Higher Standard of Living. . .Same Budget

It's the maid's turn

Interest in living overseas is exploding. How do I know this? Not from any government study. . . In the past few days, Live and Invest Overseas has announced their new conference schedule for the upcoming year, and to say it’s jam-packed is an understatement. After promoting the spring conference as their only Panama event [...]

“I’ll Take ‘Panama’ for $1,000, Alex. . .”

el centro, David, Panama

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 [...]

“That’s Unpatriotic — Moving to Panama”

Mother-In-Law's Tongue Pasta

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 [...]

Why You Should NEVER Attend an Expat Conference

traditional Panamanian dancer

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 [...]

Eco-Tourism, Charity and Shopping in Panama

Municipal Mercado, David, 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 [...]

On My Way to Panama

Chiriqui Highlands, Panama

By the time you read this, I’ll be tossing the last few items into my suitcase and heading for the airport. Today I fly to Panama to attend the Live & Invest in Panama conference, followed by a week exploring the country. This is the culmination of a decision made in January, just a couple [...]

Let Total Strangers Plan Your Trip

copa_socialicons

My husband and I are going to Panama in a couple months to see whether it’s someplace we’d like to live, so I’ve been spending a lot of time planning our scouting trip. Not surprisingly, not every little hotel in the country has a website (at least, not in English). Since we don’t want to [...]

How to Plan Your First Expat Scouting Trip

scouting the territory

(Continued from How Do You Plan for the Unknown?) So you’ve decided to move to another country, you’ve done tons of research, and you’ve narrowed down your country choices. The next step is a big one — scouting out your country of choice. Ideally, you’ll be able to spend two weeks to a month exploring [...]

How Do You Plan for the Unknown?

Starship Enterprise

The unknown. . . it can be exciting, exhilarating or paralyzing. Even when we’re excited that we might “boldly go where no man has gone before,” there’s usually a bit of terror lurking in the background. In this internet era, with easy access to satellite photos and maps of the entire globe, there’s not much [...]

Can You Build a Solid House from this Blueprint?

blueprint

Recently I purchased a publication that promised to be roadmap for expats, something that would quickly take us, step by step, through our journey from our native homes to our lives abroad. Instead of the AAA Triptik I was expecting, however, I got an envelope full of “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” from Mrs. [...]