I spent summer in the Lowlands at different locations making the most of the weather and the fabulous people who are in my life. Summer wasn’t there to stay, as we are in western Europe, where you should count yourself lucky if you can enjoy a few weeks of proper summer before the weather turns grey, windy and cold. For years I have attempted to escape the northern hemisphere winter. Some winter escapes have been better than others and this year I decided to go for the best winter escape to date.
Another Attempt to Settlement
A bit less than a year ago I made an attempt to settle in Valencia, Spain. I really like the city but it turned out that Valencia as a base was not meant to be. I had been told by several locals that it can be quite a challenge to get a rental contract for a place if you can’t show an employment contract, which I, as a freelancing wanderer don’t have. Although I met some really cool and friendly locals, I found it quite a challenge to connect to people and that it was winter time probably didn’t help. I clearly wasn’t ready for Valencia settlement as I abandoned any serious attempt when I came across a writer’s residency in Koh Samui, Thailand which gave me a reason to continue the travelling lifestyle. That residency wasn’t quite the deal I had expected and I left after a month to roam other parts of Asia. During that time I didn’t think once of returning to Valencia to give my settlement another try. The desire for a base remained however, despite a fabulously exciting nomadic life. in the last 18 months I had considered many different places to set up base, but couldn’t quite commit resoundingly to any of them. One night in Kuala Lumpur when I looked out over the brightly lit city something hit me and I thought; fuck it. Let’s just go for Bocas.
Bocas on my Mind
When I say Bocas, I mean Bocas del Toro, Panama where there are chilled Caribbean vibes, lush jungle, people who look just like me, and plenty of surfable waves. On top of that, life is affordable compared to living in the Netherlands or the UK. Once I had made the decision I felt a great sense of overwhelm, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. On the one hand I was happy to have come to a decision and on the other hand, the decision freaked me out as it was a sign of commitment, which somehow I found scary. A week or so after I had my epiphany, I was in a chat conversation with my Aussie mate Jamie who I had met in Panama City two years prior. I told him about my plans to move to Bocas. As a musician and documentary maker Jamie had been living a nomadic life for over a decade and we bonded over the trials and tribulations of our creative lives. Far more trials and tribulations for Jamie than for me, I have to say. You can learn about the highs and especially the lows of his story in the documentary the Heart is meant to be broken.
Jamie has lived in Bocas off and on for several years and he gave me some tips and recommendations which lifted my spirits. Despite the decision made to go west, it still took me several weeks to actually book my ticket. Once I had finally done that, I felt really excited to make another attempt to settlement, this time in more tropical settings, where I expect to feel more at home.
Leaving on a Jet Plane
The weather was dreary on the day of my departure from Amsterdam and I was happy to be leaving. It was a long travel day with a stopover in Newark, New Jersey. Stopovers in the US are quite a hassle as you have to go through customs, collect your luggage from the belt and drop it off again. Newark airport doesn’t seem to have had any refurbishments since the 1970s, but airport staff is super friendly. Although yankee custom officers are notorious for being the biggest bastards of them all when it comes to customs people, even the customs officer I had to deal with wasn’t all that bad.
Once I had finally arrived in Panama City in the evening local time, which was in the middle of the night Central European Time, the exit through customs was pleasant and super quick and outside evening temperatures were balmy. I saw it as a sign that I was in the right place.
bottom image: happinessplunge.com
Dark Fairy Adventures 
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