Living in Panama: The Good
Monday, July 16, 2007There is no Shangri la anywhere on this great earth as far as I know, so it should come as no surprise that after you separate all the hype from real estate agents and project promoters, even Panama has it’s bad and ugly points as well. Anyone thinking about moving to Panama should come with a realistic view of what it’s actually like living in a developing country. This is my stream of consciousness list of the good points of living here. I’ll post more in the future on the “bad and the ugly”, but if you want a general idea of one family’s observations about the “good” Panama here they are:
Fewer rules, regulations and laws than in the U.S: That’s right… For the most part, you can be as stupid as you want to be here. If you want to drive drunk you don’t have to worry about huge legal fees and jail time if you get pulled over. On the other hand, if you wrap your car around a tree and lay dying, you’re on your own as emergency trauma care and ambulance service doesn’t exist out in the provinces and barely exists in the city.
Laid back culture: Exceptionally laid back culture and in fact “tranquilo” nicely sums up the general attitude of the overwhelming majority of Panamanians. We’ve been here close to a year, and haven’t experienced one case of road rage, rudeness or arrogance or surly service. Service can be slow (sometimes exceptionally so) to be sure, but man it makes it so much easier to bear when there’s a friendly smile and a laid back attitude to go along with it.
The outdoors: If you like the outdoors, if you like nature, if you like getting away from it all, this is the place for you. There’s only about 3 million people in the entire country and close to 1 million of them live in Panama City. The country boasts an unbelievable variety of gorgeous mountains, breathtaking beaches, dense rainforests, stunning rivers and very few people. Panama’s natural beauty is second to none.