Becky and Ken Campeau have a busy retirement—and wouldn’t have it any other way. “I would love to tell you about being retired and enjoying our down time relaxing and playing,” says Ken. “But we stay active in community projects and socializing with our friends.
Lying in western Panama, Chiriquí province is home to towering mountains covered in cloud forest stretching down to the Pacific Ocean’s pristine sands. Exploring Chiriquí and finding new hidden places is a passion for me—I’ve been doing it since making my home in the provincial capital, David, four years ago.
Spring-like climate with highs reaching the upper 70s F and lows in the lower 60s F, the town of Volcan lies in a beautiful valley with rolling hills and lush vegetation.
Growing up in Oregon, I spent the summers at our beach house on the ocean. For most of my life, I’ve lived inland, away from any coastline. So every vacation, my first preference was to go somewhere with an ocean. When I decided to move out of the U.S., top of my list was sun and sand. I found that and more in my new hometown of David, Panama. Although not directly on the coast, David is close enough that when I start craving sand between my toes, a short drive takes me to the beach and the wonderful salt air.
After enduring too many cold winters I decided it was time to move overseas. Shoveling snow just to get to work and more shoveling to get back into the garage at night was exhausting. It was adding more time to my work day, meaning less time for relaxing at home. Plus I hated how the cold dictated how and when I did everything. It would take twice as long to get anywhere. And my cost of living was going up and up and my heat bills just kept rising. Then there was the worry about the wear and tear on the car due to the freezing temperatures, frozen pipes, downed power lines, and power outages.