About sustainability and environmental impact of Hostal/Homestay Un Mundo

When designing and building our Hostal/Homestay Un Mundo in Santa Catalina, Soná, Veraguas, Panama I had sustainability and environmental impact in the forefront of my mind. 

there’s only 1 world. we have only 1 planet to live on. we’re only 1 people. let’s all work together, not against each other!

Hostalworld, which is one of the booking site on which we are listed, sent an email today encouraging their partners to think more about these topics. The recommendations they gave are good, yet only a small part of what we tried to do here. I thought I write a little bit about these topics various ways we made sustainability and impact a driving and deciding factor…

They also did some research comparing hostals with hotels, and found, based on their estimates, that hotels have 4 times as much of a negative impact. This report can be found here. The exact number, of course, is dependent on the quality of the estimates. But, it’s pretty obvious that if the average persons per room (and bathroom) is higher, the per bed amount of material and energy used for construction is smaller, and operations and maintenance of that space is less involved as well.

In our case, though, we applied a building style and used materials during construction that have a much better sustainability score than the typical or average construction.

Here some aspects:

* We don’t use concrete walls, but wood - concrete is a very strong CO2 source. Also, concrete soaks up the heat of the sun, turning rooms into baking ovens. Wood, on the other hand, acts as an insulation!

* Our walls are not solid, but are mostly thin lattice with quite wide gaps. There’s always a breeze in the room. And the cool night air can easily enter the room. To protect against mosquitoes we wrapped the whole house in insect screens.

* Roofs in Panama are mostly made of sheet metal. Ever touched some metal that was laying in the sun for a while? It gets very quickly very hot! If the roof touches the concrete all that heat gets absorbed and stored by the concrete. We have the roof far removed from concrete. Although the mansard apartment gets very hot during the day, by 18:00 it’s already cooled down enough to be comfortable again. And during the night I need a sheet to cover because it’s too cold without it!

* Our wood was resourced at the closest sawmill, which gets its wood from the forest behind their house. With that the transportation distances for the wood was minimal.

all the wood is sourced locally or repurposed

* We use only local wood (except the doors, which are prefabricated, made of pine, and transported). For walls that can get wet from the rain we use teak. For other purposes we used whatever type the sawmill had available that day.

* While we bought lots of normal boards, too, we also used many “chapones” - these are the first pieces of wood sawed off a log. They are rounded and with bark. Usually, these boards are discarded. We removed the bark, and cut lattice from them, with which we built the side walls. That wood, thus, is not rotting putting the carbon in the form of CO2 back into the atmosphere, instead the carbon stays bound as wood in our walls.

* Virtually all other hotels and hostals in the area need air conditioning to achieve a comfortable sleeping environment. We don’t need a/c - thus, our electricity bill is around 40$/month, instead of 300$ or more.

* The high humidity in the air causes mold and mildew, if there’s no air is not moving. Usually, people fight this by using harsh chemicals frequently on all surfaces. By having a very airy wall design, the air is always moving, so we do not need to apply such chemicals - which is healthier for the inhabitants and better for the environment, too.

large windows add to the breeziness of the rooms

Priorities - or - short term vs long term thinking

With a daily wage of 20$ for 8 hours of hard work in the sun, the three top priorities of locals when building a house are how much it costs, how much they have to pay for it, and how much money is needed. The rest is pretty much irrelevant!

I am not swimming in money myself, but, I am able to consider other factors and arrange priorities a little differently with our house.

My thought is, construction of the house is taking a few months. But you’ll live in it many, many years. So, if you make the construction easier and cheaper, you get the benefit during these few months while building. If, however, you make maintainability and adjustability a higher priority, you reap the benefits for all the years you live there.

Of course, a company who builds homes to sell, doesn’t care about anything after the sale. But I do!

Here are some of the topics that I considered, and the ideas and solutions I came up with:

Electrical and water pipes:

They are usually inside the walls. When the walls are sticks with drywall on top it already is a lot of trouble to fix any problems with these pipes or to extend them in some way. Here in Panama, the walls are concrete. If you need to open one to get at pipes, you need a jackhammer! And whatever was not yet broken about the pipe is surely going to be completely destroyed once the wall is open!

I chose to put my pipes outside the wall, and cover them up with wooden cladding, which is fastened by screws, not nails. If you need to get at them, simply unscrew three, four screws and there you go!

electrical pipes covered behind wood

Waterpipes visible, thus in copper instead of pvc

Drain clean-outs:

There’s no maintenance issue more troublesome to me than clogged drain pipes. Except, clogged drainpipes that are not accessible! 

For that reason, i put clean-out plugs everywhere! Every toilet and shower drain has such a access point right outside, on the other side of the bathroom wall. On every corner and every endpoint of the main drain pipe there’s an access point as well.

zoom in to see the access points for the snake

I put a lot of effort into ensuring the drains are all following the 2-3% declination rule, so I’m thinking (hoping) I won’t have many issues of clogged pipes. But if there’s one, at least it’s easy to get the snake to where the clog is!

Wall coloring:

painting your house is a very costly and/or work intense job. Having concrete walls, it’s possible to avoid having to paint your house for as long as you live! The trick is, using “tinta” with white concrete. That way, the wall “is” colored by itself, and does not need coats of paint. No paint, no need to renew paint!

I used yellow tinta - it goes well with the green of the land and the red of the roof and tile floor

Sun, rain, and high humidity:

There are three big issues in the tropics with which your building has to cope: Sun, rain, and humidity.

The sun heats up roof and walls, making the inside be like a baking oven - if your architecture doesn’t have a way to get rid of the heat easily and without lots of equipment and energy effort.

I raised the roof a bit above the concrete, and leave the space between them free, so hot air can easily escape to be replaced by fresh, cooler air. 

Secondly, I put a wooden ceiling on top of the rooms. That insulates the concrete walls and the air inside the room from the heat radiation of the hot roof.

sufficient space between roof and concrete

No need for expensive - to buy, to install, and to operate - air conditioning systems!

The frequent, sometimes very heavy rain, turns any terrain into either a river (if it’s sloped) or a lake (if it’s level), or both!

I put the slab on top of a thick layer of gravel, which lets water run through easily. In addition, I put drainage pipes around the perimeter of the house, so that most of water is running of right away and not even getting to the gravel cushion.

notice the canal for the drainage pipes 

Slab is floating on thick cushion of gravel

No need for sump-pumps or similar equipment to deal with the abundance of water!

The humidity facilitates the growth of mold and mildew. In my experience, once the air is not moving, mold is developing very quickly. And once you have it, it’s virtually impossible to get rid of! 

I put large windows, and designed them to be able to be opened completely. That way, it is easy to keep the air moving in the rooms - simply leave the windows open…

Side windows can by tilted up - 100% open, sash needs no space as it hangs close to the ceiling

front window is 1,8 by 3m (6 by 10 ft)

No need for expensive dehydration equipment!

No systems installed, means the least amount of maintenance effort required!

Summarizing 

I tried to build a sustainable, easy to maintain, comfortable, and healthy home. I’m sure there are many more topics and ideas that could be considered and dealt with. But so far, it feels really good living in the space!

tranquil, sustainable, comfortable, affordable tropical living

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...

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.

My Teak Plantation

Now that I have the proceeds of the sale of my condo in my account, I can make the transfer to Panama to pay for the teak plantation. But, wait, not so fast!

10 year old teak trees!

It takes 70 years for spruce and fir, but only 25 years +/- for teak!

I am buying the teak plantation to be eligible for a reforestation visa. Jeff, the CEO of Panama Teak Forestry, and their lawyer Lill of Kery Cruz are very helpful in telling me exactly how to go about it, and what to be careful about.

The rule says, the plantation has to be in my name (that is, not in the name of a foundation or company I might have in Panama), and the funds have to be transferred from a Non-Panamanian account in my name straight to the PTF account. Plus, they want a notarized and apostilled confirmation of the transfer from the bank where my account is from which I make the transfer.

Well, E*Trade is a 21st century bank, where everything is done online. There is no branch, where I could go to get a document with a signature of a live person that can be notarized and apostilled! 

Panama is a developing country, which is under strong pressure from the US to be diligent about money transfers, due to a history of money laundering. So, the Panamanian banks, as well as the Panamanian government want to make sure everything is in right order, but they use 20th century processes. 

I talk to Customer Service at E*Trade, but they, too, are at their wit's end about how to get this accomplished. They can send me a transfer confirmation, no problem. And it is on their letter head, no problem either. But, it is an email attachment, thus doesn't have a live-ink signature.

I end up printing the email document, and writing on it that I swear by perjury of law that this is an authentic document. I sign it in front of the notary and get his seal. Then I submit that form to the GSCCA who apostilles Georgia notarizations. I hope, this will satisfy the Panamanian Immigration department. We'll see...

Two days after I initiated the transfer, I get an email from PTF notifying me that their bank is threatening to reject the wire if we all don't submit within 2 days a bunch of documents! 

They request: The singed contract (of course), six months worth of statements of the account where the money originated (well, ok, too) that also shows this transfer. Heck! How am I getting a bank statement in the middle of April, that shows a transaction that happened in the middle of April? Impossible! Statements are created at the beginning of the month for the previous month! 

I decide to take a screenshot of my online-banking recent transactions page and submit that, together with the 6 months statements. Plus, for good measures, I add the HUD statement of my condo sale, too, to prove where the big deposit came from, that showed up on the account 5 days before the wire to Panama went out.

Two days later PTF emails me, that the transfer was accepted and the funds were credited to their account. Yeay! First hurdle taken successfully!

Now I can go back to Panama, buy my land, and start building my home...

Free as a bird - but what direction to choose?

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