Living La Dolce Vita

bobrandolph (59)in #travel • 8 years ago

Yours Truly
Living the Sweet Life, La Dolce Vita, in Coronado Beach, Panama with the Pacific Ocean as our backyard, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Us, The Immigrants

After years of struggling, we finally arrived at the same conclusion; our living expenses were driving us into the poor house. The most predatory expenses were related to life during the long New England winters. Winter heating bills seemed to pile up without any chance of ever catching up. We’d even borrowed money to pay those bills, putting us further behind the eight ball.
The obvious solution finally dawned on us. We had to pursue it before we drowned in a pool of debt. We had to move to a warmer climate since the winters here were sucking us dry financially.
But, where could we move? California came to mind quickly, but all the desirable places like San Diego, Santa Barbara or San Francisco, were much too expensive. So California was off the list. What about Arizona? We’d thought about Tucson for some time, but we both loved being near the ocean. Although there was a financial fit and the climate was right, we couldn’t give up the ocean, or at least being close to it. Another choice bit the dust.
When the dust cleared, we turned to the Internet for help. That’s when the idea of leaving the country came into focus. HGTV's House Hunters International grabbed our attention. The search was on. What about Belize? Belize had a large English speaking population, the cost of living was low, and the climate was warm. What more could we ask? Belize became the solution. That’s when fate stepped into the picture. It came in the form of a comment from a casual friend. “My sister and her husband live in Panama and they love it.”
There it was, “firsthand testimony.” That led us to taking a serious look at Panama. Things began to add up. It used the dollar for money – no problem with exchange rates. It had an average temperature of 85 degrees, year round. It had first-class medical care. It was safe, politically, because of the U.S. strategic interest in the Canal. The cost of living was low, according to the hype, anyway.
“Let’s check it out” we decided, after the usual Google research revealed that Panama was “The number one place to retire.” Enough additional positive evidence piled up to make a field trip mandatory. Using the Internet, we booked a month’s stay at a condo in Coronado Beach, Panama.

You May See Anything on the Road to Panama City

Even Cows

On August 4th, 2014, we took a flight to Panama City, Panama. After arriving in Coronado Beach, a 90 minute drive, north of Panama City, we were met by our friend, rental agent, and real estate lady, Cynthia Lehman.
Our plan was to establish a base of operations in Coronado Beach, and spend the month checking out various locales we had read about to determine where we might want to live in Panama – the mountains or the seacoast.

Our Living Room at The Golf

The Golf Course Below

Life Was Good At the Golf

Well, you guessed it. We got so comfortable in our 31st floor condo, with a view of the Pacific Ocean a half mile away, and in the middle of a golf course, that we didn’t do any exploring. We asked ourselves, “Why not Coronado Beach?”
About three weeks into our stay, we signed a one-year lease on a two-bedroom condo in a high-rise on the shore of the Pacific, with the beach as our backyard. The lease was to start April, 2015, giving us plenty of time to tie up loose ends in Massachusetts.

A Hasty Move

Our Ill-fated Condo

In September, as we flew back to Massachusetts, I foolishly made the statement that “This will probably be the worst winter ever in Massachusetts.” It was one of the worst winters since the blizzard of 1978 which had shut down the entire state for a week.
More than one-hundred-inches of snow fell in the Boston area between January and the end of February 2015. Eventually towns and cities could find no place to move the white stuff. We had to pay $1,500 out of our pocket for snow removal, fearing our roof would collapse. Overall costs for ice and snow removal from the property came to a little over $5,000, leading us to the next conclusion: 2015 would not be the year we made our big move. Here is how our backyard looked.

The Snow Kept Coming and Coming

More Snow

Our Backyard

And More Snow

And Even More Snow !!

2015 went by and 2016 came, with us still living in Massachusetts and paying rent on our condo in Coronado Beach, Panama. In the meantime, we worked diligently to get our budget together to make the actual move to paradise.
After months of airline reservations and cancellations, a tiny financial window opened. One example was the truck that backed into our decrepit, 2004 Hyundai with 250,000 miles on the odometer. That accident netted us $1,300. Other events came together and with the help of our dear friend, Joyce Carr, who came with us for the first month, we set a do or die date of August 5, 2016 for our Panama move.

Our New Home

Our Condo In Coronado Beach

View From Our Bedroom

View From Our Living Room

By then we had arranged a one-year lease on a two-bedroom condo on the ocean side of a beach-front, high rise located on the Pacific shore in Coronado Beach. With eight large suitcases, packed to the gills, with all our true earthly possessions, we took up residence in Coronado Beach, Panama. Unfortunately, Joyce was sick most of her stay.
We were warmly welcomed back to Coronado Beach, by many of the friends we made when we were here in 2014. It was as if the two years hadn’t passed. Now, six months after our tenuous move to paradise; we are profoundly grateful to wake up every day to the sound of the rise and fall of ocean waves, basking in sunny weather with an average temperature of 85 degrees, as we are continue to live (from sunrise to sunset).

Sunrise in Paradise