Feb 25th, 2009 at 10:00AM: The best adventures are the unexpected ones. We sat at La Novena, an amazing Vegetarian restaurant on Via Argentina in Panama City. We order the same thing every time. Soup of the day, avocado salad for me, almond and pear salad for Todd, and whole wheat pasta with eggplant and tomato. We ordered it so much last year that when we returned the chef already knew exactly what we wanted. After a ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
panama posts
Life Nomadic: The Pan Panama Road Trip Begins!
Feb 25th, 2009 at 10:00AM: The best adventures are the unexpected ones. We sat at La Novena, an amazing Vegetarian restaurant on Via Argentina in Panama City. We order the same thing every time. Soup of the day, avocado salad for me, almond and pear salad for Todd, and whole wheat pasta with eggplant and tomato. We ordered it so much last year that when we returned the chef already knew exactly what we wanted. After a ...Life Nomadic: Traveling without Planning
Feb 13th, 2009 at 9:30AM: Ahh, and we're back. After a semi-hiatus of a few months, Todd and I are back to the full nomad lifestyle. I say semi-hiatus because within those four months we both spent a good amount of our time traveling around the US, Mexico, and Canada. And even when I was in Austin, where my family and most friends are, I lived in a 21' RV on the side of the road. Once a nomad, always a nomad? Our trip this ...Fare alert: check out those tickets to Panama City
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:30PM: I hear that Costa Rica is all blown out by tourists and that Panama is the new hot destination in Central America. Why not check things out for yourself with some secret sales going on today bound for Panama City (PTY)? Delta and American Airlines got into it this morning with some discounted fares from each other's hubs. And while as of lunch time Delta availability is starting to dry up, I'm ...How I became a modern day nomad, and how you can too
Mar 25th, 2008 at 8:20AM: I no longer have a simple answer to the question, "Where do you live?", so I usually launch into an explanation of exactly what I'm doing. I almost always get the same response. "Wow. I wish I could do that." But here's the thing: almost anyone can do what I'm doing. Despite being a much more interesting lifestyle, it's not particularly difficult or expensive. This is the story of how I became a ...Cockpit Chronicles: Taken for a ride in Panama City
Mar 4th, 2008 at 9:00AM: I called my friend Captain Dave the day before our trip. "Dave, we're going to hit the ground running in Panama City so we can check out the canal. I've got it all figured out. Just get to bed early," I said. Dave was up for this. He actually traded one of his Barbados layovers to fly this trip with me. Sometimes it's worth it to fly an ugly trip with a good friend. We've been flying together ...Mandatory Mandarin in Panama
Dec 7th, 2007 at 11:59AM: News is out today that pretty soon, Panamanians will be bilingual in Spanish and Mandarin. The National Assembly has conditionally approved a bill requiring all schools to teach Mandarin, a nod to the sheer power of China's economy. China is the biggest user of the Panama Canal, and the bill states that Mandarin is an "indispensable language," though it recognizes English is the international ...Panama Rules!
Dec 1st, 2007 at 6:47PM: I thought I'd recap a few of the things I've learned over the past week. I'll call them My Rules of Panama.
Do not go to Panama City without hotel reservations. For some reason, there are way too few rooms to go around, even though P.C. is a big, modern city with an incredible amount of residential high-rise construction going on. High end hotels or low end hostels were the same story.
...Cleveland or Panama? Migratory birds reveal all
Nov 29th, 2007 at 11:30AM: Panama City is home to one of the world's largest rain forests inside city limits. It's beautiful. Great city and Pacific Ocean views on one side (like my picture the other day, taken from the park) and unbroken jungle-like views on the other side.
What's strange about the Panama National Metropolitan Park is that it is a sister park to the Cleveland (Ohio) Metroparks system. USAID and the U.S. ...Latin American airlines rock! Can we have them here?
Nov 28th, 2007 at 10:30AM: It has been so refreshing to fly those little regional airlines in Latin America in the last couple of weeks. I have taken 4 regional flights so far and I love how well it has worked for me. Granted, the planes look about 50 years old, while the pilots look about 20, but they do seem to know what they are doing.
I appreciate that they operate like trains, without any of that insane ticket pricing ...War in Panama: attack of the sandflies
Nov 27th, 2007 at 2:30PM: Yes, these are my legs. Yes, they have seen better days. I woke up a couple of nights ago and counted 85 sandfly bites on my left calf alone. I don't understand why I don't see anyone else chewed to pieces. Why do they love me so much?
Last week, I spent trekking through the Corcovadorainforest in Costa Rica and didn't get a single bite. I was ready to fight mosquitoes in Panama's Bocas del ...Photo of the Day (11/26/07)
Nov 26th, 2007 at 5:57PM:
Since I am in Panama now, here is a picture I took a few days ago in cloudy Panama City (it's the end of the rainy season). This is my first time in Panama and I am blown away by the amount of construction going on in this city. The obsession with highrises reminds me of Shanghai; so do the slums with the view of the "good life."
***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, ...Buses from the Devil Himself
Nov 25th, 2007 at 9:00AM: One of the coolest things I´ve seen in Panama so far is the crazy bus-art. Now, it´s not uncommon to see buses painted wild colors all over Latin America, but Panamanians have this stuff down to fine art. Just about every local public bus is in the style of an old American school bus, but painted the craziest colors, festooned with religious sayings and multiple chromed horns. And, if ...Ola from Panama
Nov 24th, 2007 at 7:44PM: Sorry I have been incommunicado for a while. My trip to Costa Rica and Panama has turned out to be a lot more remote than even I expected. I am finally back to civilization--or whatever you want to call a place with an internet connection and hot water--in Bocas del Toro, Panama. I already miss Costa Rica though.
I am still adjusting to this whole civilization thing. My last week, in the Osa ...Costa Rica: No gypsies and hippies allowed
Oct 20th, 2007 at 11:32AM: It is not easy to be a backpacker these days.
I was buying air tickets from New York to Costa Rica (but out of Panama City) over the phone yesterday, using a free voucher. I am glad that I did it over the phone, otherwise I would have been spared this brilliant conversation.
After booking, the Continental operator informed me that a yellow fever vaccine was recommended and that I should have ...Mexico Named Best Place To Retire
Sep 26th, 2007 at 5:46PM:
Been to Mexico? I have a few times and I love it. It's not just the hot weather and the gorgeous beaches -- Mexico is a really friendly, vibrant place with a lot of energy and culture. At least what I've seen of it. Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to write about how Mexico was named the best place to retire by an annual retirement index in International Living magazine. It used to be ...What Is Panama Like?
Sep 25th, 2007 at 9:30AM: I am planning a trip to Panama. Not sure why. I don't know much about the country but I have a free Continental voucher to use up and they fly there directly from New York. That's a good enough reason for me. Plus, it sounds like a pretty interesting place.
I am sure many of you have been there already. I hear that Panama is trying to brand itself as the new, wilder (and possibly more dangerous) ...How Far Would You Go For a Beer?
Aug 13th, 2007 at 11:00AM: How about delivering a fully functioning pub all the way from New Zealand to London? By boat. That's the sublime task currently being undertaken by a group of intrepid Kiwis. In New Zealand Speights beer is immensely popular - so much so that it's also a favourite of homesick New Zealanders living in London. Hence the decision to load a traditional ale house onto a boat and set sail for the ...
