Transcription
Hello and thank you for joining us for Tuesday live stream. Today we're going to be talking about, um, if you are thinking about moving to Panama, if you'd love to move to Panama, but you just have to wait until you can retire, until you start collecting social security, um, until the planets align. Different things happen for different people that they, you know, can't just say I want to move and you move next week. For everybody, there's a timeline that they have to go through.
So, today I'm going to be interviewing Stu and Eydie, who know that they're about 3 years away, uh, from being able to move to Panama. Certain things have to happen, uh, between now and then, and we're going to talk about, um, if you're 3 years away or even 2 years away, some important things to consider, important things to think about, uh, whenever you're planning your move to Panama.
Now, inside our online Panama relocation guide, we do have a 6-month checklist that says, "6 months before you're moving to Panama, do these things. 5 months before, do these things. 4 months before, do these things." and so on and so on. So, that helps you in that last 6 months of important things that you need to do. But, today's talk is going to be even before, uh, that last 6 months, uh, happens, some important things to, uh, consider whenever you're moving to Panama.
So, I'm going to bring on our guests, Stu and Eydie. So, Stu and Eydie, thank you so much for joining us for the live stream. Uh, I see you like playing the guitar.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah, you could say that. There's a few, there's a few basses there, and there's a whole string of guitars in front of me that you can't see.
>> Now, there's one, there's one guy here in Panama, you've seen him on our private Facebook group called James Kent, and he plays a bass.
>> Yeah.
>> And he, he has one room that he says it's for the children, all of his guitars.
>> [laughter]
>> Well, if, uh, if, if James is interested in adopting some of my children, he's more than welcome.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So,
>> We'll have to sell those before we move.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> So, um, you're about 3 years away from re-, from being able to move to Panama. Um, and tell us, tell us, uh, what's going through your head 3 years away? I know you wish you could move here next week, uh, but sometimes you have to finish with your job. You have to wait till you get social security, wait till you get a pension. So, different things have to happen and tell us what your planning process is when you're 3 years out.
>> Yeah. So, so I'm, I'm coming up on, uh, 62 and so that's the early part of where one could retire, but you know, the, the social security money that you get when you're 62 is significantly less than maybe 65 or 67 or even 70. So, uh, regardless of that, I know that, uh, Eydie and I, um, can't, can't really live the way we want staying in the states. We're in Florida right now and we're kind of getting close to being priced out with our hurricane insurance. Where we are, uh, we have to carry flood insurance as well and then it's just getting super expensive to live here in Florida and, uh, so, uh, we said, well, you know, let's, let's look outside of of the states where we can kind of live a better lifestyle than than what we would, uh, on, on our retirement money in here in the states.
>> And we're originally from New York and we decided to move to Florida thinking the cost of living would be a little less. It's not so much. It's just getting increasingly more and more and expensive and we've been here for 15 years.
>> Yeah.
>> There's only so much we can work, so much and just just work to pay the bills and we don't want to do that anymore.
>> You know, you're not alone. So many people are in that very same situation in Florida, Texas, um, every single state. Um, the prices just keep going, your electric bill keeps going up, your insurance keeps going up, um, grocery bills and gas, everything keeps going up, but your paycheck pretty much stays the same. So you get to the point where you say, you know, am I just going to work until I drop? Um, and or am I going to, you know, change things so that I can start enjoying my life?
>> And what's happening with us is, uh, in addition to everything you've just said, our vacations are actually going down. We used to go away maybe three times a year. Eydie and I are avid scuba divers.
>> Mhm.
>> And so those aren't cheap vacations, you know, to go away, uh, for a full week to Mexico or somewhere in the Caribbean for two people, it's expensive. Those trips we're not taking three trips a year anymore. And so part of the attraction for us living in Panama is, um, the ability to get back to maybe three trips a year or even more. Plus I already know, I already have all the dive spots listed out in for Panama. I know exactly. And as a matter of fact, we're going to take one full trip out of the four that I have planned in the next 3 years.
>> Mhm.
>> One of those trips will be just scuba diving at Coiba, Coiba National Park.
>> Uh-huh. Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful there.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, and you know, when you're living here, you don't need a vacation. Um, you, it can just be, oh, it's Wednesday. Let's go scuba diving. And you don't have to wait until you don't, you know, it's just so much easier. Or it can be a weekend. If you're still working remotely, then you can just do it over a weekend and not have to get on an airplane. It's a pretty short trip to get to any kind of a dive spot.
>> Not, not only that, but I, I created a file as part of my crazy research that I do. I created a file of all the places that Copa goes direct from Panama City to anywhere that we'd be interested in and there's so many places that we can go on a direct flight using our discount once, once I, I, you know, I guess I have my Jubilee Auto or my Pensionado, we'll be able to visit so many places that we've wanted to because that Copa has that hub that we'll have access to. So not only being able to dive like in Bocas or or a Coiba, Coiba or or some of the other spots, we can get on that plane and get a discount and go somewhere else.
>> Right. Yeah. And go live while we're young or younger.
>> Younger.
>> Younger.
>> Oh, you're young.
>> Well, I'm young.
>> Yeah, you're young.
>> [laughter]
>> Exactly. So with you being 3 years out, have you already started doing some downsizing? You know, getting rid of some things, selling, making plans on when you're going to sell the house?
>> Well, Stu is the planner. I am having a very tough time even walking around the house and looking at things saying to myself, "Oh my, I, I need to sell that or I have to give that to somebody because, you know, you purchase everything and you work hard to have all these things and these are actually possessions. I mean, I'm not going to take them with me when I, when I die. Why do I need these things? But I've accumulated so much over years and years and I love it all, but I'm slowly, very slowly realizing that I, I can't take it all.
>> Yeah.
>> And that's tough. That's very tough. Especially I have a whole art studio. I'm an artist as well. So, I have things that I collected and, um, just very unique things, tools, and,
>> materials.
>> Jens, right? Materials. Um, I mean, the list goes on and I, I can't take it all. It's hard going to, it's going to be extremely hard pairing everything down because, because I need everything.
>> Yeah. Yeah. You know, we did a live stream a couple of years ago with a lady that specializes in helping people downsize, and she had a lot of really good suggestions on there on how to start that process little by little. You know, don't take, it's like, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time instead of trying to do the whole thing. But, look at our previous live streams about how to downsize, and she's got some really good tips in there.
>> I, I do have a different. So, I'm sorry to interrupt. I do have a different mindset though now. On the weekends, when I do shop, I actually think to myself, "Do I need another pair of pants? I, I have 20. I don't need it. Can I move this with me in 3 years? Shoes. I, Jackie, I could open up a shoe store. It's, it's ridiculous. Will I need 50 pairs? No, absolutely not. But, I do have a different mindset now, um, when I, when I go shopping.
>> But, you would, you would think if we were smart, we would be having garage sales now. So, by the time we're ready and we're, by the time we're ready to sell this house, I mean, I'm sure we'll have to do an estate sale to get rid of furniture and things of that nature, but if we were smart, we'd be looking around and starting to say, "Okay, put a, put a little posted on there. Let's get rid of that." I already know I, I can't take. I already know I, I'm going to take two basses and, and two guitars and out of the twenty something that are here. I already have that in my mind.
>> Mhm.
>> But you would think if we were smart, we would start this, this downsizing now. Not to mention, you know, we should be learning Spanish now.
>> True. And you think three years is so far off in the distance, but it's honestly not. It's, it's like this. You know, so I'm trying to wrap my, my head around it that I don't want to do anything at the last minute by any means and, you know, it's just, it's difficult. It's difficult.
>> But I think it's, it's, it's getting the mindset now that will be helpful later.
>> Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Definitely watch that live stream about downsizing. She has some really great ideas and about starting the process and the sooner you start, the better, the better it really is. Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> So when you do move, we talked, we chatted a little bit before the live stream started, when you do move, you're not going to be just retired right away. You're going to continue working remotely for a little while before you actually start retirement.
>> Yeah, so I'm, I'm estimating that that I'll be just, just turning 65 by the, by the planned time of of our arrival into Panama and at that point, I'll have a choice to either to work remotely for, well, I mean, technically I could, I could work till 70, right? But I'll have the choice to work remotely for another two years. Eydie is younger than me, so she's going to work remotely longer, but she'll be able to retire earlier than I will and then our combined social security should should give us, you know, an okay, comfortable and as far as our, our monthly income at that point. Um, but, uh, you know, I had mentioned earlier, it's very possible that I land in Panama at 65 and I say, "I don't want to work anymore. I'm, I'm going to retire right now." Uh, and that's part of the fun for me is, is some of the unexpected and, uh, maybe I, I, I, I, I want to work another 2 years and then collect, start collecting social security at 67, but I, you know, there's a part of me that, that, that says, "If I have a bad day at work, I could just, I'm done." Yeah. And then, we're already where we want to be. We might not be in the right location, um, in within Panama, but at that point, we're, we're where we want to be and there should be some breathing room financially.
>> Right. So, is there any reason you couldn't just right now start working remotely in Panama other than you have to get rid of a lot of stuff and down, and all the downsizing, which might take a year, yeah, to do all of those things?
>> Do you want to answer that?
>> Um,
>> Why can't we do it right now?
>> Well, you know, I don't think I'm ready right now, Jackie. You know, I, I don't think I'm ready.
>> Mentally?
>> Yeah, absolutely mentally. Mhm. There's so many loose ends and things I need to finish and start here before I go.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, it's, uh, you know, everybody's different. Some people, uh, they come and see Panama and they say, "I can't wait to get there." And they're here within 6 months. And some people, uh, they come and see Panama and they say, "I really would like to move there, um, at least, you know, maybe for 3 years, maybe 5 years, maybe for the rest of my life." But, there's so many things you have to unwind before you can make that happen. Then, you just, you can't possibly do it, um, in 6 months. But, I do want to give you one little piece of advice, just something to think about. Um, when, uh, when my husband and I decided that we wanted to move overseas, I wanted to move someplace where I would never need an air conditioner or heater again. He was still working at Raytheon as an electronic systems engineer, and I was a real estate investor collecting rental properties that produced income that could support us whenever we lived overseas, wherever that might be. And, um, when he was like 56, 55, 56 is whenever all of this planning started that I want to move overseas, and I didn't know exactly when it would be. I just knew I wanted to do it. Well, when I saw Panama, I knew that was where I wanted to go. And, um, you know, I wanted, he, he wanted to keep on working until he was 65 for the same reasons you talked about, because my pension will be a little bit more, then I can get social security, then we'll, and our nest egg will be a little bit bigger, and all these safety nets that were going to be there.
>> Yeah.
>> And, but, I convinced him, and it wasn't easy, but I convinced him that he should retire early, you know, that we had enough savings, I had income from my rental property. I wasn't even thinking about moving to Panama to start a tour business. I was moving to Panama to retire. Um, but, he did. He moved, he retired, uh, from Raytheon, because like you said, some days he would come home and he's like, "I don't know if I can do this another day." And, you know, it's just a stress, stress, stress, which was playing a toll on his health, for sure.
>> Yeah.
>> True. Yeah.
>> Yeah. But, he, you know, he did retire early, um, and we moved to Panama when he was 57. And when he did turn 65, he died a month later.
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
>> So, um, that's just something to always keep in the back of your head that yes, retiring at a certain age is good, but that, you know, the future's never, the future's never guaranteed.
>> I wholeheartedly agree. You know, you, you want to travel and, and do things and experience while you can.
>> Right.
>> You know, sometimes I, I might push to to retire earlier because if we don't enjoy it now, then when, right? Because,
>> Or even or even work, or even work remotely sooner so that you're drastically reducing your expenses in Florida and you get the best of both worlds. You get to keep on working, keep on making money, wait for social security to kick in, but you're already reducing your cost of living by living overseas. So, it's just something to think about.
>> So, if, if, if I was to, let's just say we sold the house next year, what visa would I be looking at if I was to go next year?
>> So, you're like 63 right now.
>> I'll be 62 shortly.
>> You'll be 62 shortly. So, one of the best visas for you to get that would be very, very affordable to get is they have this special residency visa for US citizens only that it's good for 1 year, but you can renew it for another year and another year for up to 5 years.
>> Interesting.
>> So, that gives you 5 whole years of breathing room before you qualify for social security and the cost to get that visa for a couple is right around $3,000 and that includes everything.
>> And that's, that's 3K a year or 3K?
>> No, total. Up front, that's it. The only other expense there's going to be, you have to get a corporation for that. So, there's going to be a $300 a year renewal fee for the corporation plus your registered agent's probably going to charge 100 bucks. So, figure $400 a year to renew it. But, that, um, it gives you a whole year and then you can renew it and renew it for up to 5 years. Um, and then just plan it to where, okay, at the end of the 5 years, that's when I'm going to get my pension. That's when I'm going to get my social security.
>> And you, you recently did a video on this, didn't you?
>> Yes, I did.
>> Yeah, I probably did.
>> If you look in the online guide, I have even more details in the online Panama Relocation Guide.
>> Okay. I will, you know, we, we've had the guide for, for a couple of months now [clears throat] and I admittedly haven't gone through the entire thing, but I,
>> Yeah.
>> I, I will say that. Yeah. Well, there's a lot of data there, right? And, and kudos to you because that's a, I can't, there's so much value there. I, I said to Eydie, I said, you know, I think I'm going to get this guide knowing, knowing that I have already have a bank of information because I, I, I document everything and I keep my own records and I'm a big researcher and I know a lot of people don't like AI, but I'm an early adopter and,
>> Right.
>> I put all this stuff together and I said, you know, I said, I'm, I'm going to get this guide anyway. And boy, was I humbled. I, I was humbled. I, I, I mean, I don't, I hate to admit it. I really do. But, there is so much more information in there that I would not have able to put my hands on or my eyes on by sitting here and searching and searching and searching. And not unusually enough, a ton of my searches come up with Panama Relocation Tours anyway.
>> [laughter]
>> Well, and you know, the thing is, you don't know what you don't know. You can, you can say, oh, well, how do you get a visa? And how do you get health insurance? And how do you do this? And how do you do that? But, then there's all those other things that you didn't even think about asking that you did. And, you know, you know, you were talking about, you know, how flood insurance is expensive, property taxes, you know, mortgage payments, groceries, all those things. And, you know, if you could cut those expenses in half or more by moving overseas sooner, that's, that's money that you could be putting into savings. Or that's money that you could use to live on.
>> You do not have TO CONVINCE ME.
>> [laughter]
>> SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
>> I, YOU KNOW, I, I, I, you don't have to convince me. I, I said, boy, I said, you know, I don't want to get older, but I'm ready to go now.
>> Yeah.
>> And you just took that away from me.
>> I'm sorry.
>> No, no, no, no, no. You took it away from me in a good way because, you know, I watched that video, but it clearly I did not pay attention.
>> Yeah.
>> To and, you know, I'm going to go back tonight now and watch it and start taking notes.
>> Watch it.
>> And then, you know, I'll, I'll probably get on Eydie's, uh, I'll probably start annoying her with, hey, how about next year? How about 2 years? My birthday's coming up.
>> I, I am all for moving to experience new things and I, and I'm a big adventure thrill seeker. I always have been and I'm, I've never been opposed to moving. You know, I'm, I'm not a tree. Like I'm not planted. I, I can move anywhere I want to within reason and, and money reasons, but, um, it's not that I don't want to. I am and I will, but in like my time frame and I, everyone has a different time frame.
>> Right.
>> Like I said, I'm not opposed. I am 1000% in for us both to have a richer life. And by richer, you know, I mean, experience Panama culture, um, travel more, just be around more local people, and, um, we're foodies. We love to eat and experience new, new food. Um, right? I just, I want to be free in that sense. Um, and honestly, you, the US in my own time, the US has restricted me in many ways. So, we're not getting younger, and like I said, I, I want to go. Um, we are actually going this September in, in about 2 months. So, maybe that little short trip will will kick me in the butt, you know, and, but who, who knows? But I'm sure it will.
>> You know, another thing is instead of thinking, "Oh my gosh, I have to get rid of everything I own before I can move to Panama." Because that is like, you know, a mountain that you, Mount Everest is like, "I've got to climb that Everest before I can move to Panama." Don't think of it that way. Instead, think about what are the things that I can sell now on a garage sale or get rid of, and let's put everything else in storage, and we'll decide about that later. It doesn't have to be one or the other. There's an in the middle place, too. Of just putting a lot of things in storage, and then another story about me and my husband is there were things he just couldn't get rid of. You know, he had, I don't know what it's called, some kind of a tool thing that does all kinds of different stuff, and has different attachments. Shop, I don't know what it's called, shop something. Um, but all kinds of other tools. Did he ever use any of them? No. But he, he had them. You know, our garage was full of all kinds of different things, and he just couldn't get rid of it, but he also didn't want to spend the $20,000 for a container to take it to Panama, knowing we were moving into a house that was 1/4 of the size that we lived in. So, he put everything in storage, and we moved to Panama. Every, all of this stuff was in storage. It's like he took a picture of it. He could look at it every once in a,
>> [laughter]
>> I would do that.
>> But then, after we were there 2 years, I said, "Well, you know, maybe we should decide what we're going to do with that stuff in storage. You know, do, should we go there and go through it again? In essence, we've lived here in Panama. Do we, do we need to bring any of that stuff to Panama? Can we get rid of any of it? Can you donate it?" And so, we went back, and we actually shipped two boxes that were like, I don't know, 24 in by 24 in. Like, two totes, two 27-gallon totes. Out of, we had this huge, gigantic container storage facility that we'd put everything in, and we only shipped two totes. Got rid of everything else. But, that gave us the time for him to think about, "Do, can I live without these things? Can you know, instead of just having the remorse of getting rid of it and saying, 'Oh my gosh, I want it back.'" It's a great idea. It's a great idea. Yeah. So, you know, finding, and I can tell you that if you live in a city, those storage places are pretty expensive, but you go out to a more rural area, the storage places can be like 80% cheaper. And that's what we did is we found a place that they were paying $165 a month, which is still, but it was, it was like 10 ft by 20 ft long. So, it held a lot of stuff that we knew that was always there. The other thing is, you know, what if we move to Panama and we decide we don't like it, but we want all of our stuff back. So, that gives you that little bit of a safety blanket also that you didn't just get rid of everything and have to buy it all over again, start all over again. You can just move it into storage. And if Panama doesn't work out or if you decide you want to try to Mexico for 2 years, you want to go to Portugal for 2 years, your stuff is still waiting for you.
>> I do like that idea. That's a great idea. Yeah, even though like you said, it's a little extra more a month, but Yeah, it's more, you know, peace of mind and just to know my stuff is there if I ever need it.
>> It's, it's definitely less stressful.
>> Mhm. Absolutely. Yeah.
>> about it is everything that, so many of the things that you want, they're still there. And even then, put them in totes or put them in boxes and say, you know, this is definitely keeper and this one's a maybe. So, that it's already kind of divvied up on one side and the other side on which one, you know, you've got, you can't get rid of and which one, you know, that you're just not sure, you're not ready. You're just not ready. And sometimes that's what's holding people up for making the move is they can't make the decision what's going to go and what am I going to keep.
>> Or some family heirlooms that I, I can't bear to part with, but I also know that I can't take it all.
>> And who else is going to take it? No one.
>> No one.
>> But I like the idea because it also teaches you what you don't need.
>> Right. Right. Yeah, can you live, can you actually live without it? Give yourself, give yourself 1 year to find out if you can live without it. And maybe you'll find out you can't. That you miss it so much you can't. So, you go back to the storage place and you take those things that you miss so much and you ship them to Panama.
>> Yes.
>> We've got, we've got a way to get totes and all kinds of other things to Panama, but,
>> take another little piece of luggage with you.
>> And we put, we put Alyssa on on speed dial.
>> Mhm. Did I pronounce his name right?
>> Yeah. Yeah, but we did that live stream a few weeks ago with the owner of Server Tech Nick and, you know, he can, he can back up a shipping container and reload it with all your stuff and get it down to Panama.
>> phenomenal. It's, it was one of, um, one of the best informative videos that I, I enjoyed watching. Yeah.
>> Not only, not only that, but it, that that particular video made Eydie even more engaged, right? Because I've been sort of leading this charge for eight, eight months. I've been doing, I've been digging into different countries and, uh, you know, Eydie's like, "Yeah, okay, you know, we eat our dinner." And she's like, "All right, you know, that's fine." And, but that particular video, uh, I, I feel like did something to you that sort of said, "Oh, maybe this isn't as hard as I think it is." And, you know, I mean,
>> the path. I've, I've, I've built, I've built the path on how to get here in the most cost-effective way possible. So, what are some of the other countries that you were considering and what made you choose Panama besides the scuba diving, of course?
>> Well, I, I mean, that, that's actually the driver, right? Scuba diving and the cost of living. So, when I started, uh, I can't tell you how many different, uh, Thailand Facebook groups I'm part of still, right? So, I started with Thailand and then, you know, we talked about it because we're like, "Oh, Thailand, we could just go scuba diving every day." And I'm like, "Nah, it's probably not going to happen." But then I realized how, you know, we, my sister and her kids are still up in New York on Long Island and, you know, we, at some point we drew a line in the sand and said, "Okay, we need to be five, five hours to JFK." Um, and, you know, 5 or 6 hours to JFK, we can't be 22 hours and a $3,000 flight away from from our family. So, uh, that's when I started to look at. And so, right, right after that, it was okay, well, we always go to Mexico. We go to Cozumel two times a year, three times a year. Let's just move to Cozumel. And, uh, Cozumel has some great hospitals. I've done, I've done some digging over there, but, uh, it is more expensive to live there. Uh, but that doesn't get me out of the hurricane belt, which we're here, you know, I mean, we're in the hurricane belt here, but, not like Cozumel, right? So, I kind of took Cozumel off the board and I started to look at, uh, Merida, which, but that is still also kind of in the hurricane belt. And it's really, really hot, like, like hotter than where we live now and hotter than Tampa. Merida is super hot, and they have great healthcare, and I, I did digging on that, but also in a hurricane belt, more so than the way we're living now. And so, I started to look at, uh, Costa Rica, which I've been to three different times, but, uh, honestly, I, I, I never left my hotel room. I was always a little bit scared [laughter] to leave the hotel room. I was there to work, and I was staying in the city, and I, I, I don't, I don't know why, but I never really,
>> Well, I don't know if you know, but homicides have tripled in Costa Rica.
>> I, I did not know that.
>> year. And then about Mexico, Mexico, there's so many great places in Mexico, but oh my goodness, to qualify for getting a visa there is super, super expensive now. I think if you go straight to a permanent visa just for one person, you need to show you got $7,800 a month in income, so it's. And, you know, some people can do that, but it's, um, still a lot.
>> Yeah.
>> But it's a nice place to visit.
>> Yeah, and, and, and that's, and again, I, you know, I'm thinking about Copa as a hub for us and all the places we can get to.
>> Right.
>> Inexpensive, well, maybe not inexpensive, but cheaper.
>> Mhm.
>> And direct flights. And there are so many places we can explore by having that hub. It's, you know, it's almost like if you lived in New York, you have JFK and that's a great hub to go everywhere. Uh, Panama City with Copa looks like a great hub. So, and then just to finish my thought, I looked at Belize. Um, not, not the best healthcare that I could find close to the area that I would want to live. And, um, you know, I kind of stopped there once I found Panama. And when I looked, and you know, I, I've been staring at a map and staring at all these different places for a hard 6 months now where, you know, I say, "Hey, let's look at Puerto Armuelles." And she's like, "Where?" You know, she hasn't gotten to the map yet, right? So, but, you know, I feel like in my head, I, I know all the places that I think, right? I think we want to live. So, we're doing the trip in September. We're going to go, uh, we're going to, we're going to stay in Coronado. And we're, uh, I, we have, um, uh, two different private guides of yours, um, who will take us around. She'll bounce us around Coronado, then we're going to spend a day, she'll bounce us up to El Valle. And then Eydie and I are going to drive down to Chitré. And, uh, with another one of your private guides, and we'll bounce around there, and we'll bounce, maybe if we, if we have time, we'll, we'll see some of, uh, uh, Do I have it right? Las, Las Tablas?
>> Mhm.
>> Yeah, okay. Yes.
>> [laughter]
>> And so, uh, you know, my, my focus is 30 to 40 minutes near a decent hos-, hospital. Right? I know that, you know, in many places, I, I, I might just have to fly into Panama City, but, you know, I, I know I can get decent, uh, there's a decent hospital in, in Coronado. There's a decent one in Chitre. There's one in, uh, there's a couple in David. No, uh-oh, I'm in trouble.
>> There's no hospital in Coronado.
>> Well, I don't, I don't necessarily mean like hospital, but like, I, I know that like if I had, uh, you know, some gastro problem, I know that some doctors will visit there like once in a while.
>> there and there's a small clinic. It's just, uh, Yeah, there, there's a small public hospital, very small public hospital in San Carlos. Um, but like for heart attack or stroke, you'd have to either go to Penonome or go to Panama City, but there is no hospital in Coronado. But there's clinics. There's doctors.
>> Yeah. And so, I'm, so when I, in my head, I think, "Okay, Coronado." And that kind of goes in line with Eydie wants to look out her window and see the beach. Uh, and then I'm thinking Chitre because, uh, you could also see the beach, right? Over at, um, I forget the, uh, Rompios, El Rom-, uh, El,
>> El Rompio.
>> Thank you.
>> It's about 15 minutes away from Chitre, but it's, but it's close. What about Bocas del Toro?
>> So, so we're going to go, we're going to go visit, right? I, I have another trip planned where we'll see, uh, we'll bounce around David, we'll bounce around the Alto Boquete and the Potrerillos, and then we'll, we'll go up to, uh, Bocas del Toros. Uh, I, I, I get that it's kind of like this little Caribbean whole thing and there's a bunch of little islands there and it's probably a great place, but I don't know that that's an environment that I want to live in.
>> Mhm.
>> Um,
>> And I'm not sure there's a hospital around there, correct?
>> They, they have a public, they have a pretty big public hospital, yes.
>> Yeah.
>> So, I just feel like, um, Yeah, it's, it's, it's, I think that's more of a, let's go for a weekend kind of thing. You know, same, same way I feel about, uh, like, uh, Volcán, right? I think that's going to be too cold for us, but it, it looks like a fun place to spend like a weekend and bounce around the mountain or, you know, put me in a helicopter and drop me on the top so I don't have to walk up kind of thing. Um, So, you know, in my, in my head, having not been anywhere, I, I love the idea of Potrerillos because it gives me a half hour down to David and a half hour up to Boquete if I want to. I know there's lots of musicians there and I can go be annoying up there. Um, but I still have the decent hospitals down in David and then I'm not that far from the, from the bottom of the coast where I could, I could do some scuba diving or, or it's easier to get over to Coiba cuz I know Coiba is going to be something that we're going to want to go several times a year. I already know that.
>> I might give up my, my beach view if, you know, we are, we are scuba diving and then I don't know, bouncing around both, both coasts. I, I might. I have to see. I have to see the towns.
>> Yeah, so we're, we're, we're starting that journey in September and then we'll go, we'll go back again in April. Uh, and then probably, um, towards the end of '27, we'll do another one. I think that's the one where we'll do David to Boquete.
>> Okay.
>> We'll do that one cuz I think, I think the April trip is going to be all Coiba. We're just going to stay, there's a little tiny little, uh, eco lodge and I don't remember the name of the town, but there's a, there's an eco lodge. I mean, know a lot of people who use Santa Catalina as their jump point, but those boat rides over the Coiba are 2 and 1/2 hours.
>> Right.
>> There's a, eco lodge where they don't have electricity. They, everything is solar and generator. And I, I can't remember the name. I think it's called the Arc Divers or something. That's a free plug, probably, right? Um, where their boat rides are more like 20 minutes and you're kind of in this little remote place and, you know, your cell phone's not going to work and, you know, you have to bring your Starlink to to say hello to the rest of the world, but 20 minutes to go scuba diving at Coiba, I think that's our April trip is we'll, we'll do a full week there.
>> There's another, there's another place that you would really love. I'll send you some information about it. And it's also, it's, it's a 30-minute boat ride to get to Coiba National Park, but it has all of the air conditioning, internet, has all the things that you would want.
>> Okay. I just want to be, most of the time I just want to be underwater. But, [laughter] you know, I, I, and you're right on, you know, you're right,
>> on the water. It's right on the beach.
>> Okay. Yeah, send it to me. I, I would, I would love to love to see it. So, I think next year will be the two trips and then in '28, um, I would like to actually spend some time in Panama City. Even though I know we're not city people, I just kind of want to hang out there for a little bit and maybe take a sneaky trip up to Cerro Azul.
>> Mhm.
>> Um, maybe take a little sneaky up there. Um,
>> And take the ferry over to the Pearl Islands.
>> Yeah, I told something with a T. Tobag, uh,
>> Toboga. Toboga.
>> Yes, Toboga. See, it's all, it's all up here somewhere. So, uh,
>> There's so much to learn. There's so much to learn. But, um, you know, I, I know that the thing that holds people back from pulling the trigger and making that decision is their stuff. It really is. And it, like I said, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Put it in storage.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Put it in storage. Put it in storage.
>> And I think you'll feel better.
>> You'll feel better. Yeah.
>> It does.
>> And even, you know, even just living in Panama for 6 months without that stuff, um, by the end of the 6 months, you might say, "You know, I really, really miss this and this and that and that." Go back and get it and bring it with you. Um, but, uh, you might say, you know, "Well, you know, I don't miss my mother's China anymore." And you can get rid of that.
>> Jackie, I must have six coats of her China, and I've never even used one teacup.
>> I've never even seen it. We're here 14 years. I've never,
>> The universe sent me that information.
>> [laughter]
>> It's ridiculous what goes on. I mean, we had to buy another shed outside. It's insanity, insanity.
>> Yeah, when I was, uh, a real estate investor in Texas, I bought and sold, um, bought and fixed up and sold old beat-up houses. And very often, whenever I bought a house, they would say, "Oh, you can just have every," I would say, "Take what you want and leave everything else." And they would leave everything else. And one of the houses that I bought for $25,000 was, um, it came with a a baby grand piano. It came with a 1987 car. It came with some Theodore Haviland China from 1789. And I've been lugging that, some of that stuff around. I couldn't get rid of it because it was so nice. And then, when I decided to move to Panama, I took it to Goodwill.
>> [laughter]
>> I just, you know, it was, I, I decided, you know, and I could have maybe put it on Facebook Marketplace and sold it, but I was living out in the boonies, and nobody was going to come there, so, um, you know, your stuff can, I decided I wasn't going to let that China hold me back. I was going [laughter] to let somebody else find that, you know, just like I found that treasure whenever I bought that house, I was going to let somebody else find that treasure. But putting your things in storage, um, you know, getting rid of whatever you can, um, that you know, you, you just, you're not going to want it, that it doesn't serve you well anymore, but putting everything in storage, um, is the middle ground that just solves the problem.
>> Yeah, I, I really have to sit down and and look at all my stuff and say what, what brings me joy here and what do I want? Yes.
>> You're in, you're in trouble now because, uh, you know, I can chop these 3 years down to say 2 years, take a year to get rid of everything.
>> We can go in September and I can completely fall in love and say, you know what? I don't even want to go back home except to see my dogs. But that's it. I'm done.
>> And that's a busy trip for us. We're not, we're not, you know, we're not like, there's not a whole lot of beach time on that trip. It's, let's go see this. Let's go see all the hospitals. Let's go, let's go see where Eydie wants to get her nails done. Uh, let's go up to El Valle. I mean, I don't think we're really planning on it, but I want to see it and,
>> Yeah.
>> you know, I, I would like to,
>> [clears throat]
>> part of me wants to see a place that I don't think is on my list and go, holy cow, that's now on our list. And so, and then we're spending time with, I forget their names, Liz Marie,
>> Liz Marie and George.
>> uh, down in Chitre and we, we've already spoken to them and, and I already get like a great vibe and great feeling and,
>> Eydie couldn't get off the phone with me.
>> love that El P.O. So, I'm sure they'll take me out to the beach there. They built a house there.
>> Yes.
>> So,
>> I'm never leaving them.
>> We have, you know, it almost feels like a little bit almost like a business trip in the sense that we have a lot to accomplish that's important. And it's more important to get those accomplishments done than to, you know, stick our toes in the sand and just relax.
>> make this a write-off for a business trip because you're re-, re- researching places where you can do remote work.
>> Well, I'll tell you what. So, so we, we have a YouTube channel. I'm not here to advertise, but we have a YouTube channel and we have almost 6,000 subscribers that that's more around Eydie's cooking, uh, but some of it is also travel. And, uh, I, our accountant let us write off some trips to West Palm last year. So, uh, I didn't even think about that is that we could write off a piece of this trip.
>> Thank you. So many ideas, Jackie. Thank you.
>> you, yeah, you're researching, um, internet connectivity and places that will have the things that you need to do remote work.
>> Well, I, I would love you to do a, a cooking video down in Panama, uh, while on vacation.
>> [laughter]
>> You're, [clears throat] on.
>> I'll send.
You. I'll send you a link to our our YouTube channel. You'll get a kick. Edie is a very good cook and [clears throat] uh, you know, she's uh, this is not her first live stream, actually. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. I'll I'll forward you a copy of my cookbook. I'll even sign [laughter] it for you, Jackie.
>> That's great. So, what are some other concerns that you have about, you know, besides your things and, you know, the timing of it all, what are some other concerns you have?
>> Mostly two major ones for me. Um, and now I don't think one of them is a major concern because you just put a little seed in my head about, uh, the storage unit. But I'm I love everything that's convenient and easy and delivered. And if I want something, my personality, if I want to do something, if I think of like a new craft or something, I get in my car and I go to Michael's, you know, whatever hobby craft store. There, I I can't do that. You know, if I'm let's say in the around the David area, I I can't drive to Panama in one day. I You just can't.
>> There's actually some really good craft stores in David.
>> Yeah.
>> Perfect.
>> I I I need you here more than more than this live stream, Jackie. Cuz you're you're you're helping me make the case.
>> No, well, I'm just telling you that, you know, until you've been here for a while, there's a lot of misconceptions about Panama. Um, you know, there's always Amazon that you can order from Amazon, but it could take, you know, 5 or 7 days to get here. It's not like next day delivery like you have in the United States, but um, there's always >> Will I miss it? I probably will. I mean, listen, I'll get used to anything. I I'm very adaptable.
>> Right.
>> have most of my things, I won't miss it and I won't need things delivered fast to me. Um, so
>> And your other your other biggest fear
>> My other Yeah, huge fear is um, vet care. So, we recently lost two two dogs, right? So, long story short, we now have a a puppy who's 8 months old. And we are we're getting another rescue in September after our trip. My vet >> [laughter] >> is like on speed dial, right? And he's literally around the corner. My concern My dogs are my life, my world. I will do anything. I will spend whatever money it is to make them happy. So, my concern is not that there are not vets there, but, you know, I'm worried about if there's an emergency, where do I go, right? If I I'm worried about the quality of of that care. Um will they have, you know, the the food that they eat? Um just think things like that. It's It's My life is centered around my dogs.
>> Yeah, so you need to a lot more So her life is more centered around the dogs than me.
>> Yeah, so um if you go to one of the veterinary offices, they have all kinds of fancy uh food there. Um and also there are They don't have the big Petco and places like that here. They don't have that. There is a place called American Pets, but they have all kinds of um food. And if there's a certain food they don't have that you want, they can get it for you um and get it in stock so you can do it. But the great thing about Yes, you can take your dog or your cat to the veterinarian, but the thing I love so much about Panama is you just send a WhatsApp to the vet and they come to your house.
>> I love that.
>> I knew you were going to say that.
>> I love that, Jackie.
>> Because Buster, my cat, >> I'm not sure where he is today. >> He's not in here today, but he if I put him in the car, he poops and throws up all over the place. He hates riding in the car. Um so it was such a blessing to be able to send a WhatsApp to the vet at 8:00 on a Sunday night and say, "He doesn't You know, something's not right." He says, "I'll be there in 30 minutes." Um for $30. $30 for a home visit. Yeah. And
>> That's That's part A. Part B is um since we're going to travel more, who am I leaving my dogs with, you know? Here we have the the most She's such a doll. She lives around the corner and she dog sits for us. There, I don't know anybody. I yet. I don't know who I can trust yet with my My dogs are my children, right? Who can I trust? Um so, that's very important to me. If we're moving to Panama and our goal is to travel more and experience more, then we do need to leave, obviously, the dogs at home. But, with who?
>> Right. So, with the last time the vet had to come to my house, I said, "Well, usually when I come home, he runs up to me and greets me and says, you know, 'Mom, you're home.' Um but, this one time I came home and he was just still laying on the bed and didn't even greet me or anything and I just felt like something was wrong. You know, he didn't have a fever. Um his nose wasn't hot, but I just knew something was wrong. So, I sent a WhatsApp to the vet. He came right over. He took blood test um of my cat. Uh the total bill for the blood test to that um he also gave me some medication for him. It was $75
>> Wow.
>> uh for the whole thing for a home care. And then, within an hour, he sent me the complete results of the blood test and he said um that the food uh that I had been giving him because I would I give him hard food and soft food. And usually, I just get the smaller bags of the hard food. Um but, I got a big bag and he said, "If you get the big bag, especially in the rainy season, it can get mold in it."
>> Ah.
>> So, he said that um that that's what he suspected the problem was. He said to throw all that food away and to only buy the smaller bags. You know, unless you're going to get one of those super secure tight containers to put it in. So, I threw all that food away, got some other food, and he uses the Hill's Science Diet food, which you can buy easily anywhere with no prescription or anything here in Panama. So, I switched to that and then he was just fine. But, um based on the blood test, um he said he had a little bit of an infection and he he figured out that that's what it was. So, for $75.
>> Do you Do you Jackie, do you Do you think that there's a need or is it even available is pet insurance available in
>> You don't need it. It's so affordable. Um, Buster's had two surgeries and um, you know, both times it was like $120, $150 for surgeries.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah, it's super affordable. And Edie, if you get um, active in our private PRT Facebook group and if you say, "Hey, you know, we're thinking about, you know, we're thinking about moving to Panama and we want to move to an area where there's some good pet sitters." You're going to get so many people that are going to say, "Oh, you got to have my lady. She's over here and she's great." And you know, my my pets can't wait for her to come over and um, so you're there's pet sitters everywhere.
>> Yeah, that gives me peace of
>> You're You're Jackie, you're helping me here.
>> [laughter]
>> Because I I I don't I don't have the same fears that Edie does. I mean, I have very very the things that stress me are more the logistics that most everybody is stressing. The timing of selling the house, the timing of um, I mean, honestly, these are This is just stuff. I don't worry about the stuff like Edie does, right? But the timing of selling the house, uh, the timing of my biggest problem, not problem, but my my biggest concern is the timing of finding the um, what is it? Paro Air? Does like a monthly flight and you know, it's a they're on their schedule, not necessarily I mean, I I don't have 32 grand to to take the plane by myself.
>> No.
>> Um, but figuring out the timing of that plane along with the 10 days that we need to get the paperwork and
>> No, no, no. Let me correct you a little bit. When you fly with Paro Air, your documents can be 30 days old. So, there's not It's not even time-sensitive anymore.
>> Okay. Well, that that is extremely helpful.
>> Yeah.
>> while we're on this subject, I read Now, Jackie, correct me if I'm wrong. If your pet is over 10 years old, they won't fly them to Panama. Is that correct?
>> Uh well, if your pet is over 11 years old, then on Copa Airlines, uh they re and they have to go in cargo. Uh they they they require you to sign a waiver that says, you know, if something happens to your pet, we're not responsible for it. That's why if if just one of you flew on Perro Air with your dogs, and the other one flew first class
>> Right.
>> Copa to get here, so you could bring two 70-lb suitcases for free, um then you can significantly reduce your cost.
>> Yeah, and that's [clears throat] what And we had we had we had mentioned that I would I would probably be the only one not flying a private jet.
>> [laughter]
>> But, yeah, I mean, that's the route we're going. And, you know, it's just the timing of that and having to close on the house and then, you know, do I need to put one of those uh I forget the word for it where it allows us to stay here another 30 days and we're paying rent to the new owners.
>> Yeah.
>> And timing that with the uh the Perro Air flight and and all that stuff. So, I and that's
>> Look in the online guide and search checklist and see our 6-month checklist.
>> Okay.
>> Um and even though you're not planning to move in 6 months, um if you review that, it'll give you kind of a timeline of uh you know, when to cancel your magazine subscriptions or when to um maybe port your phone number over to um something where you can get rid of that monthly cell phone bill, but still have your same phone number and still be able to receive calls and get your two-factor authentication from banks.
>> Yeah, well, I mean we're both on AT&T and they have that Latin
>> They do have that Latin American plan.
>> And I know how to I know how to port my number over to Google. I did the research on that already.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, and uh I think like in another month I'm actually going to own my my iPhone, which means I can get the two SIM cards or the two e-SIMs um and do you know the side-by-side so I can just use my uh use my my my American phone number and just use that on Wi-Fi and then use my local e-SIM for for other calls. Um, I found all that information um through you guys either on Facebook. The Facebook group is very very helpful actually. And I don't think I I don't think I think that's almost equally as valuable as having the guide as having access to the group because
>> they ask a ton of questions
>> Mhm.
>> that um most of the time the answers are in the guide, but I'm a big believer that repetition is the mother of skill and when I see the quest the same questions over First of all, kudos to you for not you know, saying, "Just do a search." Right? I mean you're a very good moderator, right? Uh you're extremely patient. So, kudos to you, Jackie.
>> Thank you.
>> But when I see the repeat questions over and over and over again, I see a lot of the same answers, and there's all sorts of helpful people who have been through the struggle and have done the move and have you know, whether they did it on their own or they followed the guide, they have they're they're all paving the way for us.
>> And I I find a lot of value. I spend more time, you know, uh updating the the Facebook group than than I have looking in the guide until I except for like All right, you know, I need to figure out this and I go to the guide or I go to to my to to to to do some searching. But, having access to that private group, I think uh has far more value than than anybody's leading on to.
>> Mhm.
>> I I absolutely
>> You know, tapping into people um that um they have the same they have the same guide, same information you've got, and um they have the same support that you've got.
>> And they've had the same fears, too.
>> Yes, they Right. They are so willing to help. But, it doesn't matter how much you have, having the guide, having the Facebook group, there's still going to be things that you say, "Well, how you know, you just get so overwhelmed." And you say, "How do I do this? Or what am I going to do about that?" And people there's somebody in that Facebook group, they've done exactly what you're struggling with, and they can say, "Well, this is what I did." And then it makes it easy.
>> It's a very good group. It's a very And and and I think 9.99% of the people are not snarky.
>> No.
>> There's there's one guy who's a little snarky.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, and I think, you know, it's just his humor, but he can come off as a little snarky. But, everybody in that group is is is like super helpful, and I know, I mean, when you get it in your head that all of these people have felt everything that we feel now, and they have felt everything that that we will feel, and have similar fears. You know, we're not the only people with dogs.
>> Right.
>> Right? We're not the only people um you know, our age, and you know, there may be, you know, I mean, I don't have diabetes, but we're not the only people with diabetes, right? And there's And there's so many so many
>> They they all had they all had 30, 40 years of accumulation in a house before they came here, too.
>> You're my champion, Jackie.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah, I did. I was you know, I was married 40 years. Uh when my husband and I were married 40 years whenever we moved here and we'd moved quite a bit. So man, did I accumulate a lot. I had a house in Dallas full of stuff and a lake house full of stuff. Um and I had to you know, luckily I sold my lake house furnished so that solved that problem. They got my boats, they got all the furniture, but there were certain things that um I didn't I didn't think I would need it in Panama, but I didn't wasn't ready to get rid of it. So putting it in storage just really solves the problem.
>> I I can't wait to not really need anything. Right? I mean I I I I want so badly to I mean I you know, when you look at when you look at my room and again you're only seeing one wall, but uh you know, I have emotional attachment to a lot of these things and and half of those half of those bases were gifts from Edie. Um and it's like, okay, I need to sell a gift that Edie got me, right? Well, but I I don't want to carry all this baggage with me, right? I I've I've never known what it's like to live out of you know, two suitcases and a couple of bins um totes or whatever they're called. Um where you know, I and I said to Edie I said, you know, maybe we land in Coronado and you know, we do a 6-month lease or or a 1-year lease and we'll be like, let's let's go over to Chitre, right? Or or uh Pedasi and do 6 months there and not have to carry 40 totes with me. Yeah, right? I
>> Well, that's the beauty of renting something that's furnished. Um what I did is I rented a little furnished two-bedroom, one and a half bath. It was a 1,000 sq ft house. I had lived in a 1,000 sq ft house since I was like 20 years old. So I didn't know if I could do that. Um because I didn't have all that stuff. I realized I didn't need it. But um when you rent something that's completely furnished and you don't need the 2400, 3500 square foot house anymore because you don't have all that stuff that you're bringing with you. But when you rent something furnished, everything that you own can fit in the back of your car. Um and it's just such an easy move. You say, "You know, we've been we did a via. Let's go do Pedasi." Um and and you can give a 30-day notice to get out of the lease. You might not get your security deposit back, but you're you know, it's over. You can move on.
>> Jackie, let me ask you when when and maybe I'll I'll post this in the in the in the in the group as well. Uh when people rent furnished places, right? Uh obviously that's probably not everyone's taste, but uh do people most people like go and buy their own mattress kind of thing or like I I like I think if I rented anywhere and I didn't have like that very first night, I'll know I need a new mattress or not even though it's a rental, right? So, do people do people I I mean there has to be certain things that people get that maybe part of the rental.
>> This is just an example. The house that I rented in 2010 uh that was a two-bedroom, one and a half bath um and everything was beige. The sofa was beige, the walls were beige, the curtains were beige, the artwork were mirrors on the wall, and the bedspread was beige. And I thought, "I can't do this." You know, I'm paying $600 a month for a furnished with all utilities and a gardener included. So, I had a little wiggle room to spend some money. So, for $200, you know, I got a new bedspread and I saw this um you know, I just got some different things to brighten it up a little bit um to give it some color or even some place mats on the table um in bright red and different things to brighten it up. So
>> Yeah, I would imagine we'll probably take our sheets.
>> Yeah, definitely. [clears throat]
>> Now, you might Well, and the other thing is you can go and you can buy a mattress cover that just encloses the whole mattress. You know, if the mattress itself is comfortable, um you might want to get a mattress cover to just cover everything. Um but, yeah, you can take at least one set of your They actually sell sheets in Panama, believe it or not.
>> [laughter]
>> Not a third-world country.
>> You can even get like 1,000 thread Egyptian sheets and all that fancy stuff. Yeah, we have that here in Panama.
>> [laughter]
>> But just just as your safety blanket, you should definitely bring a set of sheets. Now, the problem is are you going to be renting a house that has a king-size bed or a queen-size bed? You know.
>> I know what we want.
>> a king.
>> Yeah, so not all houses are going to have them. Yeah, so um that's where you have to you learn how to be a little bit more flexible. If everything about the house is perfect, the price is perfect, the ocean view you wanted is everything's there, but it only has a queen-size bed, would you do
>> Listen, Jackie, I will buy a twin bed and push it against that queen bed. Just so the dogs sleep with us.
>> Yeah, there you go. See, that's That's you have to get into a different mentality.
>> Where there's a will, there's a way.
>> Yeah, where there's a will, there's a way. And in Panama, there's always going to be some trade-offs that you know, I love all of these things, but I just wish it had that one more thing. Um but, you know, if it doesn't have it, maybe you can buy it or you can you can decide can I live without it or not live without it.
>> Yeah, but we say I mean, we say that here, too, right? I mean, you know, our house is not it's not a big house. Um we're like, oh, you know, I wish this house had this or I wish I had I mean, you know, I I mean, especially Americans are very much like I wish I had, right? And I don't want to be I mean, I don't want to be a wish I had guy.
>> Yeah.
>> You know.
>> Yeah. My house that had the it had this really tall ceilings and this wall that had this great big mirror on it to go with all to reflect all the beige throughout the whole house.
>> [laughter]
>> And I was I was at this shop in Boca, I think in Boca Sotorro and they were selling beautiful sarongs that you could put on as a beach cover-up. They had this beautiful sarong with all kinds of tropical flowers, 20 bucks. So, I bought that and I got some bamboo out of my yard and some double stickum tape and put it on the bamboo and just hung the sarong for 20 bucks on it hung it up on my wall. There you go. I had this huge sarong with
>> Yeah, you need to be creative.
>> Yeah, so you get creative instead of um instead of oh, I can go down to the store and and buy it for $200. Well, what if you could there's another way you can for 20. You know, if I knew how to do like wood framing around it, I could have done that, but that was beyond my skill level, but I knew how to put stickum tape on bamboo and that that worked.
>> That works. Outstanding.
>> Yeah. So, you know, whenever you're when you're here, you know, stay at a lot of different places and and think about could I work remotely here because that's what this is a research trip about working remotely and where? Where would you want to work remotely? And does it have um you know, assuming you're going to need good internet, you might do Zoom calls a lot for your work or whatever, but do those kind of research and it becomes a business trip.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, we both work remote now and it's it's fabulous. I mean, if we could do it here, we could do it in Panama.
>> Well, I can bring my We have the Starlink that we can bring with us. The Starlink Mini, as a matter of fact, we can bring it anywhere.
>> There's excellent vets. The food you want, you can get it here. There's pet sitters everywhere that will stay at your house and take care of your pets like it's your own. Um but I know getting rid of your stuff is the hardest part, so I don't know what city you live in, but let's say you lived in Tampa. Well, in Tampa, storage buildings are going to be kind of expensive, but if you go to a little town that's just a little bit away from Tampa,
>> Right.
>> um all that might be all big towns over there now. I haven't been in that area. Madeira Beach and things like that are all expensive, but if you I'm just going a little bit out, you can cut your cost in half at least for a a big storage building that you can start moving things into.
>> I'm ready. I'm ready to go.
>> [laughter]
>> Well, well, you have you have an assignment. You have an assignment after the live stream. Um actually a couple of assignments, three assignments. Number one is you need to watch search on our YouTube channel, put in downsize, and watch the video about downsizing. It they've got some good tips in there. Number two, um on our YouTube channel, watch the video that I did about how you can get a temporary 5-year visa because that would be the best solution for you. It would be much better than the digital nomad visa because um you know, you might want to ride ride the wave a little while, and go ahead and do 5 years and push off collecting social security until a little bit later. Might not.
>> Yeah, I I I watched that video. I must have not paid attention.
>> But it gives you the flexibility, and even though you're not 6 months away from moving to Panama, although you might be. uh uh Even though you're not 6 months away, search the checklist and the online guide and just review some of those things so just can just be in the back of your head of oh yeah, we got to do this and we got to do that. These are some other things that we're going to have to do before we pull the trigger and we make that move.
>> Thank you, Jackie.
>> Okay. You know I'm always here for you.
>> You're a saint. As far as I'm concerned.
>> I'm so excited for both of you. You're going to absolutely love living in Panama.
>> Well, maybe 3 years from now we'll be one of the couples that sits on the couch for the interview.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah, maybe maybe even 2 years from now.
>> Oh, maybe. Anything's possible.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Anything's possible. So we didn't get to the Q&A part, but that's okay. If anybody's in our private Panama Relocation Tour Facebook group, you can ask them questions in there.
>> Yeah, we're both there. It's not hard to find us. Eenie Beanie and Stew Beans.
>> Okay. But thank you so much for doing this live stream and sharing your thoughts about moving to Panama when you have a 3-year plan and sometimes the 3-year plan becomes a 2-year plan.
>> It kind of feels like that now.
>> Yeah, but it just take you know, it takes time and you know, creating your own checklist and timeline of when you need to do different things. But I think once you see Panama, you're going to be absolutely amazed and both of you you're going to be excited about shortening that timeline a little bit.
>> I I hope
>> I hope so.
>> I hope so, too. Are you just saying that?
>> No, it gives me something to look forward to. No, I
>> Pinky swear?
>> Pinky swear.
>> All right.
>> Okay. There you go.
>> Thank you so much, Jackie.
>> Stew and Eenie, thank you so much.
>> Thank you, Jackie.
>> Yeah, goodbye.
>> We'll see you soon.
>> Thank you for watching on the live stream. Goodbye everybody.
>> Bye.
>> Bye.