Earlier this month, I debuted my new podcast.
First on my guest list for these “Retired Overseas” conversations were Paul and Vicki Terhorst.
Paul and Vicki retired overseas in their mid-30s. They weren’t of retirement age, but they did their sums and decided they were in a position to opt out of a workaday life at that early age.
That was more than 40 years ago. In the decades since the couple has crisscrossed the globe.
Paul and Vicki have enjoyed extended stays of up to a few years in Argentina, Mexico, Paris, and Thailand… but, mostly, they’ve been perpetually on the move.
Hardly a conventional retirement, overseas or otherwise.
Last week, Lief and I participated in our France Workshop.
We gave a presentation titled “One Week In Paris—Why The City Of Light Is Part Of Our Longest-Term Plan.”
Preparing for it got me thinking.
How did we get here?
You could say that we, like the Terhorsts, retired overseas in our mid-30s.
We didn’t walk away from work, but we put ourselves on a different path.
Seven years after that, we moved our family to Paris.
Two decades later, we continue to call Paris home, now part-time.
Our other home is in Panama… where, in fact, we have established two bases.
Our business is in Panama City, but our hearts are invested five hours west on the Veraguas Pacific coast. In this spot where Nature has outdone herself and man has so far hardly interfered, we’re creating a community and a family legacy.
I’ve seen a lot of the world. It’s hard to imagine two places more different than Paris and Panama City.
I make the observation without judgment one way or the other. Every place on earth has its rhythms and cycles, its appeals and its challenges. I know that pros come with cons. I couldn’t be doing what I’m doing if not for the dual life we lead between these two disparate points.
Panama City is an emerging hotspot for the global jet-set.
Two friends with means to live anywhere are relocating from the States to the Panamanian capital.
They’re entrepreneurs but younger than Lief and me. Their explanations for why Panama have to do with nightclubs, restaurant options, and private casinos.
For them, Panama City is a cheaper, edgier Miami.
Lief and I enjoy a nice dinner out, but we’re past the age to prioritize late-night dance clubs. For us, Panama City is the best place on earth to run the kind of business we run.
I can’t say Lief and I enjoy the lifestyle in Panama City, but for us life on the Veraguas coast is paradise. At home here we’re able to run our business while at the same time disengaging from the world.
We walk away from the news cycle and focus on the sunrise.
At Los Islotes, we build houses, plan gardens, and raise horses.
We walk the beach and hike the jungle.
In Paris we walk cobblestoned streets and linger on park benches.
When we’re in residence at Los Islotes, the nearest grocery store is an hour-and-a-half away. Panama has world-class medical care… in Panama City.
In Paris, everything we need day-to-day is on our doorstep. Within 15 minutes on foot of our apartment are four grocery stores and two corner shops…
Three bakeries, a cheese shop, two wine stores, and a farmer’s market.
It’s less than 5 minutes’ walk to an ATM, a pharmacy, a walk-in medical lab, and a dry cleaner’s.
The world’s best health care is an Uber ride away.
The internet in our apartment is better than 400 mbs and comes as part of a package with cable and phone service that costs 45 euros per month.
Other things we care about—like wine, books, and museums—are also cheap and ever-present.
Houra.com delivers groceries. Deliveroo delivers dinner when we don’t want to make it ourselves. Amazon.fr delivers anything else we could possibly want, often the same day.
Paris is beautiful and romantic. It’s also convenient and more affordable than people think.
Twenty years ago we chose Paris. Four years later we diversified to Panama. In the years since we’ve repositioned between these two points every couple of months or so.
We prize the contrast. When I’m in Panama I miss Paris picnics and crossing the Seine. Our Solferino footbridge takes me from the Musee d’Orsay on our side of the river to the Tuileries on the other. I try to make time for the walk my first day back in Paris after every repositioning. It reconnects me with this city’s soul.
In Paris, I yearn for projects. At Los Islotes we’re building a city. I dive headfirst into the associated challenges every day we’re in residence. Designing houses, planting gardens, and breeding horses brings me joy.
I look forward to years more of a life lived between two places, but I realize that, at some point, the back and forth could become too much.
As Lief and I shared with those listening live during last week’s France Workshop, if that day comes, it’s to Paris we’ll head.
I cannot imagine a better place to settle in once moving around is no longer an option.
Until next time,
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter
