During my June trip to Panama I firmed up my decision to not go back to work (at least for now), but to retire early. I have a little money left from the sale of the house last year, and a condo in Atlanta, which I am planning on selling next year. Together, the funds should suffice to buy a little property and sustain my life until I can start drawing my retirement annuity in two years. Together, it should allow me to postpone drawing SS until I am 67 (maybe longer, maybe not quite as long).
So, in essence, if I am very thrifty for a few years, I can retire now, and start working on my dream already!
Yeay!
But, wait! Which of my dreams?
There are several options that sound absolutely awesome to me! I now have to make a very hard decision which of the possible lives I would want to lead.
1. Reforesting a piece of land
We hear about vast areas of land being deforested every day all around the globe. But there are also reports of reforestation projects. Panama, for example, has the declared goal of reforesting 1 million hectares ( 2.5 mill acres) by 2035. This is a report (in German) about a retiree in Turkey, who converted a landfill into a forest. And, of course, there's the awesome story of the photographer Sebastião Salgadoand his wife in Brazil.
I LOVE trees! The idea of buying a finca with a couple of hectares of former forest now (probably degraded) pasture, and spending my retirement years just planting trees, fills my heart with joy!
I've done some online searches and there appear to be properties of a reasonable size and price available. So, this is definitely a feasible option.
2. English tutoring for locals
English is the de facto lingua franca. Any knowledge available in this world today is available in English. Some of the knowledge is available in German too, some in French, some in Chinese, and so on. But, for every other language it is only a part of the information that is available. Also, with most of international cooperations and projects, english is the common language that is being used.
I think, for any kid in this world today, who does not speak english, the world is not open. I was able to make something with my life by having been able to migrate from my home country to the US. Today, migrating is not necessary anymore - as long as there's internet and the ability to communicate in English, there are possibilities!
I've overheard some university level english classes, where the teachers had a terribly strong accent, and made many mistakes. I could imagine that on highschool level and even more so primary school level, the quality of english education is even less. Having access to another person to practice and experience is very important!
I do not like cities, but prefer rural areas. As everywhere, in rural areas it is even harder for locals to find good english tutoring options. Also, there seems to be a two class society, where indigenous folks get less opportunities than citizens of european, asian, or north-american descent.
So, I think, I could make a real difference by offering english tutoring, especially to indigenous kids.
Tutoring english has been on my mind for a while. I took an ESL Teacher certification program at University of North Georgia 2 years ago, already in preparation of this idea - offering english conversation and general language tutoring to locals.
This, too, is a very feasible option, that also warms my heart.
3. "my conversations"
I find myself very, very often in a situation, where the insights I have been given over my life-time are of great interest to people who just happen to show up in my life. Be it as seat neighbors in an airplane, at a coffee-house, on social media, in a park... anywhere, any time!
Going to Panama in June I anticipated not being able to have any conversations like this, due to the language issue. However, I soon realized that this concern was unwarranted!
My first stay was at the Bhodi Hostel in El Valle de Anton. There I found a very diverse mix of nationalities and ages among the guests. And, plenty of instances where "my conversation" was happening.
It occurred to me, that if I were to organize a hostel then guests from all over the world could show up. I would be, essentially, "available" for the Universe to arrange for people to show up who need the information I'm able to provide.
Later, it dawned on me, that I don't even have to operate the hostel myself, but could just live close to a hostel, and every now and then, when I feel like it, go there for breakfast or dinner, and make myself available that way.
El Valle is a lovely town, and at a perfect elevation - temperature-wise. It has a great market and supermarket, it's very quiet and peaceful (off the main-street; but even on the main-street the traffic is nothing to worry about).
There are several homes and properties for sale there. I found one online, which looks promising. So, this, too, is quite a feasible option.
As of now, I have no clue which of these options it will be. I keep flipping back and forth between them!
I guess, it will clarify once I go back to Panama. As I always recommend to folks: let the Universe guide! Instead of me firming up plans based on my thoughts and knowledge (which is, of course, less than a fruit-fly poop spec!), be open minded and on the lookout for what is coming my way!
I love to ponder ideas, and to know what I am working towards, and then getting to work on it! Right now, I can't do that, as I have no clue what I'll end up doing. That makes it very difficult for me! On the other hand, there are so many loose ends I have to tie up where I am, that if I can focus on working on those, I'd soon be really free as a bird!
So, I guess, I'll just do that: get my stuff here together and settled. Soon enough, I'll be in Panama again, and things will develop...
PS: For those of you, who do not know about my world-view (which is guiding all my life decisions and goals): it is explained here
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