Panama Expat Forum

mcompton1973
Joined 2019
Posts: 4

4 years ago

Costa Rica, Panama....Orrrrrrr......(warning...long)

4 years ago

I will post this in a couple of places to get a variety of responses.

I am 46...buisiness owner in Oklahoma...I am by no means rich...but we do OK. I am also a partially disabled USMC vet. Wife and I moved to Oklahoma about 6.5 years ago. We wanted the warmer weather (compared to Omaha).

Now we realized 2 things...1...not warmer enough. 2...We discovered clear water beaches. See...I have been to beaches in California...beaches in North Carolina...Beaches in Texas...East coast of Florida...They were all 'nice' then I found the emerald coast in Florida. The clear water...I swam with a sea turtle, watched dolphins play...nice, soft sand to walk on...and I realized...I NEED to be on the beach. Not 2 miles from the beach. Not across the street from the beach...I need to sit on a porch or balcony and drink coffee and see and hear waves. Now, I am planning the next stage of my life...living on a beach, and not working 80-90 hours a week.

Currently, we live out in the boonies...30 minutes from a walmart..20 minutes to a gas station...an hour from a real hospital. We are on 40 acres, we have horses, goats my wife milks, a garden and too many dogs and cats. The problem is my wife now has IC...a chronic and painful bladder condition...and here on the ranch...she pushes herself and needs to slow down and quit working so hard...so again...all things point to back to the beach.

So now it is figuring out WHERE to live. We will not go outside the America's...Asia/Europe is out. I have looked at CR, Panama, Ecuador, Honduras (islands), Belize (Islands) more seriously than any other places. Ecuadors political instability takes it out. Honduras and Belize scare me a little....but the quality of medical care is what really counts those out for me. My wife doesnt need to be by a Hospital...she doesnt need 20/7 care or anything. She has a few prescriptions and 3 times a year she needs a relatively minor procedure that we currently drive over an hour to get done at a surgical center in Tulsa by a urologist.

Seems like that leaves me with CR and Panama? Any other suggestions?

We are looking for an easier life...so no big property with a bunch of animals...we are thinking of an apartment or a condo on a beach where we are close to sailing, snorkeling and creatures. We are really not social people very much...I am in sales, and make friends easy, my wife is much harder to get to know people...we are not partiers...we are generally keep to ourselves people...but a lot of that has to do with crappy people. hahaha. We wont be total loaners...but we are content to just hang out with each other also.

I am just looking for thoughts...am I on the right track. Is Panama for any reason better for our situation? Can you think of other places I should look into? Did I eliminate something I should not have based on false info? Any thoughts on anything I wrote? I wrote a lot...because I figure the more you know, the better answers I will get.

Thank you.

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