Being a Perpetual Tourist… the Pros and Cons

Being a Perpetual Tourist… the Pros and Cons

8 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Travel and Vacation / By / January 17, 2021

The term “perpetual tourist” was one I wasn’t familiar with until we got serious about the idea of moving to Panama several years ago. Sometimes you might also hear it by the name “perpetual traveler”, “permanent tourist”, “prior taxpayer”, or even just by the letters “PT.” A perpetual tourist is someone who isn’t a legal resident of the country they are living in. Be aware that this is completely different than an illegal immigrant. PTs still play by the tourism …

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Reasons to Retire in Panama - My Interview on YouTube

Reasons to Retire in Panama – Modern Aging Interview

13 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Podcasts and Other Appearances / By / January 16, 2021

Back in January 2020, I had an opportunity to be interviewed by the wonderful Risa Morimoto from Modern Aging. She wanted to get my take on our time here in Panama. What do we like and dislike? Why would someone want to retire in Panama? I met Risa during the shooting of our House Hunters International episode. She was the director and she’s just a great person all around. Risa’s got the personality and sense of humor you just can’t …

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A Better Life for Half the Price… Sound Appealing?

A Better Life for Half the Price… Sound Appealing?

12 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Panama, Podcasts and Other Appearances, Product and Service Reviews, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By / January 12, 2021

I recently finished reading the book “A Better Life for Half the Price” by Tim Leffel. This is the second edition of the book and it was just released this past November. Why was I reading this book when I’m already living that kind of life? Two reasons: 1) It’s intriguing to read about living in different areas of the world and compare my experiences from the U.S. and Panama. 2) I’m quoted in it a few times (how cool …

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4 Lessons Learned After Two Years of Early Retirement

4 Lessons Learned After Two Years of Early Retirement

32 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement / By / January 5, 2021

It’s crazy to realize that I retired at the age of 43 two years ago. December 31, 2018, was my last day of “working for the man” hopefully forever! Now it’s time to present some lessons learned during that time. In the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community, you tend to read info from a lot of folks who are on the path to financial freedom but aren’t there yet. While that’s great and can present a lot of great …

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Imagine No Internet at Home for 53 Days… Ugh.

16 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending / By / December 26, 2020

Yeah, no need for us to imagine here… 53 whole days without internet at home. That’s almost two full months. Although we made a small mistake on our end that didn’t help, most of the cause of this falls on Panama just being Panama. And you don’t realize just how critical solid internet is at home until you need to go without it. It’s become such an essential part of our day-to-day lives… for better or for worse. We adjusted …

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The FI Show Podcast Appearance – Geoarbitrage

The FI Show Podcast Appearance – Geoarbitrage

Leave a Comment / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Podcasts and Other Appearances, Spending / By / December 29, 2020

I first met Justin and Cody from The FI Show at a FinCon conference a couple of years ago. These might be two of the nicest guys I’ve ever meet. I believe that they were just starting their podcast at the time and they had asked me to be a guest at some point. I was game to do it but our paths didn’t really cross much for a while after that. Well, a few months ago, Justin and I …

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A Christmas Story in Panama… Back in Lockdown!

A Christmas Story in Panama… Back in Lockdown!

16 Comments / Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / By / December 21, 2020

Once upon a time, a pretty awesome family was living in Boquete, Panama. They were getting ready to start their second Christmas story in this beautiful country. And then the Ministry of Health announced another scheduled lockdown over the next two holiday weeks. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That pretty awesome family struggled with the mandate, let it spoil their holiday spirit, and became total Grinches for the rest of the year. The End. Oh, and …

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Overthinking the Cost of a Gym Membership

Overthinking the Cost of a Gym Membership

16 Comments / Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending / By / December 17, 2020

In the personal finance community, you tend to hear overwhelming voices shouting about how the cost of a gym membership makes it such a waste of money. It’s not hard to see why. Most folks in the community are trying to optimize their spending and cut out the costs they don’t need. Larger expenses like giant houses, fancy cars, and eating out excessively are a few of the big ones that we all know that can make it a lot …

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Making Plans for the Future – Stay or Go?

Making Plans for the Future – Stay or Go?

35 Comments / General Thoughts, Geoarbitrage, Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / By / December 9, 2020

Life is funny sometimes. We made plans for the future, retired early, sold everything we had, and then moved to Boquete, Panama in 2019. What are the chances a once-in-century pandemic hits shortly thereafter and throws everything out of whack? The odds can’t be very high I would guess. I’ll tell you what – it’s been one helluva ride so far. The first six months were pretty awesome. We got settled in, had the opportunity to be on House Hunters …

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Here’s Why I’m Liking… The Courage to Be Disliked

Here’s Why I’m Liking… The Courage to Be Disliked

18 Comments / Here's Why I'm Liking..., Motivation, Product and Service Reviews / By / December 1, 2020

I’m not sure why I had the book “The Courage to Be Disliked” on my Amazon wish list. Someone either told me it was a good read or I had read about it somewhere. I use different wish lists on Amazon for myself so I don’t lose track of the books I’m interested in reading. Since I only get a chance to read a little each night, it takes me a while to get through each book. I’ve got probably …

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