Cleared for take-off: Beginning the plans for my trip to Panama

As you begin thinking and planning about moving abroad for retirement, one of the big issues is health care.  Good bad or indifferent, we all have notions about the quality of health care where we are and what it might be like where ever we end up.  Anybody who is looking to live in another country and says they are not concerned about health care is nuts.

I happen to think that American health care is great… the delivery system via a hamstrung insurance system is horrible, but the quality of care is excellent.  My biggest gripe is that US doctors rarely spend enough time with you and that leads to future medical problems instead of fixing them before they become problematic.  For that reason I have three doctors; one for "everyday" concerns and my annual check-up; my neurologist because I have had a history of epilepsy since I was a child; and a third holistic practitioner that I go to a few times per year and pay through the nose for, but she keeps me on track and spends a minimum of thirty minutes with me to answer all of my questions and suggest alternative approaches to keeping me healthy.

Other than my epilepsy I have been pretty healthy my whole life -- I have never broken a bone and have yet to have any type of surgery.  When my cholesterol began creeping up my GP prescribed a statin drug that I immediately tossed in the garbage.  I instead ate oatmeal for every breakfast and lived on beans in various forms, fish, broccoli and salads for two months.  I dropped my cholesterol from 254 to 209 in eight weeks. 

Well, three weeks ago, while volunteering at a back-to-school wellness event with a couple of colleagues,  all was going well when I collapsed around 11:15 a.m.  I woke up to find two EMTs and my colleagues hovering over me and I was being wheeled out to an ambulance.  My colleagues informed the EMTs of my history of epilepsy (I had a seizure in November 1979 and a second one in February 2009) and coupled with the short-term memory loss I was experiencing, they naturally concluded that I had had another seizure.  As I was recovering on the way to the emergency room I came to the same conclusion.  The ER ran an EKG, did a CAT scan and did other routine tests and ultimately released me after a few hours.

Once I got home and the gravity of the matter began to sink in I was absolutely devastated.  After my last seizure I couldn't drive for a year.  It was a total pain in the ass but having to go without driving now that I am living alone would be very difficult.  I admit it is an ego thing because I don't like having to depend on others… it makes me feel useless and lacking control over my life.  The next morning I noticed that the pill box I use to hold my collection of prescription medicines and supplements was missing my seizure medication.  I use two pill boxes (one for morning and one for evening) that hold two weeks of medications each and I was 11 days through the boxes -- 11 days without taking my  anti-seizure pills.  So, not only was I exhausted from working hard and getting very little sleep, I had unwittingly gone cold turkey from my meds.  On the one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I still might have to quit driving depending on what the doc said.

Not only would this have a big impact on my November travel plans since I would have to use public transportation instead of driving -- this could be a total game changer.  What would the inability to drive do to my retirement plans?  Would I have to live in a city instead of on the water?  Would I have to give up my plans of moving abroad altogether?

Waiting a week to get in to see my neurologist seemed an eternity as I dealt with various waves of emotions.  I went from just starting to feel good about my life again after losing Andrea to feeling depressed and full of self pity at the prospect of seeing the rest of my life altered -- again!   I did not want to put off my Panama trip so I asked the folks at International Living to suggest a reliable guide.  I provided a general outline of what I wanted to do and see, and received an estimate of approximately $2500.00 for ten days.  That may not be a bad price, but it is more than what I wanted to pay.

After describing my collapse and the week that led up to the event, my neurologist said he does not believe I had a seizure.  He is not exactly sure what happened and ordered up a series of tests to first rule out heart problems (an echocardiogram and a 24-hour ambulatory heart monitor) and to get a fresh reading on my brain (an ambulatory EEG).  Fortunately his admin was able to get these scheduled for the same time so I was able to complete the echocardiogram this past Monday morning and get wired up for 24 hours for the other two tests, and returned on Tuesday morning to get  un-wired.  Hopefully all these tests will be revealing since I am sure I will still bear some significant cost even after what the insurance pays.  The most immediate and critical impact of my doctor's conclusion is that I can still drive.  I will go see my in-laws this weekend (they live about an hour or so south of me) and do some long-term shopping just in case he changes his mind.  I am convinced that the lack of medication and border-line exhaustion caused a collapse and I am not concerned about a relapse.

Anyway, that fact that I can continue to drive has put me back into Panama trip research mode.  I am now down to flying American via Miami for only 30,000 miles and will pick up a rental car at the Panama City airport.  I can get a Suzuki Jimmy from Thrifty for about $200 for the ten days and a bit less for a Toyota Yaris.  Gas prices are about the same I pay in Florida.  I am still placing flights on hold until I am 100% sure I want to move forward with this trip.  American allows you to place five-day holds so I have been leap frogging my holds with the intent of actually booking when I return from Key West.

The next task is to make up an itinerary and book hotels.  I may want a guide around the canal and in Panama City to make sure I get the most of it.  I have the names  of a few real estate folks that I will ask to show me a few representative properties in several areas along both coasts.  I am really getting excited as I get closer to my trip.

Off to explore Panama on November 3...

Now that I have finally decided that I will be going to Panama I will be copying my posts from this blog on a separate one dedictated solely to the trip, Ten Days in Panama.  There, I will enter the posts in reverse order so anyone who is interested can read from beginning to end, from planning through the actual travel including the day-by-day account of my journey complete with photos.

I had read a lot about Belize and decided this would be my first country to explore.  I spent eight days exploring coastal Belize last February, which placed it firmly on my list of possible future homes.  Now I will do the same in Panama between November 3 and 13. 

As with my Belize trip my goal in Panama is to do a bit of sight-seeing but mainly just wander around through various coastal towns, see what the stores are like, check out some real estate, have a few beers with the locals and generally just get a feel for whether or not this is a place I would feel comfortable living for my remaining years.  If I like what I see I will come back in the future after doing more research on specific locales.  Outside of Panama City a major interest will be just how difficult it is to get along without Spanish.  While I intend to learn Spanish at some point, who knows how much I will be able to absorb.

Over the coming weeks I will post information as I come across it and start to plan my trip.  I'll give you the links to important web sites and lay out my thought process as I finalize the details.  And finally I will do a day-by-day posting of my trip along with many pictures.  I learned a lot when writing my Belize blog (Belize in Eight Days) and hopefully will do better this time.  I imagine my readers will be a handful of friends and others, like me, who are interested in eventually retiring in Panama or just going there for a vacation.  If you have been there and have some advice or want me to check something out while I am there, please leave a comment -- I would love to hear from you!

A potential game changer...

I haven't written for a while because I had a seizure on August 6th and a lot has been happening since then.  At least I thought I had a seizure.

I was volunteering at a back-to-school wellness event with a couple of colleagues.  All was going well when I collapsed around 11:15 a.m.  I woke up to find two EMTs and my colleagues hovering over me and I was being wheeled out to an ambulance.  My colleagues informed the EMTs of my history of epilepsy (I had a seizure in November 1979 and a second one in February 2009) and coupled with the short-term memory loss I was experiencing, they naturally concluded that I had had another seizure.  As I was recovering on the way to the emergency room I came to the same conclusion.  The ER ran an EKG, did a CAT scan and did other routine tests and ultimately released me after a few hours.

Once I got home and the gravity of the matter began to sink in I was absolutely devastated.  After my last seizure I couldn't drive for a year.  It was a total pain in the ass but having to go without driving now that I am living alone would be very difficult.  I don't like having to depend on others… it makes me feel useless and lacking control over my life.  The next morning I noticed that the pill box I use to hold my collection of prescription medicines and supplements was missing my seizure medication.  I use two pill boxes (one for morning and one for evening) that hold two weeks of medications and I was 11 days through the boxes -- 11 days without taking my  anti-seizure pills.  So, not only was I exhausted from working hard and getting very little sleep, I had unwittingly gone cold turkey from my meds.  On the one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I still might have to quit driving depending on what the doc said.

Not only would this have a big impact on my November travel plans since I would have to use public transportation instead of driving -- this could be a total game changer.  What would the inability to drive do to my retirement plans?  Would I have to live in a city instead of on the water?  Would I have to give up my plans of moving abroad altogether? 

Waiting a week to get in to see my neurologist seemed an eternity as I dealt with various waves of emotions.  I went from just starting to feel good about my life again after losing Andrea to feeling depressed and full of self pity at the prospect of seeing the rest of my life altered -- again!

After describing my collapse and the week that led up to the event, my doctor said he does not believe I had a seizure.  He is not exactly sure what happened but has ordered up a series of tests to first rule out heart problems (an echocardiogram and a 24-hour ambulatory heart monitor) and to get a fresh reading on my brain (an ambulatory EEG).  Fortunately his admin was able to get these scheduled for the same time so I will go in next Monday morning to have the echocardiogram and get wired up for 24 hours for the other two tests, and I will return on Tuesday morning to get un-wired.  Hopefully all these tests will be revealing since I am sure I will still bear some significant cost even after what the insurance pays.  The most immediate and critical impact of my doctor's conclusion is that I can still drive.  I will go see my in-laws this weekend (they live about an hour or so south of me) and do some long-term shopping just in case he changes his mind.  I am convinced that the lack of medication and border-line exhaustion caused a collapse and I am not concerned about a relapse.

I am not exactly sure how I came to my decision, but I am booking flights to Panama for November using miles on either Delta or American.  I will go on November 3 and return on November 13.  I will keep playing the booking hold game until it is evident that I won't be able to get a Delta flight for 45,000 miles since the Delta schedule is not as good as the American one and I only need 30,000 miles on American.  Saving the Delta miles also makes sense if I am able to use them next year for that trip to Morocco, which I r-e-a-l-l-y want to go on.

So… Panama it is.  I will start a new blog in tandem with this one to track my planning and the trip itself.  More to come.

Morocco... maybe not

OK…  I got a quote from a Morocco tour guide that came highly recommended on TripAdvisor.  For a comprehensive 10-day tour including lodging, a guide all to myself, transportation, most meals and an overnight trek into the Sahara desert via camel the cost comes to (drum roll) €​2180 or $3100.  That is more than I want to pay.  Actually, that probably isn't bad for what you get but it is more than I can afford.

I will check out a few more guides and see what I can find.  It may not make any difference since the hold I have on a flight to Rabat expires tonight.  I checked and there are no miles flights available on Delta or American today.  I searched for itineraries through Rabat, Marrakech and Casablanca… nothing.  If it doesn't happen I am OK with that.  I have done some decent research and at least know that it is a possibility for the future and could go next year or the year after.

If Morocco doesn't pan out I will go back to Plan A and go to Panama.  I have flights on hold on American for both Panama City and Belize City and I place new flights on hold every few days.  So the absolute worst that could happen is that I go to Panama or Belize at a cost of 30,000 frequent flier miles.  There are flights from time to time available via Delta for 45,000 miles, which I would prefer since I am less likely to use my Delta miles.

By now you must think that I am a total yo-yo…  I'm going to Panama; no, definitely Mexico; no, wait it's off to Morocco to ride camels; no, I really should go to Panama.  Yes, I am being more than a bit fickle.  My last big trip (to Belize) was easier because I was so focused on that possibility as a retirement destination.  Now I am torn between just going on an amazing trip and buckling down to some serious research.  I realize what I should do, but can't quite bring myself to pull the trigger.  Maybe I am still upset about the house situation and I am looking for some escapism.  Whatever it is, the decision will likely be made for me in short order if a miles ticket is no longer possible to Morocco.

Another reason I am looking forward to my Key West trip is that Craig and Joyce have suggested we all go to the Amazon next year.  Between the prospects of exploring the upper Amazon by river boat and talking about Panama, it is sure to be a fun trip.

Heading to Key West in August...

I need some downtime to relax and just kick back.  So I'm headed to Key West for five days at the end of August.  I thoroughly enjoyed flying on SeaCoast Airlines last time so I'm going with them again.  If you fly down at the beginning of the week and back before the weekend you can fly each way for $99.00; you can't beat it.  On top of an inexpensive fare, you fly at a low altitude and hug the coast until you hit the Everglades so you can see turtles, rays and sharks in the Gulf below.

Last time I stayed with my friends John and Bonnie and I met up with them at Siesta Key this last weekend as well.  This time I will be staying with Craig and Joyce.  Craig has promised we will go bug hunting (catching lobsters, for the uninitiated) and I look forward to picking both their brains about my eventual trip to Panama.  Craig and Joyce both lived there back in the early 90's and still have friends there.  They can tell me the best places to look and what to avoid.

I'll have to make a list of folks I need to see while I'm down there.  There are several former guest house owners, a couple of bar owners and folks in the sail/dive/fishing industries I need to look up.  Last time I got to see photographer Alan Maltz at his shop on Duval Street.  Alan is an amazing photographer who did the photo shoot for our first brochure for Duval Gardens B&B.  If it weren't for Alan and his ideas to make the property photos really pop, I'm not sure we would have done as well as we did our first couple of years.

In the mean time, I still have tickets on hold with Delta.  I wish Delta's system were more like American's.  At least with American you can tell when the hold will expire.  I tried to place a new hold on a ticket to Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech today but nothing was available.  If my hold expires tonight and I can't get a new ticket then I guess Panama will be my home for ten days in November.

Morocco it is... for now

I realize I am a bit off course from doing my long-term retirement research, but I may not have another shot at going to north Africa so as of today I am going to go for it.  I have tickets on hold to depart via JFK on November 3 and return on the 13th.  Every couple days I place another ticket on hold and release the old one.  I will keep doing that and keep my options open while continuing to research.  At some point I will no longer be able to place the reservation on hold and I will have to make a decision.  I am a little nervous that the layover at Charles de Gaulle is only an hour and a half, but I think it is doable and there is another flight on Air France a few hours later.

The way I figure it, my travel costs to get there are zero.  If I rent a car and explore on my own, the car would run around $400.00 plus add the cost of gas, hotels and food.  I am trying to think this through while I have tickets on hold and I have concluded that wandering around Belize, Spain, Hong Kong and elsewhere is one thing, but Morocco on my own may be totally different.  I've been to Tangier and I am fairly certain I would have been totally lost in short order without a guide.  The inner city of Seville is reportedly "laid out" (that is to say, no plan at all) much the way the inner cities of Morocco are.  Seville was at times difficult even with a map (and my wife spoke Spanish), so I think it is fair to assume Marrakech, Fez, Rabat, et al would be near impossible.  If I wanted to spend three or four days in each location, that might be different but not at one to two days per city.  I also want to leave time for a desert trek of a day or two.

On the other hand, there are many tours that may run only a bit more than the cost  for a car, gas, hotels, etc.  The other advantage to a tour is that I would pack more in during the time I have; a guide would ensure I move between places of interest as efficiently as possible.  I'm not talking about a tour in a big air conditioned bus with a couple dozen other tourists… I am looking at a customized tour just for me like I did in Burma.  Tour guides in Morocco, like many countries, must be licensed and their vehicles are inspected twice yearly.  I understand it is probably not the same as having an inspection by Mr. Goodwrench, but just the same there is some control over who you end up with.  I will check out reviews and advice on TripAdvisor and elsewhere to make sure I am getting someone solid.

Morocco, instead...

I know what I said earlier about my finances and doing the trip on the cheap, but I found a deal flying on Delta miles to Morocco -- 60,000 miles round-trip.  I started looking at renting a car but it might be just as cheap to hire a guide that will include ground transportation everywhere I want to go.  I can fly into Casablanca or Rabat.  Either would be a good starting point, but Casablanca has a better schedule.  I would fly through JFK and have a short layover in Paris.

Traveling on my own means I can stay in simple, low-budget lodging and make the most of every dollar.  When traveling with Andrea we always had to stay at upper mid-level hotels because she figured it would guarantee cleanliness and a higher quality experience.  I don't care that much.  I don't want to stay in filth, but I don't demand the same level of luxury she did.  Now it was different when she had her travel agency because we wrote off everything.  Staying in a 5-star hotel in Bangkok didn't cost as much since we deducted it against her income.

Ever since we took the ferry over from Algeciras, Spain to Tangier for a day trip several years ago, I have always wanted to go back.  Exploring the souks and Kasbahs of Fez and Marrakech, driving through the Atlas mountains and riding a camel into the western Sahara have always been on my travel to do list.   This could be an opportunity to spend time in a safe Muslim country and soak up the culture; who knows what things might be like in a few years.  While we all hope Muslim extremists are overwhelmed by moderates, that hope seems to be fading fast. 

So, I have flights on hold and will spend a day or so researching the on-the-ground costs of such a trip.