Aisha Niang is an expat living in Panama City, Panama. She was born in the Big Apple, and at age 46 quit her career as a utility director. Two years later, she moved to the Isthmus.
She also has cerebral palsy. This is just another fact, one that hasn’t stopped her from traveling to 27 countries (and counting!). Aisha has a dream of being awarded a Guinness World Record for a person with a disability traveling to every country in the world.
She has Senegalese, Jamaican, and Panamanian descent. Of this, she says, “I actually want to be an international spy… I’m working on getting different passports.”
With such a varied background and innate wanderlust, how come she decided to settle in Panama?
“Every time I visited Panama, I just felt comfortable here,” says Aisha. “It felt like home.” Aisha’s grandmother is Panamanian, born in 1911, and she is the first person in her family to return to these roots.
For her, the country’s use of the U.S. dollar is convenient, and checked one of her boxes. It’s the currency she’s used to, and didn’t want to spend time calculating exchange rates.
Panama is also an international hub, which didn’t hurt. As she loves to travel, she can get to almost everywhere from the Hub of the Americas.
As a U.S.-born citizen, the visa process was easy. At the time of her move, the Friendly Nations visa rules hadn’t changed to include a $200,000 investment requirement, and she just paid a $5,000 visa fee.
If you’re thinking about moving to a specific country that has favorable visa options for you, don’t spend too much time dwelling on your decision. She recommends jumping ship sooner rather than later, as visa rules and fees can change at any time. Think too hard and you might just miss the chance.
“I love that Panama has so many different cultures,” she adds about what helped her made the decision to move here. “I also love living in a place where people vacation.” She used to run away to Panama to escape the hustle and bustle… so she decided to make it her permanent home.
Aisha feels happier and more relaxed here. She attributes part of it to quitting her job, but it helps that the culture in Panama is much more laid back, which rubbed off on her.
“I feel like I can breathe… like I can just take my time. I used to be so concerned about being on time and rushing everywhere. Now I’m just like, I will get there when I get there (but I’m still on time).”
The truth is that she just doesn’t feel that pressure anymore. It’s part of the Panamanian culture she has embraced. The feeling of belonging that she gets here is unmatched.
Aisha has also let go of being a “control freak.” She lives by the saying “This is Panama,” which to her means that sometimes things just happen here, like struggling to open your bank account because they require you to sign exactly like your passport signature of eight years ago. That’s just Panama.
Becoming a healthier version of herself has also only brought positivity into her life. She feels healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally. In Panama’s health care system, she feels more like a human, not just a cog in the machine, like it can often feel in the States.
“At every appointment I’ve had in Panama, the doctors have sat down with me for about 20 to 30 minutes just to learn about me and listen to me. Learn about my history, my habits, to get an understanding of who they are trying to treat. Even the dentist. The dentist! Imagine that.”
Even though she is from New York City and was living in Houston, Texas, before moving, by relocating to Panama her lifestyle upgraded, and it happened with less money than she was spending back in the United States.
She’s now living in Avenida Balboa, which is one of Panama City’s most high-end and coveted addresses. She wakes up with the sun, not an alarm clock. She has direct ocean views, something that she couldn’t have afforded in Houston.
Aisha feels safer in Panama. Even though you have to exercise a degree of caution anywhere, she doesn’t feel like she has to look over her shoulder here.
For Aisha, it’s a beautiful feeling.
Sincerely,
Monica Linares
Managing Editor, Panama Letter
