A COUPLE who have embraced off-grid living by moving to Panama have revealed their biggest regrets about their decision.
Kaylee Dubeau and Jordan Saglio moved from Massachusetts to Panama four years ago after traveling around Central America.
Instagram/ thenomadicmovementJordan and Kaylee moved to Panama four years ago when they bought a 2.5-acre plot of land in the mountains[/caption]
Instagram/ thenomadicmovementThe pair lived without a flushing toilet or hot water for a number of years but their regrets or oversights when they moved had nothing to do with this[/caption]
The pair documented their journey on their YouTube channel The Nomadic Movement.
In one of their videos, the couple answered viewers who wanted to know their regrets about the move, despite overall loving the country and their lifestyle there.
While many may assume that the parents regret adopting such a lifestyle with a young child, or that they miss hot water and a toilet, none of these are regrets mentioned by the couple.
Among issues like allergies and homesickness, Kaylee and Jordan noted the bigger problems they face as foreigners and things that do not come across on their social media.
The health-conscious mom will import fruit and vegetables from abroad due to the use of pesticides and fungicides and their struggle to grow their own crops.
“Everything is so alive here, everything has mold on it. The insects are so much more aggressive and there are so many of them,” Jordan said.
In addition to this, Kaylee said: “The trash situation here unfortunately everywhere you look here there is just trash.
“It’s one of those things that they just don’t have the systems in place here to dispose of it correctly.”
While social media pages will show off the spectacular landscapes and beauty of nature, the trash is something only those who visit the country will know about and experience.
But the main issue they have come across since the move is that as foreigners they are expected to pay more.
Jordan explained that buying the majority of things is one of the biggest challenges.
“We get priced at a higher price because we are foreigners,” he said.
“And this is everything from buying a car to buying property to taking a taxi to even buying fruit or food on the side of the road.”
He added: “Anytime a price isn’t listed we basically have to have a Panamanian go and negotiate for us. [which] adds another level of complexity.”
The couple bought a two-and-a-half acre plot of land for $75,000 just outside the town of Boquete in 2019.
The family is now trying to travel 48 states in just 48 days in their Airstream camper.
Following reports of their regrets, the couple hit out at the media in a video for using them “as this vessel as like kind of a hit on Panama.”
Jordan said: “I just couldn’t not say anything because I’ll tell you something, the people from Panama and the people from a lot of Latin American countries have been working so hard for so long to gain the respect and the trust from people to travel there to show people that it’s safe that their culture is beautiful.
“It’s an amazing place to go the people are friendly and kind and all the stereotypes about Latin America they’re just not true.”
“We love living in Panama, we have no plan of ever leaving,” he added.
The U.S. Sun reached out to The Nomadic Movement for comment and was told by the couple that outlining their regrets was about informing others of certain issues before they made a similar the leap.
Jordan said: “Prior to buying our land we had just driven through Mexico and Central America.
“We had lived in a small school bus on the streets of Central America for the year prior.
“We had a pretty good idea of what to expect especially in terms of differences in pricing for foreigners, the weather, trash disposal, etc.
“We even said in many videos in the past that we were moving to Panama for embracing the challenge of these things.”
Instagram/ thenomadicmovementThe pair were unaware of the increased prices for foreigners and the trash situation in the country before they moved[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
