Time To Put Our Plan Into Practice
The time has come for Kathleen and me to trigger our next phase of living overseas. Our son has graduated high school this month, freeing us up geographically. We can now move around the globe with few restrictions.
We’ve spent our last 20 years together putting in place the pieces of an international lifestyle. We’ve been selecting the locations, creating the personal infrastructure, and making the investments to allow for a nomadic lifestyle that won’t leave us feeling like nomads.
Millennial Digital Nomads are sharing living quarters and work space as they take their laptop careers on the road. They are true wanderers, without home bases.
Kathleen and I prefer a little more privacy and comfort. We want a home base. In fact, we want several.
Go Where The Living Is Best...Season By Season
For years, we’ve been referring to our lifestyle plan as “Following The Seasons.” It’s an evolution from the idea of snow birding, of going south for the winter to avoid the cold. In our case, we want to go where the living is best, season by season.
Panama’s dry season is the best time to be in that country. Technically, Panama’s “summer,” as it’s called, extends from Dec. 15 through April 15, but January through March is safely drier than the rest of the year and definitely the most beautiful and most comfortable months in this part of the world.
Paris is best in the spring and fall—that is, April through June or September and October. Those are the seasons you’ll find us in the City of Light.
The weather in Ireland is never a top selling point for life in this country, but summer is warmer and drier than the rest of the year. June through August works for us on the Emerald Isle.
Medellin is a pleasant 80 degrees year-round, meaning we can show up anytime. Medellin is our all-season backup plan.
Those are the current four destinations on our chasing-the-season list. Home bases are set up in all but Ireland, and reestablishing our life on the Emerald Isle is a top priority on this summer’s to-do list. We’ll be house-hunting in Waterford in July.
Over the years, the destinations have changed. Buenos Aries has been replaced by Medellin, Nicaragua by Panama. Further changes are always possible… as are additions.
Does Panama Still Make Sense?
A reader wrote recently to say, “I’ve read that you and your wife are moving from Panama City to Paris this summer. I’m shocked to hear this. Does this mean Panama is no longer a good option? You have promoted it for so long. What has changed?’
Panama makes as much sense as it has always made, depending on your circumstances and your targets. It makes more sense than ever for the expat entrepreneur. If building a business overseas is your agenda, take a good look at what Panama has to offer… as we did about 10 years ago when Kathleen decided she wanted to start the Live and Invest Overseas venture.
We knew that launching that business meant leaving France. We moved from Paris to Panama City and hunkered down for the better part of a decade establishing what has become a successful and still-growing enterprise.
That accomplished, we’re able to diversify our focus. Starting a business is no longer our agenda. Now we’re managing one. Because of the kind of business it is, moving around the world will make us more effective as we work to meet the current objective.
It’s all an ever-changing cocktail that, for us, amounts to lifestyle diversification at its finest.
Lief Simon