Two Little Expats

It’s us again. We’re still around.

We've been hanging out, resting up, and taking some time to rehash our hopes and directions.

What is it we’re looking for?

Cooking a great dinner feels like home.

A loving puppy dog feels like home.

If we could live ANYPLACE, where would that be - and why?

We started our journey with a list of desirable qualities we’re looking for in a long term, way-cool place to hang our hats.

That list included things like:

Favorable immigration policies.
Our adopted country needs to be kind to us. The kinder, the better. Do they make it difficult to renew visas? Are their residency requirements complicated? Will they charge hefty import taxes on personal belongings? Are household pets welcome?

Favorable taxation policies.
The IRS taxes the income of all US citizens living anywhere in the world, including social security and pensions. We can’t afford a foreign country of residence to also tax that same income.

Affordable daily living.
Can we agree that the cost of living in the US is too high? We need our food, gas, utilities, medical costs, housing, and transportation costs to be much lower.

Affordable real estate.
Has the real estate boom already hit? Have hoards of expats already driven the prices sky high?

Agreeable climate.
Moderate temperature, humidity, and rain. Lots of sunshine!

Spanish language.
Just our preference, because we have a good head start.

Good medical care.
We can’t fly to the US for every little medical issue. We need quality medical care, inexpensive medical costs, and affordable medical insurance.

Internet connection.
No internet connection, no life. Period. Screw the phone. I want internet. I don't care about high speed and it doesn't even have to work all the time. Internet is our work, our play, our source of information, and our telephone.

Community.
A nebulous concept, but for us, daily contact with enjoyable people is at the core of it. Anything becomes possible from there.

Water.
A source of natural, clean, fresh, unpolluted water.

Plants.
A place to have a garden with fruit and nut trees.

Friends and family.
A place that our friends and family will WANT to visit.

At various points each of these considerations has been a deal-breaker. So we move on ...

But Wait, There's MORE!

Since making our original list we've covered a lot of territory, and some new considerations and intangibles are on the radar. Things we had not even considered before.

For example, we do not enjoy feeling like freaks. Some areas that satisfy all our criteria are populated with people that look a lot different from us. We stand out - REALLY stand out – and we do not enjoy being a zoo attraction.

Then there's those doggone disease carrying bugs. When there is a threat of a truly icky problem, preventative chemicals like DEET can be used. But not for the rest of our lives. That's just not healthy. So, what are the bugs and what are the options?

And another thing, when people act "nice" towards us, are they wearing a mask? Or are they being open, friendly, caring, expressive, and helpful? An attitude of open sincerity is of grand importance to us.

Nobody would move to a place that's way too hot or too cold. But we did not expect to encounter places with a windy season that lasts four friggin’ months! The kind of wind that whips off branches, shreds flowers, and batters the productivity out of fruit trees and gardens. (Talkin' 'bout you: Volcan & Lake Arenal!)

Being from Seattle, we consider ourselves climate refugees. So it is an uncomfortable irony that everyone in Panama is now bracing for the tropical rainy season. Rumor has it that daily rain storms turn roads to mud and batter the bejesus out of gardens - all while the temperature remains perfectly pleasant. We'll let you know how this scene plays out.

Now that we've processed our feelings, we can ADMIT that Ecuador had a huge garbage problem. Litter was everywhere. It shows a lack of pride, responsibility, and respect for the environment. Simply put, it's a bad indicator about a place. Colombia was definitely much better. Costa Rica was such a relief - to land there on this trip and find that it's CLEAN - for the most part. Panama, not so much.

My personal indicator for assessing personal hygiene is NOT how people appear on the street. Go into a restaurant and check out the bathroom. Is there hot water and soap? (Think: reduction in food-borne illnesses like typhoid fever.) Some countries are better than others. Costa Rica is excellent. Panama is better than many.

Extreme poverty means despair, filth, disease. That's rough stuff, regardless how low the cost of living is. Unless we can make a difference and change the situation, do we really want to live next door to it?

How many English speaking foreigners is too many? In some towns they've literally taken over and marginalized the native people. Sometimes the foreigners ebb and flow with the seasonal tourist flood, and sometimes they are permanent residents. Though we clearly enjoy our American, Canadian, and European friends, subjugating the colonies is not on our agenda.