So You Want to Move to Central America?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? YOU ARE GOING TO GET US KILLED!" the anguished scream was coming from our Costa Rican guide for the day, Ronald, who was white knuckling in the back seat. In hindsight, that was rich coming from a Central American driver! All we did was follow the (Canadian) law which dictates that when coming up behind a stopped school bus, all traffic must stop. Apparently, not in Costa Rica. When we explained why we stopped, he was puzzled; it made no sense to him. So we commented that is was to prevent children from getting hit by cars passing the bus. "That's crazy!", he said, "In Costa Rica we teach our children to look for cars!"

DING!!! Darren and I looked at each other. Oh My God! Common sense is not dead; it moved to Costa Rica! That was the moment when we decided to move there when we retired. The 5 year plan was born.

Yes, I know; I am in Panama. Bear with me!

I am a Canadian who hates winter. Not a good combination and one of the main reasons why Central America appealed to me. Even though I started teaching in 1982, life had a few bumps in the road for me which precluded my ever obtaining a full teachers' pension unless I taught until I was 75....not going to happen. My husband is 5 years older than I am, so we decided that when I hit 60, we would get out of the rat race. Even with both of our pensions, staying in Canada meant only surviving; the cost of living is just too high. I wanted more out of my retirement. Darren did not really care, but more on that later.

I was a burnt out high school teacher. As much as I loved my kids, I could no longer give them what they needed from me. Too many needy kids and only so much of me to go around, especially as I had to deal with my own anxiety / depressive disorder. The system is failing our young people; I knew I had to get out. I had gained 100 lbs in 10 years; much of it stress weight. I was exhausted by 6:00 and often asleep. Exercise was not on the agenda. I could not afford to have a horse; horses had been my passion since I was 6 months old. Travel would be out of the question if we stayed in Canada for retirement. Something had to change.

Our first trip to Costa Rica in February 2012 was an eye opener. We met people who had made the move, started their lives over; reinvented themselves. The warmth, the sea (the swimmable sea!), the environment, the people, the natural beauty, the horses (everywhere!) all blew our minds. Life seemed so much simpler there; like the Canada of my childhood. When we returned to Canada, I started doing my homework.

I guess the first question you have to ask yourself is, "Do I want to leave everything and everyone that I know and love and move somewhere far away?". The second question would be, "Why?".

I have listed some of the main reasons why I did. But one of the biggest ones for me, was the threat of sheer and utter boredom with the status quo year after year. Darren and I are both only children; his dad. Mel, is 93 and lives in a Veterans' home where is known as Mr. Wonderful! My son, Neal is 25 and an only child and Darren's daughter, Jocey, also an only child is 35. We do not have an extended family; we are close in our own ways, but weekly Sunday dinners are not part of lives. I could not see a rich and interesting life for me if I stayed in Canada. Darren is an introvert. He built his house in 1975 and has never lived anywhere else. He and his wife raised their daughter there; his first wife passed away there. He knew no other way of life. I, on the other hand, was a roamer from the time I was 18. I wanted to travel; see the world. After my first degree (B.A in History / English),I lived all over Canada working with horses for 2 of our National riders, studying photography in Toronto, and I finally returned to school and got my B.Ed. I was used to moving around. I moved back to NS from 5 years of teaching in BC. I was there from 1987 to 2017 - the longest period I had ever stayed in one province..although there was much moving around in those years. So there was conflict between Darren and I on this move. Fortunately, he hates a lot about NS, too, and he decided to give it a go. At times, it was rocky, but we made it. I mention this because, if you are in a relationship, it would really help if you are both on the same page! Darren really did not think that all of our talking would ever materialize into reality. He was more than a bit shocked when it did.

So I started researching areas of CR and Panama. As I had a connection now in CR, my friend, Debbie who owns and operates a fantastic Eco Lodge in the La Fortuna area called Leaves and Lizards ( https://www.leavesandlizards.com), I focused more on CR. I studied their residency requirements; I watched real estate ad; I started learning basic Spanish and investigating the various areas of CR. In 2013, I returned to Leaves and Lizards to take part in a 5 day riding trek. In 2014, Darren and I went back again and rented a small casita in the mountains near San Ramon. We investigated the medical system and really liked that area as it was only a. hour away from the coast. Problem was, we were about 5 years too late for affordability. House rentals and prices were skyrocketing. Also, CR does not offer any incentives whatsoever to make it easier to move there. Their bureaucracy is nightmare to navigate. They will even tax you on your own possessions if you bring them with you. We came back with more questions than we went with.

In 2015 I returned to Leaves and Lizards to take part in their Equine Therapy program and to recharge my batteries. I loved it there, but I could not seem to find my niche. In 2016, Darren and I rented a rustic cabin on a dairy farm owned by a great Tico family and stayed for one month. We experienced a lot in that month; we even considered that this might be the place. We spent our last 4 days on the Nicoya Peninsula which is the main beach area. We stayed with the author of "Happier Than a Billionaire!, Nadine Hays Pisani and her husband at their gorgeous B&B in Playa Flamingo; this is an invaluable and hilarious read (http://www.happierthanabillionaire.com). The second night we were there, we ate a small beach restaurant and Darren got food poisoning. Rule of thumb: when on the Coast eat fish, not chicken! My poor husband suffered for 4 days; I put my back out getting hit by a wave and the flight home was with United - do I need to say more? We were not in good spirits, and he was vowing never to return to CR. I saw my retirement dreams being blown to bits.

So now I was in what was supposed to be my last year of teaching, and we did not have a firm plan. It was a very bad year for teachers in NS for many reasons, and I was extremely depressed and demoralized. My friend, Debbie in CR, told me to "put it out to the Universe!" She reminded me that Panama had always been 2nd on my list; check it out. So I did! One evening after a few drinks, I sat down at the computer and typed in "rental properties in Chiriqui, Panama". I hit the first link that came up and saw "River Ranch: Casita for rent.". River Ranch - water and horses!! I emailed the owner; she was looking for a long term tenant then, but said to keep in touch. I did. The rest is history. We sold everything; moved our address and 2 Golden Retrievers to Darren's daughter's place in Calgary and landed in Panama on Sept 29, 2017. What a ride!

Steps to Follow if you are SURE you want to do this!

1. Boots on the ground several times before you decide. First hand experience of a place is a must. That being said, we had never been to Panama, but knew the climate and culture would be the same as CR where I went 5 times. Check out the various regions; there are so many micro-climates here that, if you have the $, you can pick your temp. There is a group that does tours of Panama for people thinking of relocating; I have been told they provide an invaluable service!
https://panamarelocationtours.com

2. $ - We are Canadian so we get hit $.20 to $.30 on every dollar we spend. If you are American, you are gold! Despite the claims of International Living (if they are writing about it, it is already becoming too expensive), I would say that for a couple to have a decent life here, you would need a base income of $3000.00 per month for both of you. YES, you can live cheaper if you do not have a car and forgo eating out.

3. RENT!! Everything is for sale where we are (near Boquete). Some great deals; some for $700,000. Speculators have ruined this area for budget minded people. That being said, we have friends who house sit for Snowbirds. They rotate between 5 houses on a regular basis and live in some spectacular places. Buying a place is not in our budget; even if it was, I would hesitate. But no matter what, do not just fall in love with a place and buy it on impulse. Rent here for at least a year; experience the wet and dry seasons. February and March were brutal with heat. We were hoping to move higher up, but both properties that could house a horse fell through. Maybe next dry season!

4. Know the Residency procedure and what your ultimate goal is. Do you want to Snowbird? Most provinces in Canada will allow you 7 months out of the country per year. We still pay our taxes in Canada and have our permanent address there. We chose to get the Panamanian Pensionado Visa. This way we have permanent residency and do not have to leave the country every 90 days ( and they are getting very sticky about people who do that chronically). There are great perks as well to this status. So far it has cost us (lawyer and trips to Panama City) about $5000 US. We will have our final E Cedula (permanent card) in 3 weeks ( 9 months in total..not bad!)

http://www.panama-offshore-services.com/retired_pensioned_program.htm

I can not stress enough the importance of doing the paperwork at home BEFORE you come. I had all my documents in order and stamped through the Panamanian Embassy in Ottawa before I came here. Handed my file over to my lawyer whom I can highly recommend, and he has taken very good care of us.
Valentín Martínez Vásquez | Abogado / Attorney at Law

Martínez-Acha & Asociados | Calle 50, Edificio P.H. Torre Global, Piso 12, Oficina N° 1206

Tel.: (507) 214-8708 | Fax: (507) 214-8709

Email: martinez-acha@cwpanama.net | P.O. Box 0832-01523, Panamá, República de Panamá

5. Culture Shock - Lower your standards! I am not saying that to be nasty or derogatory, but many people come here and expect it to be "just like home". It's not! The power goes out..a LOT...sometimes for 12 hours..and you have NO idea why. Boquete has water outages. We are on a phenomenal well, so we do not get affected by that. The drivers are nuts...utterly....and no, the 410 through Ontario and Quebec is not as bad! The roads are narrow and windy and sometimes people just park in the middle of them. Customer service is getting better with more expats living here, but it can still be iffy. China has a huge presence here so almost everything in the stores is made there. Panamanians love their holidays LOUD! Booming music, fire crackers, roosters crowing until all hours of the mornings. We live well out in the country so we avoid that for the most part, but it is something to be aware of if you are thinking that the cheap rental in a typical neighborhood looks like a good deal. But we make up for our tranquillity with a very bad, rocky, steep, nasty road. For us 4 Wheel drive is a necessity. The Internet can be spotty and sometimes getting a cell signal is impossible.

6. Medical - We have been fortunate that the only medical issue we have had was. stomach bug in Dec. Office call - $12 per person 3 prescriptions - $33 per person. Done. I am keeping my Canadian residency current so if anything serious happens, we can go back, but I know many people who have separate Medical Insurance.

7. Know what you want your life to look like! I had a very clear picture in my mind of what I wanted for my retirement: a horse, beach, no snow, traveling. As I said before, staying in Canada would have negated all of that. I even considered giving up Canadian residency completely, but the government would have insisted that we liquidate all of our assets and then taken 2/3. Nah...I'll pay my taxes to the crooks! Here, we rent a 5 acre property with incredible grounds and a swimming hole to die for (once to rains start again). The house has some issues that we can live with so we pay low rent $550 per month ( typical rent would be $700 and up) plus electricity ($75 av) , Internet - $100 for 4megs and Cell phones $50 for both of us. I bought my horse in December and love him to death. I can keep him here on the property and have the use of a field at the top of our (very long) driveway. I am surrounded by nature, birds, iguanas. One day, almost 3 months ago now, I came home after riding to find a terrified, shaggy waif of a dog hiding behind a rock in our river. You can read about Rio, if you want to in another blog on there. He is such a delight! I am living an adventure so I am not bored; yet the pace of life is so laid back. I can be as busy as I want to be here, or not! We are coming back to Canada for Jocey's wedding in September and will be in Halifax and Calgary for awhile. The end of next April we are going to Europe and I have other trips planned for the next 4 years. We have Pacific beaches within a 1.5 hour drive from us and the Caribbean (Bocas del Toro) 4 hours away, so beach days are frequent. Boquete is 25 minutes one way and David, the 2ns largest city, is 25 minutes the other way, so we have everything close by. Panama City is a 45 minute flight or a 6 hour drive. I am a lucky woman. Darren is not as happy as I am, but he knows that he would feel the same anywhere. He is just that kinda guy; he completely supports me in what I am doing and is even warming up to my horse, lol, but he is just the kind of person who would rather stay at home than go out. When I can get him out, though, he has fun here. Darren's happy place is the beach: swimming, walking, ATVing, so we go a lot! We have met a great bunch of people, mostly expats, and I have made some great friends. Healthwise, I have lost 40 pounds in 8 months and am in better shape than I have been for years.

I think I have covered everything. Would I do it again? YES! If you have any questions, feel free to msg me on FB or here. Good luck and, if you want to, stay tuned. Heavens knows what we will get up to next!