I arrived in Boquete yesterday late afternoon. Panama's Chiriqui Province and the Boquete region are incredibly beautiful.  After a good night's sleep, I will leave leave my minimalist temporary room at the edge of town in a few minutes to walk into Boquete for the first time and enjoy a healthy breakfast at Olga's.breakfast and do some exploration. 
After the rooms are cleaned, I will move to my regular room here at Valle Primavera later  today, and write a more detailed entry about my journey and first impressions.  The temperature is indeed perfect, and I'm sitting on my bed in jeans and a light T-shirt at 8 am after sleeping under a sheet and light blanket - all with the windows open.
I have already met several very pleasant and friendly Panamanians - drivers, waiters and the owner of Valle Primavera - who speak excellent English.  It should be easy to manage while I struggle to learn Spanish.
More will be written, and pictures posted about my adventure this evening.

A week from tonight, I plan to be in Boquete

It's been a very busy 2012 for me as I prepare for my journey.  I have moved out of my apartment, and and I am sorting through my remaining belongings as I prepare to fly next Tuesday from San Francisco International Airport to Panama City.  I will arrive at about ten PM, and plan to stay in a hotel in Panama City overnight.  Then I will take the morning bus for the seven hour ride to the provincial capital of David, and then another bus up the mountain to Boquete - a 40 minute ride. 

The realization of what I am undertaking is really starting to sink in - this is a major life change.  The support of family, friends, and acquaintances has been tremendous after they learn the details of my plans, and that really helps me maintain my positive attitude in anticipation of a great adventure. 

My collection of exotic wood and the remaining tools from my shop are in storage, and hopefully I will be able to ship them to Panama when I return Sebastopol in June to make the transition permanent if my exploratory visit goes well.

For now, I will remain very busy with last minute tasks, and hope to blog again in about a week - from Boquete!!

A quick update.  Here's an edited version of an e-mail I sent to the couple who will put me up (put up with me??) in their spare bedroom for a few weeks, and store the meager remains of my life's possessions.  They are former neighbors and great friends.  When people say that the most important and best things in life are friends and family, my experience in a major life change at age 70 confirms that.  I will be blogging more regularly when I settle into my temporary stay with those friends while making final preparations for my journey to Boquete, Panama for my extended exploratory visit. 

Thursday, January 26, 2012 - In five days, I have to be out of my apartment!!  Technically, I will be homeless and living with friends, but with a far more promising future than many who find themselves in that often unfortunate situation. 

Hectic does begin to describe the last two weeks before vacating my apartment - although I think I am sufficiently organized to not be in a state of chaos. 

I have now sold and shipped most of the audio gear that I won't keep.

I just sold my table saw, large band saw and air compressor to a woodworking friend, and they should be gone within a few of days.

Today I will take a small load to Goodwill, run a few errands, and box up all the books and CD's that I think I want to keep, and make a final decision on disposition later.  I will take one station wagon load to the nearby home of the friends who will be housing me for three weeks. 

Friday will be a full day of "driving for dollars" on Friday with delivery runs for an anodizing shop in Rohnert Park.  First south to San Jose in my Volvo and then north to Willits with the Dodge van (400+ miles, although the San Jose delivery may be put off until Monday). 

On Saturday I will take a truck-load of furniture - my big roll-top desk and several other pieces - to a consignment shop in north Santa Rosa near the old site of the Woodcraft store where I used to work.  My neighbor, who has a full-size pickup will help me and make that delivery a lot easier.  Then I will continue organize my remaining upstairs stuff for moving or disposal. 

On Sunday I will take my dining room table & chairs, sofa, end table and coffee table, if they have not sold via Craigslist, to the local flea market for quick sale at low prices.  I will also take lots of non-critical shop stuff.

On Monday, I will again rely on my neighbor to help me move my bedroom furniture and personal items to home of the friends that I will be staying with.  Their kids are either in or finished with college, and they are buying my bedroom set after some remodeling of bedrooms.  It will be a strange, yet probably comforting feeling to sleep in my own bed until I leave on my Panama journey. 

On Tuesday, January 31, I will clear out any remaining goods from the apartment, and will continue to clean out the shop/garage.  The apartment complex manager said I can have a couple of extra days to finish clearing out the garage.  She is the most considerate apartment manager I have ever had, and a real friend.   

Then I will take a break and drink a couple of beers before beginning the final, and less hectic preparations for my flight to Panama and bus ride to Boquete. 

When I finish bringing my remaining worldly goods to my friends' house, I will still have an excess of "personal possessions", and their guest bedroom will be stuffed full and in a state of chaos.  I will sort and organize some more, and dispose of things over the next few weeks.  That process will be repeated  when I return to the U.S. in April or May if my exploratory trip confirms my desire to live in Boquete.

A hectic two weeks ahead

Today after much procrastination, I will start listing online the many items I would like to sell.  It is not easy to get rid of many of the things one has collected over the years, but it must be done.  The items that I do not want to keep, and have not sold by the end of the month, will be donated to thrift stores, with some items from my wood shop going to a local school where I know the wood shop teacher.  Items that I definitely want to take to my new home will be stored with friends.  Items that I am not sure about will also be stored with friends, and decisions about them will be made when I come back in June. 

I am waiting for my new passport  to arrive before I set firm dates for my four month exploratory visit to Boquete (February to June).  Before I return in June, I will probably have made my decision regarding whether I move to Boquete on a Panama "Pensionado Visa," or look for subsidized senior housing in the U.S. ?  The reality of this major life change is sinking in more and more each day, and little voices are asking me "Do you really want to do this, David?"  Thoughts of what I will leave behind are being more than matched by the vision of the life I can live in Boquete.   

I have my ticket for the Boquete JaZZ & Blues Festival - 2012, which will be my first event in the beautiful highland valley town that I hope to make my new home.  And to even further reinforce my desire to make the move, here's another plus for the area.  The HUGE La Amistad National Park is a mountain-top tropical cloud forest that spans nearly a million acres  - and the southern section is right above Boquete.  It straddles the Costa Rica-Panama border.  I plan to hike into and explore some of the few accessible portions of the park, and take photos.  The photo below is from Wikipedia.

"The park area is equally split between Costa Rica and Panama, as part of the former La Amistad Reserves of the Talamanca mountain range. It covers 401,000 ha of tropical forest and is the largest nature reserve in Central America and together with a 15 km buffer zone it represents a major biodiversity resource at a regional (ca 20% of the regions species diversity) and global level."

"This is recognized in its strategic position in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its cross-frontier position gives it unique potential to improve bioregional planning. The park’s buffer zone includes coffee and beef producers and indigenous subsistence farmers." 

"A consequence of the difficulty of the terrain, the park is relatively unexplored and the only substantial scientific explorations deep into the park have been led by the Natural History Museum London, INBio and the University of Panama in the last 6 years (2003–2008)."

"In 2006 the UK's Darwin Initiative funded a three year collaborative project led by the Natural History Museum, London, INBio (Costa Rica) and ANAM (Panama). The aim of which was to generate baseline biodiversity information for the park and a map of the biodiversity. This involved a series of seven multi-disciplinary and international expeditions to remote parts of La Amistad during which over 7,500 plant, 17,000 beetle and 380 herpetological collections were made and deposited in the national collections of Costa Rica and Panama. These expeditions also lead to the discovery of 12 plant species, one beetle species, fifteen amphibian and three reptile species new to science." 

Nice compliment from Boquete

Rainbow over Boquete (Picture from www.revealrealestate.com)

Just a short blog post today.  One of members of the online community forum (boquete.ning.com)  contributors sent me this private message via the forum members pages:

"Each time I read your comments my 6th sense is...this guys made for Boquete.  Life's short.  There's a peace here.  You'll see." 

With that kind of feedback, my enthusiasm soars.  The above message to me reinforces my confidence in the path I have chosen to explore.  I am sincere and excited about the potential of Boquete as a new home.  As I continue to sort through – and dispose of - my personal belongings and papers, I feel little or no remorse.  I hope to transform myself from simply being a “senior” to becoming an “elder” who can enjoy life and become an active participant in a community.  

The support of friends and family, especially my sister, Joyce, and friends Colin and Carolyn Wilson makes it much easier to get on with all that needs to be done to prepare for my journey.

The pressure is ramping up!!

I gave notice to the manager that I will be vacating my apartment at the end of January.  My last $1,000+ rent check has been written, and the die is cast to move on.  I still haven't booked my flight for my first trip to Boquete, but will do so soon.

I tell people that I am going to Boquete to explore that area as a place to live under a permanent retirement visa from Panama.  If I don't like it, I can come back to the U.S. and live in government subsidized housing, so I have nothing to lose by looking at the option of living as an expatriate in a beautiful area.  The cost of living for a modest lifestyle with good options for public transportation is something that does not exist here in Northern California, and the idea of living somewhere where I can be comfortable without heat or air conditioning is a big plus.  

There is really a lot for me to do to prepare for this major life change, and I am very busy every day. There is a lot of adrenalin running in me these days, but it is a good feeling.  I'm doing what I expect will utterly change my lifestyle from just making it through each day to looking forward to every dawn.  

The idea of using this blog to document my journey is helping me sit back and think about everything associated with my exploration and move.  I won't be writing much until I head for Panama, because by then almost all of possessions will have been sold or given away or donated, and I will literally be homeless as I seek a new environment to call home.  

I go into this period of my life with great joy, hope and anticipation - it's an exciting adventure that offers the possibility of a vibrant, but simple  lifestyle.  Everyone I tell about it, especially when I elaborate on the details of the Boquete area and the wonderful online community at the forums of boquete.ning.com, tells me it sounds great - with no air or feeling condescension.  I already feel like I have friends in Boquete.

Now it's back to cleaning out drawers and emptying shelves of stuff I've moved around with me for far to many years. 

Feel free to engage in a dialog by clicking on the word "comments" below.  You will be prompted for your Google username and ID, which is easy to register for if you don't have one.  I will check for comments regularly and respond when appropriate.

I cannot afford to live a decent life in the U.S. any more!

I started this blog on December 31, 2011 to document my exploration of a retirement move to the highland village of Boquete, Panama as an alternative to moving to a HUD government subsidized apartment in Northern California.  It is intended to be an avenue of communication with friends and family, and anyone else who wishes to share my journey.

I am a widower who turned 70 this past December, and on my birthday, made a decision to move to a place where I can enjoy life, and not struggle just to exist, on my SS income.  I lost my retail sales job last January when the Woodcraft woodworker’s store in Santa Rosa, California shut down.  This happened was just as I went on disability to have long-overdue surgery to have both knees replaced.  I now  have a new pair of knees, full mobility, and no pain - an incredible improvement in my life.  I take absolutely no medications for anything on a regular basis.

When my disability ended in September, I started doing some delivery driving for a friend's company in Rohnert Park and trying to sell my artisan woodworking pieces, but could not meet my expenses.  I am slipping deeper and deeper into debt, and had to make a major change in my life.  I had toyed with expat living before, mostly looking at Mexico, but could not convince myself that it was a good idea, and that I could be happy. 

Above is my 750 sq.ft. apartment in Sebastopol, CA that I rent for $1,150  per month.  The garage below the apartment is HUGE, and I use it for my woodworking shop.  My budget for a rental in Boquete is from $200 to a max of $350 per month without garage or shop space.  I will not have a car down there at least for a year or two.  Low rent, no heat or A/C needed, (temps year around range from 60° to 80°F),  and not having a car will save me about $1,000 per month!!  (Buses and taxis are plentiful and cheap.)

A major change is necessary.  I absolutely do not want to get a another retail job at a place like Lowe’s or Home Depot when I can spend my days on a permanent vacation where I can enjoy hiking, photography, and live in a vibrant, but low-stress community like the village of Boquete in the northwestern highlands of Panama just below the CostaRica border. The community of expats living in the Boquete area have a wonderful website with a great set of forums (link), and I feel like I have many friends there already. 

I had looked into expatriate (commonly referred to as simply as “expat”) living earlier this year, and first considered Mexico.  However, for several reasons, I decided against that move.  Last week, I began an intensive review of the possibilities of moving to Panama, first Las Tablas, then Boquete.  Others have recommended Las Tablas in the hot flatlands of Panama near the Pacific Ocean as a much less expensive place to live.  However, my initial impression is that Las Tablas is a more of a low-income, laid-back coastal area with a wild and crazy carnival every year.  Plus it’s not nearly as lush and beautiful as Boquete.

Boquete - A place of flowers, rainbows, and eternal spring weather

Boquete is much more appealing to me based on many, many hours of internet research.  The Flower and Coffee Festival, Jazz and Blues Festival, cool climate, clean air and water, lush landscape, beautiful gardens, and nearby nature reserves convinced me to check it out.  I would rather live more modestly in a spectacularly beautiful area than more extravagantly in a less beautiful place.  I plan to travel to Boquete in mid February and stay until June, at which time I will need to come back to Northern California for a one-year evaluation by my orthopedic surgeon of my new knees.
I have begun the process of selling and donating my clothes, furniture, books, tools, etc. and at the end of January will move in with friends until I depart for Boquete. 

I am getting a new passport, and will soon start the pre-qualifying process for a permanent Panamanian “Pensionado” Visa.  If I like the Boquete area and feel like I can make it my new home, I will move there in June or July.  I have just started on-line Spanish lessons, and plan to rent a room with a shared bath at a hostel near Boquete’s Spanish language school while I look at other options.  Extreme austerity is my goal as I get back on my feet financially by paying off accumulated debt.  

Then I can truly start enjoying life to the fullest again.