getting the recognition it deserves and a few local fishermen and a few cowboys, and a couple of rice farmers. Having been born on Cape...

For 65 million years, the world has changed, and those in the human race interacted with one another.  People change where they live for convenience, and most of all, for personal choices, and to seek happiness and quality of life.

 

From personal experience, after having been an expat in the US for 23 years myself, I can surely and candidly say that moving to a different country which brings you their best and opens their doors for you is a gift.  Not everyone can...

Sometimes when people hear about Colon, Panama they quickly think "not Colon, that's not where I want to be".  That is what I thought years ago when I arrived in Panama at the Port of Colon on a cruise ship. The cruise ship posted cautions about going into the City of Colon.  The ship did offer many side-tours from the Port of Colon, however.

 

Back then on the cruise ship - 1985 if I remember correctly, all I needed to hear was one thing ... don't...

The first time I visited Panama I was on a mission to see as much of the country as I possibly could on that trip.  I was a Real Estate Broker in Las Vegas, Nevada (so I knew properties and values fairly well).

 

I found that Panama was similar in many respects to what I knew about Las Vegas.  Different areas had different values depending on various factors.   On my first trip I wanted to see the Southern Caribbean Coast as well as the rest of Panama.

 

Shortly after Any (my wife) and I finished building our new home in Panama, Any's  three children and her mother came for a visit from Colombia.  We had a great visit for Christmas and the New year at our home on the Caribbean side of Panama.

 

It was a little bit confusing for me, but no big deal (because of the language differences) and we settled in as a bigger family.  It was fun and interesting for me and I enjoyed her children very much.  I decided that since...

I have been an adventurer for many years.  I sold my house and most of my stuff at age 42, bought a travel trailer and tow vehicle and traveled for three years, living in the trailer, then a 5th wheel and finally a motorhome.

 

My wife and I then formed an RV tour company which became a worldwide operation.  We sold the tour company in 2000.  I fiddled around with different things (including being a real estate broker in Las Vegas) for awhile   .... and then I...

I moved to Panama about seven years ago.  I thought differently (much differently) when I first moved to this interesting, fun filled, beautiful and different country.  When I first came to Panama, I thought like an American. 

 

I thought I could get things done like I used to in the USA.  I was wrong, very wrong back then.  I thought a lot of the laws, rules of living, customs, do's and don't's would be the same .... They aren't!  Panama is Latin America, not USA...

I have lived in Panama for nearly seven years with my wife Any.  We have a beautiful home on the Caribbean side (known as the Gold Coast), near the town of Portobello, Colon.

 

I spent three years researching Panama before my first visit and I brought six people to Panama on my first visit.  I thought the people who came here with me were interested in moving to Panama, but they were much more interested in golfing than discovering the country. 

 

My...