More Q&A

One of the things I enjoy most about lecturing on cruise ships is the Q&A. If there is no rehearsal for the evening show, I usually show up in the show room 15 minutes early and “warm up” the audience and myself by taking questions. It’s fun and spontaneous. I love it and more importantly the guests love it. And I love it when people email me questions or drop them into the comment link below. I try to either respond via email or in a future blog. Thanks for your interest!

Along with the others, I commend you on an excellent blog of the highs and lows of living in Panama. I have spent the better of the week and all day this past Sunday reading your entire site. I can hardly wait to get things tied up here and make the move. We are mid-50’s (hubby-to-be and I) looking to move permanently to the Boquete/Volcan area. The idea of permanent retirement is not what we want though. He has been in construction/metal working/engine repair. I am retired Air Force and went back to school and became a nurse. We’ve talked of building and buying ready-made. The question we have thought about is driving down hauling a 5th wheel to live in until we decide. How feasible would that be in your opinion? Of the insurances you havewritten about, I didn’t see anything about home owner’s and vehicle insurance, surely those exist there but at what general cost? We are of the mind to come there with very few household items and basically start from scratch. The exception would be all his tools, plasma cutter and welding equipment which would be shipped in hopes of his being able to set up another shop once there. For myself, I’d like to volunteer my nursing skills if there is a clinic needing someone for wound care, injections or the like. One other thing, in one of the entries you warned people to stay away from the American cigarettes at $10 a carton… other than the obvious reasons of smoking not good for you is there another reason you didn’t elaborate on?? Please keep up the good words of advice and pictures of your home’s progress…it is beginning to look very beautiful. Janet

Hey Janet, thanks for the compliment . . . and reading the whole site . . . WOW!

First, cigarettes. You’re a nurse so you know that they are poison. Aside from that, we live in this wonderful town with fresh air, water from deep in the volcano, lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruits . . . why would anyone smoke, even if cigarettes were cheap by American standards? Fortunately Panama has followed the lead of many states in the US and banned smoking in public places.

You will find some expats who retire in Boquete who just sit around and read all day and maybe drink too much – not that there is anything wrong with reading, enjoying our great $3 wines from Chile, Argentina and South Africa, and enjoying Panamanian rum in moderation.  [And, yes, we have an AA group.]  But, like most of the Boomer generation, most expat retirees in Boquete are busy doing what they want to do.  For most of us being retired isn’t being inactive or uninvolved, but it’s doing what you want to do and exploring new horizons and developing new interests.  There’s a couple from Canada . . . she’s the “Muffin Lady” . . . they have a tiny bakery and make the most delicious treats.  He’s the primary baker . . . and in the afternoon you see them walking around town selling their baked goods.  That’s not for everyone, but they seem to be having a ball.  Then there’s “Pappa Ricco”, a crusty Italian dude from Northern Jersey who has retired from the restaurant biz – Italian, Northern Jersey – it’s OK, he seems to encourage the speculation – and he has opened a tiny little Italian place called . . . you got it, “Pappa Ricco’s”.  But he is having fun.

There are lots and lots of opportunities to become involved.  The spay neuter clinics are a good example.  There is a group developing a hospice program.  Another group is raising money for a local orphanage.   Last night my wife rehearsed with the Boquete choral group.  We have an active amateur theater group that is looking for an old building to convert into a little performing arts center. 

There are folks here who have plenty of money . . . who easily ante up $25,000 to join the Valle Escondido Country Club and eat out every night.  And there are others, like us, who haveto live, maybe not frugally, but certainly cautiously.   The expat population here is reflective of the US population as a whole – maybe a little more adventurous! – but . . . straights, gays, right-wingers, libertarians, whites, people of color, wealthy, trying to make ends meet . . . we’ve got ‘em all.  One guy in town, his partner makes and sells bagels and sour dough bread, has great dread locks.  There’s another guy who runs a very nice apartment rental operation for folks who want to come down and rent a while to check things out: he looks like your stereotype Harley Davidson biker.  We have retired CEOs, cops, gamblers, race car drivers, professors, physicians, military, nerds . . . you name it.  We are a fun, diverse and adventurous group from all over the world. 

And the locals . . . Gnobe Bugle Indians who are kind, gracious, unassuming . . . the women walking around in their bright colored dresses.  Panamanians who are welcoming, accepting and very patient with our stumbling Spanish and backassward tenses.  But our locals aren’t just Panamanians . . . they are Chiricanos.  Chiriqui is older than Panama and is a very independent and unique part of the country.  And the locals aren’t just Panamanians, and Chiricanos, they are Boquetanos . . . all very unique and proud designations.  Boquete has been a multicultural community of expats and Panamanians since it began and you will find old Panamanian families with names like Watson, Wilson and Collins whose ancestors came from England almost a hundred years ago.  So Boquete has a very unique and special mix of people.

I don’t know about the fifth wheel.  Maybe others will chime in.  I was taking a shortcut from David to the Pan American Highway on my way to Panama and the VOLENDAM, when in the middle of “nowhere” I saw two big ass, brand new motor homes sitting beside the road, and two perplexed looking gringo couples with maps.  They rigs had Florida plates!  These folks were a long way from Florida!  So I stopped and asked if they were OK.  They just needed some directions.  They had driven down from Florida!  Unfortunately we were on a bend of the road where it wasn’t safe to havea long conversation, but I did find out that they had enjoyed a great trip with no complications.

If you are planning to bring down a fifth wheel I’d do a LOT of research into customs, duties and border crossings, since I suspect it ain’t easy.  And I also suspect it would be difficult to bring a lot of tools in without paying hefty duty.  You might do better to rent or buy a small, inexpensive, Panamanian-style home and then bring in a 20 foot container of “household goods” which would include all of your tools.  If you get a “pensionado” visa, and as retired USAF you’d have no problem, then you can bring in your “household goods” (pretty broadly defined) duty free.    You can’t be an employee here, but you can fairly easily start your own business. 

There are all kinds of insurance available here just as in the states.  A lot of us self-insure.  Fire insurance hasn’t made a lot of sense to us since we live in houses that are mostly cement and steel.