Panama Forum

JanetMermaid
Joined 2014
Posts: 2

9 years ago

Would appreciate a few recommendations

9 years ago

My husband and I are seriously looking at relocating out of the US. We've done extensive research about eastern Europe, but although we've traveled extensively we haven't lived outside the country. Starting fresh in a country so, well, FOREIGN, might not be the best idea. We switched our focus to Central/South America and Panama keeps popping to the top of the stack.

I'm not asking for a whole bunch of advice but the number of "helpful" web sites is overwhelming. Can some of you help me pare down to the sites that are actually factual and up to date? Our biggest questions are the following, and we've found contradictions on all of them.

I'd love to hear your personal experiences and if your expectations are being met, I just don't want to come off as trying to get everyone else to do my research for me.

Questions we are researching:

1. Expected cost of living. I know this varies by lifestyle. We are simple. It's just the two of us. No kids. We enjoy a few shows now and then. We don't drink much. We live a pretty quiet lifestyle but we don't want to be hermits either.

2. Best region to focus on if you prefer more arts-oriented infrastructure. We are both 60 and have done thousands of dives. Although we might still dive a beach lifestyle isn't that important anymore. We'd rather have more variety.

3. Healthcare costs and quality. We've seen contradictory information about healthcare. I have a chronic problem that is not (now) life threatening but does require decent healthcare. That's one of the biggest reason we are looking to relocate.

4. Private airplanes. Eric owns a small plane. Could we bring it? Are there "commuter" or small airports? Are there private pilots?

Those are the biggest things we're looking at. We can research food, climate, etc. It's the above that we're finding difficult to nail down current factual data so appreciate any help. Thanks!

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