Moving to panama

Kerley5, What area in Panama have you decided on?

Thank you so much for replying to my post. We were thinking around San Carlos or even further down the coast from Coronado or maybe even David/Boquete or hills. We are really wide open but have to make sure education continues as my kids excel in school my oldest 12 is gifted and had the highest scores in ten years at his elementary school when he left 5th grade to go to middle school and he was doing 8th grade studies in 6th grade now he is in 7th and is in all advanced classes. As well our other two are always on the honor roll, so that is important to us as you can imagine. We would love to talk or correspond with any expats who have kids but will be glad to take help/advice on this big change coming in our lives from those with experience.

Sincerely,

thank you,

Gene

Hey Kerley5, I live right down the road in Duluth Georgia, and our current plan is to move to Panama when my daughter finishes middle school in 4 years. I know that a lot can change until then, but I will be retired and have several pensions coming in at that time. I am also looking to locate in a community that will allow my gifted daughter to continue to excel in school. I know that it will be a private school and the cost isn't really as big of a consideration as performance is. We are planning to have our first visit in April of next year when we all are going to explore as a family, with several days scheduled to explore PC, the pacific coast, and the mountains. I know it will only be a taste, but I hope to get a good "feel" for at least a couple of areas, so when we go back the following year (2015) we can also look at a few schools in areas that we have seen.

I am looking for a retirement community but unsure as to what part of Panama to look. Any suggestions?

First to Kerley5 :- I might be able to help you in a number of ways but this is not a commercial forum.

To gary_decker the city is good but outside of the city there's Cerro Azul (mountain); Coronado (beach); Altos de Maria (mountain) and El Valle (mountain). There are also several golf resorts if that's your hobby.  Further away from Panama there's Pedasi (near beaches) and Boquete (high mountains and cool), and on the Caribbean there's Bocas del Toro (islands).

To slash5john  going to explore a bit sounds like a very wise ideaa. I hope you have a great time.

http://thestayathomegringo.blogspot.com … chool.html  Check Chris's post on getting kids into school. He's in Panama City.

We're in David, and I can connect you with a good, ethical realtor in David/Boquete area. If you don't want to deal with realtors your best bet is to spend time here, make connections, ask around, look on the supermarket bulletin board, etc. I could tell you if we happen to see a for rent sign on our bike rides, but beyond that, I don't know much.

Have you researched working here? If you need a job maybe that is more pressing the housing? I'm retired so I haven't looked into this at all, but I have heard that jobs here are for Panamanians and only open to others if they can't fill something from inside. But, in your favor there is a labor shortage, and bilingual people are much appreciated. Also, keep in mind that paychecks here are generally quite different from what we are used to in the US.

Open a business? The most unhappy expats I know are ones who tried to open a business. That's challenging in the best of circumstances and here you have a different culture, laws, customs, language, mentality, and other factors that make it even more challenging.

What do you hope to gain by moving to Panama? I can see how it could be a great experience for kids, but it sounds like you have a lot of factors to work out to pull it all together.

Kris

kerley5 wrote:

First, thank you creating this forum. We hope we will be able to benefit and help others benefit from it eventually. We are looking to relocate our family to Panama and are looking to connect with current expats families whom have already made the move whether it be from USA or elsewhere. We are looking for some direction on schooling as well as housing. We are planning on renting first then potentially buying or doing long term rental. I am planning on coming over in October of this year to look for rental properties but want to have someone there looking for me (expat) not Realtor as I am told that is the best way. Also, we will either want one of us to work or open a business eventually. Hopefully this forum will help us start down the right path as this is a huge decision we have made and want to get it right.

Thanks,
Kerley Family

kerly5 - I am Canadian who recently lived there for a year with my hubs and young son (we're now back in Canada). We have a website on our adventures in Panama. I can totally help you with all these things, but I'd rather not do it here publicly. Do you want to email me? I'm at [email protected]. Put subject in all caps REGARDING PANAMA so I can easily spot it in my junk folder

Ok will do soon

thank you,

Kerley5

Thanks for the input. To cut to chase on the work I am not good at sitting and would like to work. I hear the same thing about opening a business.. kinda tough to do there..back to the work we financially most likely do not have/need to even with 3 kids, I have a business down to one yippie, finally, here in Georgia that I still will receive income from monthly, so what are we hoping to gain.... more of what we do not want to keep doing...same thing any town USA. We lived in Malibu on the beach in NYC in a high rise in the south in the right house in the right neighborhood and still looking for something different especially for the kids.  Just think if you knew exactly what school what college and all the in between stuff just repeated for each kid..kinda of hum drum.It seems that what has become of life in USA very cookie cutter.We love the US and we love some of the places we have lived and vacationed but it is only one country of many..

Thanks.

Thanks I wil be in touch as we pursue the move and plan our search/visits. I have a scout coming in December who is doing some leg work when he gets there for me.

I found some schools through an expat in Bouquet but was not planning to live in the rainier part of Panama or at least from what I hear, rainy I know cooler. We have a friend going in December with his wife and he is going to look at some rental properties for me just to get a feel may be to early to actually rent or make a deal. We may go over for Spring Break first week in April. I ma concerned about the High School level the most.I hear that that is the biggest issue and i f you research most schools do not go to through High School, that I saw, and the one that did are near city or expat ran and not fully accredited yet. I really see the retiree benefit there but still not seeing as easy a path fro families.. I think the reason may be apparent but I will refrain from tossing that out there. Are you concerned about HS vs Middle? Oh no pensions for me , they still have those.. you must work for a pharmaceutical or communications company LOL  oh yeah or the government. LOL

Thanks,
Gene

Gene: plenty of HS kids at PCIS in Gorgona! And they seemed to do really well. Anyway, email when you can and I can fill you in.

That's very good news that you don't have to work because that could be tough. If you want to keep busy there may be volunteer opportunities or other options. I can think of a number of things in my area. This could be wonderful for the kids. Being somewhere and experiencing it is a whole different thing from reading about it, as I'm sure you know. Living here has certainly broadened my thinking and I wish I'd had such opportunities when I was young.

Kris

kerley5 wrote:

Thanks for the input. To cut to chase on the work I am not good at sitting and would like to work. I hear the same thing about opening a business.. kinda tough to do there..back to the work we financially most likely do not have/need to even with 3 kids, I have a business down to one yippie, finally, here in Georgia that I still will receive income from monthly, so what are we hoping to gain.... more of what we do not want to keep doing...same thing any town USA. We lived in Malibu on the beach in NYC in a high rise in the south in the right house in the right neighborhood and still looking for something different especially for the kids.  Just think if you knew exactly what school what college and all the in between stuff just repeated for each kid..kinda of hum drum.It seems that what has become of life in USA very cookie cutter.We love the US and we love some of the places we have lived and vacationed but it is only one country of many..

Thanks.