Retirement research 10-7 to 10-19-13. Would like to meet for input.

my name is Glenn Baxley my wife Gayle and I Live in El Valle de Anton. We would like to meet you when you're in Panama. You stated that El Valle is expensive wait until you get to Boquette. We have a 3 bedroom 2bath house that we pay $750.00 a month, but that includes all utilities, plus internet and Satellite TV, plus a maid 2X a month plus a gardener maintains the property.  We are 2 1/2 hours from PC and 45 minutes from the coast at Coronado. My wife and have been sending updates every Thursday. If interested we can send them to you. It tells of our trip from Reno, Nevada here. Let us know if your interested.

Gayle and Glenn Baxley
[email protected]

Absolutely interested. Thank you. El Valle is the place I already love - even though I have never been there so I am hoping that Larrie (my husband) does too.

Please send them and we can keep in touch and look forward to meeting you soon.

Tina

my email address please send me yours. I prefer to email off the site.
Glenn
[email protected]

sorry it's @gmail.com.

actually I just sent to you off-site.

Thanks

My husband and I live in David and would be happy to meet you. I also have a blog (http://blog.thepanamaadventure.com/) I write quite a bit about our life here, and there's also a link for our cost of living reports. It's warmer than higher up but we're close to shopping, health care, and whatever else we need on a daily basis. For us, it's worked out really well. You can reach me directly at info (at) thePanamaAdventure (dot) com

Hi Tina,

My name is Terry Coles and my husband Clyde and I retired to Panama 2 years ago from south Texas.  We started our lives in Panama renting in Capira, about 45-min. out of Panama city.  There a 3 bed, 2 bath nice house went for $300 a month unfurnished which here means no appliances too.  Later we bought a house in Chame close to popular area of Coronado.  Although we don't live in any of the areas you're interested in, I have been writing a blog about our journey to retirement here that might help you out. For us the mountains are too cold, too rainy, too buggy and moldy too but many people love them for the spring like temps. We moved here from south TX so were used to the hot humid temps.  My blog is alongthegringotrail.blogspot.com If you go back to Sept. 2011 you can follow along on our journey from the very beginning.  Moving to a foreign country is not for everyone and has not always been easy.  But it has made it possible for us to retire in our 50's (I just turned 53) and live a cheaper life full of new adventures and new friends.  The biggest obstacle BY FAR has been learning Spanish.  We feel learning the language is necessary to live here, although we may never speak it perfectly we do try and that gains us much respect from the locals. 

Good luck in your decision and feel free to contact us through the blog with any questions that may arise.

Terry

Thank you so much for your input and I look forward to reading about your adventure. If I'm not mistaken Coronado is not that far from El Valle. I'm always looking for alternatives that may not have been on my list. Our perfect place could always turn out to be totally different than those places. Who knows? We are looking forward to checking out everything we can. Thanks again and perhaps we can meet somewhere along our journeys. It is nice to know that you love it in spite of the bumps.

My husband loves El Valle and yes it's about 30-40 min. from the Coronado area but too remote for me.  Coronado itself is too pricey for us but we're close enough to take advantage of the shopping, clinics etc there but paid much less for a house that we would have inside the gates.  Lots of pics on the blog too including many of the house we bought last year.

Terry

Hi Tina,


The thing about Panama is there are pros and cons to every town.

My boyfriend and I lived in El Valle this past June through August. We had only been there in the dry season previous to moving there so we thought it would be the same all year round. Wrong! We arrived in the rainy season. I love the rain but in El Valle we had MAJOR problems with mold because of all the humidity. Although the weather stays below 83 degrees most of the time the humidity is insane! We had mold growing on our clothes and shoes. We had the dehumidifier and the damp rid. Nothing could stop it. I also did not like being so secluded. It is beautiful in El Valle but if you like get out and be social and go out to eat often there really isn't a lot to choose from unless you like going to the same 4 or 5 places the rest of your life. Some of those are only open on the weekends too. We had a 2 bedroom 1 bath house fully furnished for $600/mth with a gardener. If you choose to live in El Valle, make sure to get one with a washer and dryer! You will never get your clothes dry in the rainy season there by hanging them outside and there is only ONE laundry mat in town.

Boquete is much nicer. More stuff going on. More activities. More places to eat, people to talk to, etc. 24 hour grocery store. Even in the rainy season the weather is nice (nicer than El Valle). The elevation is higher in Boquete so mold isn't as much of an issue as it is in El Valle. My parents live there and they pay $600/mth for a fully furnished 2 bedroom 2 bath house with a gardener and maid (although they don't use her). They love it there! They have been there for two years.

David - very cheap rentals but HOT. If you like hot, then you might like it there.

Santiago - not a lot going on


Volcan - If you are looking to get some land to have some horses or grow your own food this would be a good area for that. They are also working on building a road from Boquete to Volcan so you can get back and forth faster. There are some cheap rentals in Volcan too.

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You would be surprised how many people are set on living at the beach and then once they take our tour they realize its not right for them and they want to be in Boquete or vice versa. It really is one of those situations where you just gotta check it out first and really get a feel for the whole country. We definitely suggest renting before buying ANYTHING!

You have quite a list of places to visit.  You will find that they are very, very different.  One thing about Panama's climates, there's something for everyone.  It may help to have some other criteria in mind as you visit.  Some of your places are isolated from markets and even gas stations.  Others are very crowded with either expats, locals or both. 
Do you want an active expat community? Your living expenses can vary a lot as well.  Do you mind high humidity?  How about a long rainy season or windy season? 
You will see so many differences visiting all those places.  It will be a fun trip for you.  A lot of people will try to sell you stuff.  Just say "no".  When you get to Boquete, let me know.  I'd be happy to help you where I can - and I am retired/not selling a single thing:)  KrisC99 will be more than happy to help you in the David area.  She was a big help to us when we moved here.
If you're interested, I wrote about our move here tombseekers.wordpress.com

Thank you very much. I am getting many of my cities covered. Regardless of where we end up I believe we will end up with many friends all over the country. Can't wait . . But I guess I have to! Patience is not my thing when I am excited.