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About Panama Expat Explorer
Everything about Panama Expat Explorer starts with one problem. I am Brent, and I am moving to Panama. The answers I needed were scattered across forum threads, Facebook groups, and blog posts written a decade ago. So I started organizing them myself. This site is the result.
Where it started
Why I Started Building This
When I decided to retire to Panama, I started researching, and I did not stop. Months of it. A question as basic as which neighborhood suits a quiet retiree came back with six answers. Half of them were years out of date. Nobody agreed on rent. Nobody agreed on safety. Some of the recommendations pointed at businesses that had already closed.
The information existed. It was just scattered, unsorted, and buried in threads nobody had opened in years. I kept a folder of notes because I needed them for myself. Then it occurred to me that the folder was the useful thing. If I needed it, so did everyone else arriving after me.
So I am building it in public, and I am building it before I get there. That part is worth being upfront about. I am not writing this from a rooftop in Casco Viejo. I am writing it from Texas, working through the same list you are. One district, one question at a time.
That changes when I move. The research does not.
- Currently El Paso, Texas
- Moving to Panama
- Also at YouTube
The whole team
Hi, I'm Brent
I am a content creator and a lifelong learner. That is a polite way of saying I go deep on things. New technology, new cultures, new places, usually all at once. Panama caught my attention a few years ago and never gave it back.
I am not a relocation agent. I do not sell visas, I do not sell real estate, and nobody pays me to recommend them. I have no stake in where you land or who you hire. That independence is most of what makes this site worth reading.
What I do have is a research habit and too many spreadsheets. I read the census data. I check the Metro fare against the operator’s own site rather than a blog. When two sources disagree, I keep digging until I know which one is right.
Take a look around
What You'll Find Here
Four things live on this site, and they work best together. Read a district guide, compare it against its neighbors, then go find a dentist within walking distance of it.
Guides
Panama City District Guides
Eight districts in the capital, each written up the same way. Who it suits, who it does not, what rent runs, and how you get around. There is a comparison tool on every one.
Map
The Province Map
Ten provinces and four indigenous comarcas, on a map you can click through. Built for readers who are not sold on the capital and want to see what else the country holds.
Transit
The Metro Map
Every station on all three lines, with fares, hours, and a trip planner. Line 3 is drawn on the map but is not open to passengers yet, and it says so.
Directory
The Business Directory
Dentists, vets, plumbers, groceries, gyms, and the rest of daily life. Searchable by category and by location, growing every month, and free to browse.
No mystery here
How the Directory Works
A directory that will not explain itself is not worth much, so here is the honest version. Listings come from public Google business data. I pull them by category and by location, clean them up, and organize them so they are actually searchable. Then I write the descriptions.
The rating threshold is a filter, not an endorsement. I have not visited these businesses. I have not called them, inspected them, or accepted anything from them. Nobody has paid to be listed, and no listing ranks higher because of money. What you get is a starting point that is organized, local, and current.
Listings go stale. Businesses move, close, and change their hours without telling anyone, least of all me. If you find something wrong, tell me and I will fix it. That feedback loop is the only real quality control a directory this size can honestly claim.
To be listed, a business needs a Google rating of 4.0 or better. Local parks are the one exception. A park’s rating usually says more about the weather that week than the park.
Ground rules
Four Things This Site Will Not Do
Every expat site says it is trustworthy. Here is what I am actually promising, in terms specific enough that you could catch me breaking them.
No claims I cannot back up
I will not tell you a business has been checked when it has not. Nobody here has inspected anything, and the pages say so plainly rather than in a disclaimer at the bottom.
No numbers copied from other blogs
Rents, fares, and population figures come from primary sources: the census bureau, the Metro operator, government sites. Not from someone else's article that got it from a third article. If I cannot confirm a number, it does not go on the page.
No advertising in disguise
Paid placement may exist on this site one day, because it has to pay for itself eventually. If it does, it will be labeled on the listing. It will never be dressed up as a recommendation.
No pretending to be bigger than I am
This is one person and a laptop. That is why you see "I" on this site instead of a corporate "we." It is also why some sections are still obviously being built.
Come along
The Channel
I am documenting the move on YouTube while it happens. District breakdowns, cost comparisons, research sessions, and the visa paperwork nobody puts in a relocation brochure. It is the same project as this site, just out loud.
Walkthroughs and on the ground video start once I am actually there. If you would rather watch than read, that is the place to follow along.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you actually live in Panama?
Not yet. I am in Texas, planning the move, and building this site as I work through it myself. Everything here is research rather than memory. That has one advantage: I cannot skip a question because I already know the answer. Once I arrive, the on the ground content starts.
Have you personally checked the businesses in the directory?
No, and I will not pretend otherwise. Listings come from public Google business data and need a rating of 4.0 or better to be included. That is a filter, not a recommendation. Treat the directory as a shortlist, then do your own checking before you hire anyone.
Does it cost anything to be listed?
No. Every listing in the directory today is free, and I added all of them myself. Paid placement may exist later, because the site has to support itself eventually. If that happens, it will be labeled clearly on the listing.
How do I get a business added, or a wrong listing fixed?
Get in touch. Send the business name, the location, and what needs changing. Corrections go to the front of the line because a wrong listing is worse than no listing.
Why is the site so focused on Panama City?
Because that is where most people land first, and where the information is best. The city came first on purpose. The province guides are next, one at a time, starting with the places foreigners actually move to.
Who writes all of this?
I do, all of it. The research comes from census data, government sources, operators like the Metro, and a lot of reading. Where a primary source is worth reading yourself, the page links to it.
Say hello
Get in Touch
Found something wrong? Know a business that belongs in the directory? Moving to Panama and stuck on a question I have not answered yet? Send it over. Reader questions are how I decide what to write next, and I read every one of them.