Purpose of Life

Yesterday, after two days of not a single guest at the restaurant Mana Pizza Yolo, finally there were some visitors again! Among them three girls, who are staying at the hostal across the street. One is from Canada, one from New Zealand, and the third from the Netherlands.

I immediately noticed their awesome vibes. And before I could even explain the menu, a wonderful, deep conversation had started! As happens to be the case so often these days when I'm in the restaurant, the topic was the purpose of the human species on the planet, how to find and live our individual purpose in the world, and how to find happiness and fulfillment.

Sarah tried to take notes on her phone of various ideas and perspectives, so I pointed her to the Tool of the Universe blog.

One of the core aspects of the "tool of the Universe" world-view is, that the Universe guides us through coincidents into situations either that help us grow, or where we are needed, or (most often) both. 

This conversation was just such an experience again! It seemed to me, that they were very ready for just exactly the ideas I am able to share. Many questions were asked. Many aspects were touched upon.

Through this conversation they got answers to many questions they couldn't find answers before, a new and different perspective to view the world opened for them. And for me it was really nice, too. I've been searching all my life to find answers to these questions, and through these curious and open-minded youngsters, I was able to share the insights I was given along the way. And, as so often, their questions helped me, too, to delve even deeper and understand even better how it all fits together!

What took me a life-time to figure out, I shared in 1/2 hour. Now they can use their life-time to build on top of my insights. And when they are in their 60s, youngsters will most likely come into their life, and they will be able to share two life-times worth of wisdom with these youngsters...

Situations like this make feel hopeful for the world, that humanity is not going to self eradicate but will figure out how to live within the system without changing it to the point where humans no longer can exists. And, these conversations make me feel I shouldn't sign off just yet, because I still am useful on this planet!

When people want to hear about why I'm there, I'm explaining that my land and house are in Chiriquí (5 hours by car or a full day traveling by bus) but my heart is here in Santa Catalina. She's baking the best pizzas in town, as over and over customers have been enthusiastically proclaiming. 

Now, my heart does come with me to Camarón Arriba, when I go there to continue with the development of my house. So theoretically, she could just stay there with me. We could close the restaurant, sell the house that's planned to be the Hostal Un Mundo, and both retire to my place.  But...

Iris delights in surprising her clients with her wonderfully looking, and super tasty meals. It is a lot of work, but it provides happiness and fulfillment to her. And even though the restaurant is just barely paying for its costs, it is these opportunities for conversations that make me want to hold on to it, too.

After all, we're not here just to be comfortable, but to make a contribution to the continuation of the development of this creation! So, I guess, as long as we both have the energy to continue, we'll both be living mostly in Santa Catalina, Veraguas - welcoming and surprising our guests with our specialties for their body and their soul...

Leave the planning to the Universe...

When in Santa Catalina I spend most evenings at Iris' restaurant. Most of the guests there are travellers from other parts of the world: Europe, US, even South Africa and South America, too. 

Most often a conversation develops with one or the other group, usually about finding purpose and happiness in your life. So many of the folks in their 30s that end up visiting the restaurant are on an extended trip, with the purpose of finding purpose, fulfillment, and their mission. 

This is the topic I have searched about for all my life, and spent many, many days and nights pondering. Those who know me, know that I have found a different world-view, one that makes the quest for happiness and fulfillment much easier. 

Quite frequently the conversation becomes very inspiring - for them, because it is a completely different perspective and a completely new way to look at life, thus, holding a tremendous potential to get ahead in their quest. And for me, every young person, who is interested in more than just their own comfort, gives me hope that humanity might still be able to survive on this planet and not destroy it to the point where it becomes impossible for humans to live.

One of the key insights that I a often try to convey is, that leaving the planning and arranging up to the Universe works much better, than trying to do it yourself.

Despite how much humanity so far has figured out and come to know and understand, compared to how much there would be to know we are really barely at the beginning stages.  Try to draw a graph, with "0 knowledge" on one side, and "knowing all" on the other side. Then put a mark to where a potato-peeler would fall on this line, and where a dog, and where you, and where humanity as a whole. These 4 marks would be pretty much at the same spot - basically at the "0 knowledge" end - even if you were to draw the graph 4 km long...

With that realization in mind, how stupid and arrogant for us to think we should be in control of what's happening. Praying for something (or the newer idea of using your sub-conscience to manipulate what's coming to you) is just that. Acting, as if you know what is best to happen. God (or whatever you call it) needs a reminder and a pointer to know what to arrange for? Well, it makes no sense, and it obviously doesn't work! Never has (as far as I can observe) and never will (as far as I can imagine).

What does work, though - at least as much as I can observe and notice - is to leave the planning and arranging up to the Universe, and put your effort into trying to understand what is coming your way and why!

Since the first time this thought occurred to me more than 15 years ago until today, I have seen it over and over and over again, that whatever came my way needed something, and it was highly likely to actually happen, just because I am me, I behave as I do, react as I do, am passionate about what I am, have the skills, knowledge and experiences that I have. Also, it most often was exactly what I needed, too - not necessarily for my own comfort or ego, but for me to make the next step in my development to become an even more sophisticated, more capable tool that the Universe can use to get certain things accomplished.

BTW, I am much more "productive" when I am happy. It seems, that the Universe is aware of that, and takes care of that, too! I eventually get everything that I need to be happy and well taken care of - both spiritually, as well as physically!

My experience is, that the less I focus on what "I want", and instead focus on what I can "contribute", the more I get what I really need - automatically, by itself, without me having to do anything else except recognize, accept and embrace it when it shows up!

My life used to be full of struggle and always felt like running a steep slope uphill, swimming against the current. Well I was! Because I ignored where the current was going! Heck, I didn't even realize there was a current! Now, I still have to work, I still am often clueless, I still experiences crises, I still have to put effort into whatever I am doing - but, my life is full of amazing experiences, awesome rewards and accomplishments, and fulfilled, meaningful, and happy! 

The simple change I attribute all of this: I stopped focusing on what I want, what I plan, what I want to accomplish, and instead focus on what the Universe might hope to get done when it sends my way whatever shows up in my life.

It just like in a good job: If you focus on your work, the money shows up automatically in your account!

So you found yourself in an existential crisis?

 So you found yourself in an existential crisis as your job is no longer available? 

So sorry about that! But also so glad about it!

Sometimes we need a crisis to kick us out of our tracks, and “motivate” us to look up and look around. 

A job crisis like this helps us realize that we’re so much more than our work! That we were not born to just be the wheel in the corporate world we are so desperately trying to be. And that there is so much more to life than (paid) work.

During the pandemia i got stuck in Europe for 6 months and was without a job. It was shocking at first, but with time more and more beautiful and eye opening!!! 

I realized how wonderful (in the literal sense: full of miracles) it is to be able to do what needs to be done, rather than what i ought to do to make money!

I also realized, that retiring in Panama is possible right away, due to low cost of living and the highly affordable real estate there; while i would have to continue to work 10 more years to retire in the US. 

So now I’m living happily in Santa Catalina, Veraguas (a fishing village turned surfers’ paradise). 

Aside of not having to endure any more cold winters, nor office politics, nor the danger of getting shot at the next mass shooting, i am now able to focus on fulfilling my purpose in this world and being the change-agent i was born and shaped to be.

We humans are no longer system perpetuators, like all the animals and plants. We are the changers! Through us this world continues to change and develop. 

Yes, we still have to do our “animal-duties” to survive and exist in this system. 

So, yes, we need to work and make money to survive, support our children, save for when we can no longer work. And our talents and passion, our knowledge and awarenesses, and our life-experiences that shape us, all enable us to get a demanding but well paid job. 

But, there are also many tasks that need to be done in this world, that do not get paid in money. These are up to be tackled by us lucky ones, who had a well paid job for many years. 

I am convinced that for many (if not most) of us the work we do in the corporate world is not our life’s purpose, is not the reason why we came into this world. Rather, it allows us to get to the point where we can stop focusing on animal tasks, and dedicate our lives to “higher causes”.

Unfortunately, too many continue with the animal-chores for way too long, and never get to make their real contribution to this creation. They hord money and status until they die or alzheimers releases them by force... 

So you found yourself in an existential crisis as your job is no longer available? 

So sorry about that! But also so glad about it!

I wish you much success in reevaluating your life, identifying your passion, figuring out your life’s real purpose, and becoming the change-agent your soul was hoping to be in this world when it chose to incarnate in you!

Reminiscing

I was always blessed with new ideas. Usually years before the “world was ready” for them. This is a blessing and a curse. The blessing, obviously, is that such ideas are exciting and fun to ponder. But, pondering alone never seemed sufficient for me, I always wanted to implement them, too!

I (choose to) believe, that “sending ideas” is one of the three ways the greater universe (or whatever you want to call whatever is outside of the physical system we live in - our universe) is influencing this system (our universe). I find it hard to believe that ideas just come from the neurons flying around my little, limited capacity brain… (Coincidences, and the fact that every person seems to have a passion, a topic that is very dear to their heart, are the other two outside influence I was able to observe (more on spiritual ideas, fulfilling live's purpose, and finding happiness here: toolOfTheUniverse.org).

The world seems to be functioning quite well as it is. But, then, there’s an idea that somebody receives. A foreign item. Something that wasn’t there as of yet. The system was operating without it. But now, as this person gets this idea, it is possible that it becomes part of this system. And the course of our world is forever changed. No matter in what little way… 

 



On the terrace of the home I’m building in Chiriquí the mason trying to lay tiles had the first tile slanted just a little - maybe 1 mm. Trying to keep all the other tiles level with this one, by the time his line reached the other end of the area 4m down the line, he ended up needing 4 cm of padding! Any little thing now can - and most often does - have a big impact later on! 

Ok, back to my ideas…

The wonderful thing about receiving ideas is that it’s exciting. The downside of it is, that if an idea is a bit farther out than the general population can appreciate, it’s hard to find somebody else who would partner in implementing this 

For example:

In the later part of the 80s I had the realization, that most of a relational database application - which most business application are still today - is made up of the same kind of program. The only difference in the various programs of any single type are the name of the table and the names and numbers of fields. There is also most often more or less of business logic for each of the tables, which differs a lot from one table to the other - but that is a comparably small portion.

So 35 years ago I implemented a first program generator. A program that writes the 4, 5 different types of programs needed for every table. It also linked the programs according to the relationships of the tables, created menus, and provided the hooks for business-logic, printing, and so forth.

That generator was the reason why Progress Software hired me in 93 - finally realizing my dream to move to the USA! Unfortunately, the new CTO, who started between my being hired and my actually starting with them, didn’t appreciate the idea - as was so often the case in my life… The project was cancelled, and I ended up working on something else…

BTW, Object Oriented Programming seems to be another approach to deal with the same problem: repetitive code. My experience is, though, that changing from procedural to object oriented approach did not make writing and maintaining programs easier at all. I’ve come to the conclusion, if you really want to create a mess, use object oriented programing! Without being very consistent in your naming of things and structuring your classes, a system becomes exponentially harder to maintain the bigger it gets. Larger system are virtually unmaintainable! At least those I encountered were so…

In the early 2010s I used the same approach as earlier on in my life to create a browser based application. I consider this application “my Mona Lisa”. After years of changing - not just the programs and DB structure, but even the whole focus of the application! - the system is still neat and consistent and super easy to maintain and expand! This application proves it is possible, it proves it is much less costly to build, and it proves to solve the typical problems systems are plagued with: hard to maintain, hard to extend, hard to adjust, hard for somebody new to understand and get into, high bug rate in code from get go and even higher once modified.

How is that possible? Estimated 80% of the code is generated and can easily be regenerated when there are DB structure changes. These programs are basically self-maintaining. The customized, manually written code is super-consistently following the same naming conventions and style as the generated code. That makes it very easy to understand, which in turn makes it easy to modify and extend.

I implemented this approach for procedural OpenEdge code. But, it can be used for any other language and many other styles of programming as well.

Personally, I don’t think we are able to deal with the complexities of the ever growing systems without the help of computers… computer programmed code is super consistent. Consistency makes life easier for not just people, but for computers as well…


Today, as I am retired from programming, I am working in a totally different area. But, I am, again, trying to implement ideas, new approaches.


I observed the architecture of homes in Panama. And it quickly became clear, there’s plenty of room for improvements!

The focus of local, Panamanian architecture is “cheap”. While it is fulfilling certain criteria well, there are tons of compromises about functionality and comfort. Too many for my liking!

For the foreigners, the architecture of northern areas is simply copied. There are problems in the north that simply don’t exist here - extreme temperatures is just the biggest of them. And there are problem here, that simply don’t exist in the north - super high humidity, just to name one of the biggies. Northern architecture provides solutions for northern problems. But not just NOT provide solutions for tropical problems, but even causes problems in tropical areas.

Using all the ideas and approaches I have encountered over the course of my life, adding my observations and experience living in a tropical climate, and - yet again, as usual - receiving many ideas, I am trying to create a home in Chiriquí that is comfortable and functional, affordable, makes use of and benefits from the local resources and climate, and deals with the local problems.

As if that is not exciting enough, it all is happening in a new, different language, and in an unfamiliar, different culture!

Despite being very busy and occupied by that big task, I’m trying to find the time to blog a little about it.
idea. 

My first house is taking shape already. So far, many of the ideas and approaches used are validated already! The topics of heat, humidity, type of foundation are just the biggest items on the list that are taken care of. Not by trying to fix the symptoms of the problems with the architecture by simply adding a/c, dehumidifier, and patching cracks in walls and floors. But, by having the appropriate basic architecture to deal with these problems from the get-go!

Even though it is not yet finished, I am about to put it on the market. I’m curious how it will be received by those who are coming to retire in Panama… For now, I enjoy my sunrises and sunsets on the big terrace overlooking the pastures with cows and the one or the other horse, and listening to the birds, the rushing of the water of the river bordering my land, and the sound of the rain on the roof when the afternoon showers arrive…

Two of the (to me) most amazing things of the nights here: the hundreds of lightning bugs in the surrounding fields create the flair of magic. And for the first time in over 40 years I am able to see the milky way again, due to the much lower light pollution around here, than  where I used to live in the US and Europe.

The roof - Earthquake - Lessons Learned

Roofs in Panama are relatively uncomplicated. There's a roster of cariolas and a layer of sheetmetal on top of it, affixed with screws. All of it rests on some columns.

My roof is just like that.

Sounds simple, right? Yeap. And in theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. But, as you know, in practice there is! (Yogi Bera )

So, the theory is, I have 4 columns on the terrace, 2 rows of each 4 columns ontop of the walls of the rooms, and the corners of the bathroom which carry the trusses. Since I have a teak plantation and love wood, I decided to use tree trunks as columns. When the trusses are installed and the cross bars welded on, the whole structure is very stable.

Here' comes the practical part:

To assemble the whole thing, these columns need something to keep the vertical! They rest on a metal boot which is concreted in into pedestal on the terrace or wall. But it's the same problem as trying to standup a pencil... 

Yesterday there was an earthquake just about 70 km away; 6.6 on Richter scale. It was quite noticeable! My glassjar actually fell off the shelf and broke, that's how strong I felt it here! 

It's a bit scary, but if you're standing on the ground and don't have a large building or structure atop of you, it's not really a problem.

What it did do, though, was, to remind me, I need to keep earthquakes in mind with my house! I have everything build on a solid concrete slab, which rests on a thick layer of crushed rocks. So if something moves about the house, the whole house is moving. I am hoping it won't develop cracks from tensions created by traditional foundations shifting in relation to each other. So that is "bien"!

But, looking at the structure from the distance, it dawned on me, that the columns that hold up the roof need to be supported in a way, that even if the house starts moving sideways, they won't loose their balance.

Being spiritual as I am, I see this earthquake as sent by the Universe to help me make the next step!

As I am thinking about how to reinforce the columns, I realize, that this is actually the solution for the problem of how to install the roof trusses one by one and keep the columns vertical while doing so!

So, today, I added, where visible, cross boards criss crossing the space between two columns on top of the walls; and where not visible later, 1/2" rebar criss crossing the columns of one row with the respective other of the next row. With that, I have 2 groups of four columns which are interlocked and stabilized amongst each other. 

That allows me to lift the heavy center beam in place, and weld it onto the little pieces of cariolas I used on top of the columns. And later, I can lift the trusses in place, too, and have the columns not just sustain vertical force of the weight, but also horizontal force of the trusses shifting and moving during installation.

Another item of practice vs theory:

The central beam consists of 6 pieces de 15cm by 610cm cariolas, calibre 16 (the strong one). Each of them weights (estimated) 40 to 45 kg (80 to 90 lb). The whole thing is 18 m long and weighs somewhere between 240 to 270 kg!

[one of the trusses - a “cavallo” built of two sandwiched cariolas]

It needs several strong men to lift that thing! And, until it is welded in place, and supported by welded-on trusses left and right, these men need to hold it in place. 

My original design did not have this center beam, but only 4 individual trusses, running in parallel. The architect added this piece. Also, my design had the roof be symmetrical, so both sides the same area, and the same inclination. 

That centerbeam, of course, needs to be supported, so the architect put it ontop of one row of columns - he chose the columns on top of the corners of the wall. Now the roof above the terrace is about 5 meters wide, and the side above the rooms is 7 meters.

Really, that center-beam carries no weight whatsoever. It did not need to be so strong! Instead of using ultra strong and heavy 15cm wide cariolas, 7.5cm wide ones would have sufficed! And I think we wouldn't even have needed to make a "cavallo" - that is double the U-shaped cariolas to make a tube shaped beam.

But, we have the thing already, so we might as well use it...

However, how to put it in place?!? If we put it ontop of the columns on the corners, all the strong men are standing on one side of that heavy thing. If it ever shifts too far to the other side, we won't be able to hold it, and it will fall to the ground - who knows what kind of damage this might cause. And the one or other men might fall with that thing off the ceiling of the room as well!

So, today, I came up with the idea of flipping the roofside around - i.e. have the terrace roof be the 7m wide one, and the roof above the rooms the 5 meter wide one. That allows us to put that centerbeam ontop of the column that in the center of the wall of the room, rather the corner. With that, men can stand on either side of it when it is being put in place!

Today, I was able to install one and a half of those 2 4-columns groups. Yeay!

I did not have enough teak logs for all the columns. So I thought of using some other logs. Unfortunately, ants got into one of them. It would be very difficult to replace such a column once the roof is in place. So I don't want to risk just to kill the ants and install anyhow. Instead, I contacted the sawmill and asked for another log. It's cedar or oak or teca - I will see once he delivers it, hopefully tomorrow...

Once I have this log, I can finish the second group of 4-columns. And once that is done, we can install that darn center-beam. And after that, we can install the roof trusses of at least on side of the roof. For the other side, I need to install and reinforce the long posts on top of the pedestals on the terrace. That's another hot topic, for which I am not yet sure I have a solution that will work in practice... 

Well, tomorrow is another day... We'll see what I'll learn today, and what ideas I'll be given by the Universe tonight...

MicroSerfin - a false Robin Hood - stealing from the poorest of the poor

A few years ago I read about a guy in Bangladesh (I believe) who started to provide micro loans to the poor people. This enabled them to buy a bicycle or sewing machine or similar item, which made it possible for them to start a business providing a service, thus creating a doorway for them to put food on their table and support their family. I remember how excited I was about this idea. Oh how wonderful!

Now, Panama is not as poor as Bangladesh, but there are many people here who survive on jobs that are paying 12 $ a day (sometimes even less), and sometimes are not even providing work every day of the week. With such a dismal income, paying 30$ +/- per year for a bank account is way too expensive, of course. So most of the poorer people have no bank account - and there's quite a large number of people who fall into this category!

Without bank account, however, it is completely impossible to get a bank loan. Heck, if you're not able to bring proof of a fixed income, you can't open a bank account at most of the banks. A bank loan is just not an available option when somebody is in such position.

But, just like in Bangladesh, there are organizations in Panama, too, who are "helping" such people. Or at least they say so...

One of them is called BBVA MicroFinanzas - the parent of MicroSerfin.

Unfortunately, however, this company is engaging in predatory lending practices!

A friend of mine took a loan from them a few years ago. She made her payments in time all the time, and generally was a good borrower. When making her payment in October she got a receipt showing 1587$ as open amount. 

10th of November - total amount owed: 1,587$

In November I paid 1,500$ on her account - through online banking. 

7th of November, my payment - one month after total amount showed 1,587$

The amount was credited. However, when she tried to get a receipt, they told her that it is not possible. Instead they gave her a printout showing the 1,500$ of November registered as prepaid monthly payments for the next 10 months. I didn't think much about it, yet, and suggested that once she has the money to pay the remaining less than 100$, it will all be well.

Yeah right! When she was trying to pay the remaining amount in December (7th), she was told she owed about 500$!

She asked me how is this possible. I advised her to simply pay 10$ onto the account to get a receipt, which she then did, here is that receipt.

When we met again she showed me the receipts, and I couldn't believe my eyes! How could 1 month of owing 1587$ plus 1 month of 1,500$ less incur 400$ in interest? That's 25% interest per month! Or 300% interest per year!!!

7th of December - total owed showing as 400$ more. And a week later it's now up to 520$!

I decided to come with her to the office and try to figure out what's going on. By that time - a week later - the amount owed now was 35$ more again - up to 520$!!! (Look at handwritten note on bottom right.) Even if the 486 $ were right, that would be more than 7% of interest per week, or 350% per year!!!

I told them they are engaged in predatory lending practices, and gave my friend 80$ to pay the amount that is supposed to be open. They refused to take the 80$ but barraged her with explanations about why she's supposed to pay more, that the system is calculating this and the system is always right, and crap like this... I told my friend to not worry about any of their talk, just pay the 80$ and we'll deal with the rest after that. But they steadfastly refused to accept the money!

After fighting with them for about 1/2 hour, I told them I'll get the police for the officer to witness that they refuse to take the payment and left. By the time I got to the police station, my friend called me, telling me they are accepting the money now and I can come back without police. When I got back, they had finally stopped their barrage, and retreated into the back office, saying they'd call the headoffice to have them tell them how much she really owed. The new calculation (supposedly by the headoffice) was now 160$... Still way too much (amounts to about 5% per month, or 60% per year!)

I advised my friend NOT to pay the 160 $, but only the 80 $ - realizing, it's not going to be easy to get any money back from them. Finally (it was 5 minutes past their closing time) they accepted and processed the 80$. 

Now, check out the receipt below: They charged 18$ for management (gestión) - no other receipt has an amount in that field! These people are trying to steal more money even after realizing they were caught redhanded! Unbelievable!!!

Gestión 18.40$! What management did they do in the last week? Or is it the fee for having the audacity to question their ridiculous interest rates and predatory lending practices? 

What is really irking me is that in essence they are stealing money from the poorest of the poor people of Panama! Stealing hundreds of dollars from those who have to conserve every nickel and dime - literally! And all under the pretense of being a foundation with the mission to help that group of people! Despicable, if you ask me!

I do hope I find the energy to report them to ACODECO - the governmental department whose task it is to protect consumers.

Btw, the computer printing these numbers is an indication that this is not a simple mistake, but it is programmed into the system! It is something they do (or at least have the potential to do) all the time! And they are not even worried, because their client-base is mostly not educated enough about finances to notice that they are being robbed! 

Well, this time they messed with the wrong people... I'm curious to see how this story is going to continue...

Hostal un Mundo

 Originally, Iris planned to rent out rooms in her house to locals. 

The hotels around here need more workers than are available in the village, so many people are commuting here to work. Early in the morning you can see several pickup trucks with the truckbeds full of people arriving. And the early morning busses (arriving at 6:30 and 7:30) are often full, too. The problem, though, is getting back home. The last bus leaves at 5:00, so those who want to (or could and would be needed to) work in the evening would be stuck here, with no place to sleep. 

Iris wanted to fill that need.

However, when trying to find accommodations for our guest-workers from Chiriqui we realized, that there is nothing available for guests on tight budgets as well. Most of the hotels are in the 50 to 140$ per night range. The two hostels in town, that are renting beds in mixed dormitories, are also almost 20$ per bed per night.

So we thought, maybe we can provide a mix of less expensive beds for guest and local workers as well. Even though the house is about 20 min walk from the beach in the village, we think, some backpackers and youngsters might prefer to save a few dollars on the bed and walk, rather than paying premium prices for 15 min closer to the beach... 

We'll see... For now, we're thinking (hoping) that between locals and thrifty foreigners, we're going to be able to have enough business to have the house pay for itself over time...

With the change in plans for the purposing, the floorplan of the upstairs changed as well. And the ideas about the landscaping around the house too.

Instead of another kitchen and 3 bedrooms upstairs, we're now thinking of making just one big room, and four toilets plus two showers for guests to share.

Instead of using blocks to build the outside walls, we're planning on using locally sourced wood on the side, and mostly glass on the front and backside.

But, all that will have to wait for now. First, we have to get the downstairs ready!

Getting our appetite wet to finalizing the decision

Getting prepared by coincidents and experiences

I first contemplated retiring abroad when we visited Kerala - the southern most state in India. There, food and accommodations are very inexpensive (for somebody who had their job in the US or Europe), the mountains are absolutely gorgeous, the climate is very agreeable for me, and the food - well, "out of this world" is an understatement!

As so often, when your mind finally is opened for things to come, the things came!

First, my dear Friend Nancy told me about her neighbor retiring to Boquete, Panama. A few days later, another dear friend, Venus, sent me a link to International Living, coincidentally also for Panama. 

Now, that website is a mess!!! It makes everything look so easy, and desirable, and affordable, and plain out beautiful - how can one not get all excited? Of course, it is their business - so they make it sound beautiful, as it is their livelihood to keep people sign up for their "guided retirement tours" or use them for real estate transactions, and whatever other way thy figured out to make money off of interested folks...

Yet, despite the fact that their intentions are of a different nature than ours, it was a good start to wet our appetite and to get basic information about many places in the world.

Scouting out our options

We decided to start visiting those countries that are high on our list. Among them Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Panama. India doesn't have a visa that makes retiring there possible. Tobago - one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean - is beautiful, but way to expensive for us to afford it (similar to most other Caribbean Islands).

Of all the places we visited (on vacation at some time along the way, or during our scouting trips), Panama was special. After only a few days, Suzanne mentioned that she really, really liked the country, especially the rural areas outside of Panama City. And I felt the same way! So we decided to make it our goal to move there as soon as it makes sense for us to do so.

Another coincident preparing me more

Then Covid hit, and got us stranded at my parent's place in Austria!

What a great coincidence - another one in the string that prepared me for this! My mom cooks every day! We got used and hooked to delicious, home-cooked meals. My sister taught me how to bake my own bread. Not being able to leave the home much, we soon adopted my parents' daily rhythm. I experienced for 1/2 year how it would be if I were retired. Doing little projects, enjoying home-cooked meals, resting, walking the dogs, every now and then meeting some friends or other family... Life was awesome! By far one of the best times in my life - despite the Covid scare and restrictions!

Holding on to retirement-lifestyle (tooth and nail!)

Back in the states, I longed for the great way of life we just experienced. So I started to cook instead of eating out. I am baking my own bread (haven't bought a loaf in over a year by now!). And instead of going straight back to software engineering, I started working on our new old house. We had just bought it before our Panama trip and had completed most of the demolition. The rebuilding was left to do.

I thought, I could continue similar to how I lived in Austria. After breakfast work a little. After lunch have a siesta. And in the afternoon - well, either work some more, or write, or visit friends... 

Almost falling back into old ways

In April I thought enough home-fixing-upping, let me get a SW engineering project again. Make some dough! 

I applied for a couple of positions and got to where an offer was imminent. However, many things came in between that delayed the actual start. And, over time, it became clear to me, that I really could and should retire now! What sense does it make to work another year or two or ten, just to make more money, when I could get by and be happy with what I have saved up already - as long as I am not splurging?

I am free now!

So, I withdrew my name from the job, and put the wheels in motion to leave by autumn 2021.

I'll describe the visa options in my next post... For now, let me just ask you: do you prefer to work longer or to live on less money per month? What are your fears or concerns about retiring, and what are your hopes or plans?