Last month, we went to Panama for a 1-week vacation. It was a well-earned and well-awaited vacation. We were tired, pale, and fed up of one of the worst winters since moving to Ottawa a little over 10 years ago.
It wasn’t our first time visiting the country; however, this time we decided that we will be taking a sabbatical year there in exactly 3 years from now. To be honest, we went to Panama in 2014 on a scouting trip to research the possibility of living there. Back then, we were looking at a French Lycée and a local job (read: local salaries). It was over our budget and we decided to abandon the plan.
Fast forward five years and without the intention of going there for anything more than a vacation, one thing changed our mind: an affordable international school.
The school is bilingual (Spanish and English), the curriculum was good enough to satisfy our needs (although we will still need to ensure that both kids are up-to-date with the Ontario curriculum) and the price is reasonable enough for us to manage to pay for two kids with the budget that we put aside. Albeit we won’t be in Panama City, we’re fine with that.
I know that you may have many questions. I’ve answered a few below:
1) How will you afford it?
We ran very generous numbers and it will come out to approximately $55k for the year. During this time, we will work on side projects and will have enough to accommodate the expenses. This includes allowances for in and out of country travel. We wanted to ensure that we had more than enough in our budget to accommodate our love for travel.
2) How does this assist your goals related to FIRE?
We will sell our house before leaving (don’t want the headache of renting it out while we’re abroad). When we return, we will downsize to a house that is a little less than half its size.
Also, with the money that we will have obtained from the sale of the house, we will free up a lot of capital for investing. We will not by a property in Panama, we will rent Panama.
3) Do you speak Spanish?
Yes, we are all fluent in Spanish.
4) Have you ever lived in Latin America before?
Personally, I lived in Panama in the early 2000s and my husband was born and raised in South America until his early adult years.
5) Will you bring your stuff with you?
Absolutely not! Our goal is to store our main items (beds, winter clothes, and furniture) in the smallest storage space possible. Apart from that everything else will be sold and or donated. It’s very exciting and scary at the same time. In fact, we’ve already started selling (with kids, you can never start early enough).
What about you? Would you consider moving abroad to help achieve your FIRE goals? Or simply go away for a sabbatical?