White Line Fever
In the exciting days of yesteryear, my university was in Florida; my home in Michigan. During the breaks, I would traverse this distance. My route was planned out with great detail: maximized for efficiency. After 21 hours, I would regain consciousness in my parents driveway. The trip, nothing more than a blur.
That was the problem. I spent that trip on pure auto-pilot, not remembering a thing. Not due to some drug-induced haze or drunken stupor. During a long drive this phenomena occurs whereas the brain shuts down. A certain period of time passes and suddenly you’re aware that you’re driving.
So when my friend screamed "I feel so alive!!" I realized she was combating White Line Fever.
Not with regards to driving her car. No, she was referring to her recent purchase of a condo in Panama.
It’s no secret; I’m an advocate for change, doing something different. And by "different", purchasing real estate is not the implication. My plea, my goal is for everyone to do something that makes them feel that they are alive. If buying real estate does that, then go for it. Learn a language. Travel some place completely foreign. Maybe go to outer space?
Something different.
It’s too easy for people to succumb to White Line Fever in their daily lives. Go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed. Day after day after day. In Paris, this is called "Metro, Boulot, DoDo" – slang for taking the subway (metro), Working (boulot), then home to Sleep (DoDo). Top this off with two hours of "must watch" television and you have the perfect recipe for a zombie-like existence.
In this department, I need work as well. I’m not Mr. "Do something different" every single day. Although a few weeks ago, I cooked a meal with Cactus as the main ingredient. A version of Mexican Pasta. It was quite tasty. My Landlord agrees.
Where were we?
My friend had decided to enact her retirement fantasy now and purchase a condo in Panama. The market in Panama is booming; there is a large ex-pat community consisting of Americans and Europeans. This is fueling a high paying renter base in which she plans to finance her condo acquisition. When she retires, her condo will be paid off.
When I asked her, "If this works out, would you purchase a second condo?" you could almost hear the gears turning in her head.
"I think I will."
Kudos for doing something different.
Yes, Panama is a tax haven. But you have to give up US citizenship to take advantage of that due to the fact that the US is one of the few governments that tries to collect tax from its expatriate citizens.
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