From a Fantasy to a Decision

As many of you know (because I’ve been posting about it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the last couple of months), my new travel adventure is moving to Panama.  For the past three years, my life has been in somewhat of a holding pattern.  While my divorce opened the door, I had three more important things that I wanted to give my attention to before leaving the country; I wanted to finish and publish my first book, and I wanted to be with my mom and my dog through the end of their lives.  

In November 2020, HATT (Husband at the Time) walked away from our marriage. In October 2022, my beautiful 97-1/2-year-old mom, Barbara, passed away, in January 2023, my precious 16-year-old furbaby, Katie, crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge, and in June 2023, my book, “No Blame, No Shame | Living an Empowered Life after Divorce” was published. 

My daughter and grandchildren are spread out from Washington State to Minnesota to Florida, all have busy lives of their own, I rarely see them more than once a year, anyway  And although my three siblings are in Arizona, they are busy with grandchildren and great-grandchildren of their own, too.  I’m the only one without daily or even weekly family activities or responsibilities.

Two other considerations were transitioning my Center of Universal Light (CUL) to new directors and finding my replacement at the Old Town Center for the Arts (OTCA) theater.  I wanted to make sure that I left CUL in good financial shape and that the ticketing and volunteer management of the next OTCA concert season was in good hands.  By June 2023, all loose ends were tied up just in time for the first vacation of my adult life to Belize for three weeks and my two-week scouting trip to Panama. There was no longer anything to keep me energetically tied to Cottonwood, Arizona.

I mentioned that my life was in a holding pattern since the divorce, but I didn’t realize it until I was nearly finished writing my book.  So, when all the other pieces of my life fell into place, I rewrote my life story.  Nine months later, I’m living that story and embarking on a new adventure.  

If you’re considering an international move, all I can say is research, research, research!  There are so many things to consider – Cost-of-living, Visa options and requirements, weather, lifestyle, healthcare, quality of life, safety, activities, and taxes, just to name a few.

So before you make any decisions, watch videos of each place, and talk to others who have lived there because living there is a whole different experience from visiting.  Read news articles, find out work opportunities or limitations, join related Facebook and other special interest groups in the area, and check for any State Department alerts.  Decide what your deal-makers and deal-breakers are.  My primary interests are beachfront living, a multi-cultural community that includes ex-pats from all over the world, speaking Spanish, pickleball, and the cost of living.  

When you start narrowing it down, imagine a “day in the life” in detail.  Run the video Imagine shopping, traveling the area, entertainment, or, God forbid, what you would do if any serious health issues arose.

Lastly, don’t move because you hate where you’re at or you think the country is going to crap, move because it’s an adventure, something to be explored, embraced, and cherished.  As of this writing, I have more years behind me than in front of me, so one morning, standing in front of the mirros, I asked myself, “WTF are you waiting for?”  When the answer came down to “nothing,” I knew it was time to go!

In my next blog, I’ll share more details about the factors to take into consider in deciding where to move.