Moving To Panama Central America

M y college years were            nothing better to do. I wouldn't   spent dreading the day I       have fit in working nine to five   would be released into the     and I certainly could not          American workforce, an act in         tolerate another Jersey winter of  itself a forerunner to                frost on the windshield or ice on  depression. Although my               the driveway. Panama was just a    experience and GPA may have           country with a Canal to me back    looked good on paper, I knew in       then—every one of its people, in   my heart that my employer, the        my vision, showing the             keen eye that he'd have, would        pock-marked face of Noriega and    invariably figure out that I had      the bat-swinging prowess of Rod    learned nothing over my four          Carew. The moment I stepped off    years and kick me to the curb,        the airplane though, realizing     asking me politely—as if a            that none of my preconceived       restaurant—never to come back to      notions were true, I knew this     blue-collar America again. My         country was the place for me. I    colleagues would stand there, in      knew this because in the airport   their pressed suits and shiny         terminal I found a brand new       shoes, looking out over the walls     twenty dollar bill which, on its   of their cubicles and whisper         most basic levels, assured me      amongst themselves. "He wasn't        that I didn't need to find a job.  cut out for this," they'd say.                                           "The guy never even wore a suit".     There's a very defined gap                                               between knowing you don't want a   I'm 24 which, although it may         traditional office job and         seem young is over one hundred in     actually knowing what kind of job  dog years. I originally came to       you do want, and it appeared that  work in Panama after graduation       my foot was stuck in it. When it   because, as most innovative           came to figuring out what I was    decisions are made, there was         going to do, nothing was           clear-cut. "Anything's possible"                                         my parents used to tell me "if        Having noticed a lack of written   you put your mind to it". But         information on the country, I set  after a number of broken limbs        out to do something different.     and about forty five cents in         Over the exciting course of my     loose change wandering through        first year, I spent every waking   the tubes of my digestive track,      moment documenting the isthmus. I  I realized this wasn't so true.       wrote about the people, the        The circumstances I found in          provinces. I wrote about the       Panama though, were to give           food, the flowers. I wrote about   credence to my parent's               the good, the bad, and the ugly.   metaphorical advice.                  Too often, I feel, travel                                                information is not real enough,    The opportunities that I came         it's not entirely honest. Sure     across seemed to be abound.           the guidebooks and the websites    Because the country's tourism and     will tell you about the cupcakes   real estate sectors were (and         and the birthday parties, but      still are) so young, they seemed      what about the kid who peed in     to be the perfect avenues to          the lemonade cooler or worse, the  explore. With a background in         kid that drank it? They never      internet marketing and                tell you that stuff, being the     long-fantasized career as a           bona fide things that you may      travel writer, my options in          encounter upon traveling to a new  Panama became about as vast as        country. I set out to create a     the gulf that separated me from       website to reveal all pieces of    my home. Several other expat          the puzzle. From hotels, to        friends I know occupied various       restaurants, to real estate, to    jobs, from the pool business, to      tours, I set out to create a       real estate, to restaurants, to       website to warn people about the   hotels.                               proverbial lemonade.                                                     more investment, more luck. But I  My creation, The Panama Report        prefer the way I live down here.   was a modest hit right off the        Maybe my friends were right, that  bat. People enjoyed the fact that     I wasn't cut out for the hustle    the site was up-front, no strings     and bustle of nine-to-five office  attached, not overly salesy or        life. Maybe I wasn't cut out for   negative as some other sites tend     the cubicles or struggle or even   to be. Eventually over time it        life in the States at all.         earned a reputation for being                                            something unique and today, my        I'm sure I'll make it home some    consulting work for various           day. But for now, traveling        tourism and real estate               around this amazing country and    enterprises is a testament to its     sharing my travels with others is  success. Could I every have made      good enough for me. Because after  it this way at home? Maybe. But       all, isn't work for people who     it would have definitely been a       have nothing better to do?         lot harder: more competition,          About the Author: Panama Travel is a popular tourist destination these day. With more eco-tourists Panama is booming. Many tourists fall in love with central america and buy Real Estate in Panama as an investment and 2nd home. Read more articles by: Alan Winters Article Source: www.iSnare.com