Lief and I are packing for our return to Panama.
When the kids were young, these repositioning events involved a dozen checked bags and innumerable carry-ons.
Now Lief and I transition from home base to home base with a single suitcase each and our laptops.
Each move is both exciting and sentimental. We look forward to where we’re headed, but I can’t help but feel nostalgic about the life we’re temporarily leaving behind.
Before we depart for Charles de Gaulle tomorrow morning, I’ll close the shutters in our apartment and leave the spare key with our guardienne. Running through my mind will be things about life in Paris that I’ll miss—daily stops at the bakery on the corner and the wine shop around the street… evening walks along the river… picnics in the Tuileries…
Each day in Paris is filled with small delights.
But immediately on arrival in Panama, we’ll fall into the routines we’ve established in that part of the world. These, too, bring regular joy.
First thing upon returning to our apartment in Panama City, I’ll open the blinds letting tropical sunshine flood the room. Then I’ll take a minute to reconnect with the view.
To the right, old-town Casco Viejo…
Directly in front is the entrance to the Panama Canal…
In Paris, we sneak off every chance we get to stroll along the Seine. In Panama City, we join our fellow residents of this city on the Cinta Costera, the pedestrian-only green space bordering the Bay of Panama.
We walk or sometimes ride our bikes end to end, keeping count as we go of the number of ships waiting in line to enter the Canal. We take it as a constant reminder why we remain so bullish on this country. The Panama Canal is a formidable economic engine.
In Paris we take the Metro Line 12 from Solferino to Abbesses to get from our apartment in the 7th to our office in Montmartre. In Panama, the daily commute means braving the mean streets of this boomtown for what should be a 10-minute drive but that some days takes a half-hour or longer. Jimmy Buffet on shuffle keeps our spirits up.
Weekends in Paris are spent in parks, in bookstores, in grands magasins, and meeting up with friends in neighborhood cafés.
Weekends in Panama are all about the beach. Most in Panama City escape as often as they can to the nearby City Beaches. Our preferred getaway is farther afield but worth the trip.
In Panama, we divide our time between Panama City and the Azuero Peninsula. Not in one of the towns you may have heard of like Chitre, Las Tablas, or Pedasi. Those are on the east coast of the Azuero. Our beach is on the other side… on the Veraguas coast.
We like it over here better. The terrain is hilly to the sea, making for dramatic vistas, and the geology is unique. All along this coast, million-year-old volcanic rock formations create peaks and pinnacles begging exploration.
At Los Islotes we have neither shutters nor blinds. The sun rules our days. We wake and retire together.
Our daily commute is a 10-minute walk down the hill from our house to the office. Leisure hours find us walking the beach…
Or tending the horses…
In Paris, in Panama City, and at Los Islotes, we’ve put down roots. We’ve built the infrastructure of home.
Our daily routines in each locale couldn’t be more different, and for us that’s the appeal. We prize contrast.
What’s your priority?
As you search the globe for the best place for you to reinvent your life overseas, start there.
Until next time,
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter
