High life? What is the high life, exactly? What do you envisage when someone uses this term? I remember a very short lived, though extremely funny, Scottish sitcom called the High Life – written by and starring the now and justly famous Alan Cummings - though this was about two male air stewards. Does high life have to do with air travel, then? Maybe. In part. Well, me being me...I looked it up. You wouldn´t think such a phrase exists in a dictionary, but sure enough, it does. Here´s the definition: high•life or high life hī līf n.
1.
Informal An extravagant or luxurious style of living. Interesting. But that begs the exact same question – What is an extravagant or extravagant style of living to YOU?
For me, in the depths of my quite vivid imagination, the high life would look something like this:
Tropical climate – not just most of the year...but ALL year.
Long expanses of beach, with water as blue as the Windows screensaver.
Pineapple. Lots of pineapple.
Lazy boat rides.
Lazy hammock afternoons.
Cable TV.
That last one might surprise you. Truth is, as much as I love all things tropical and beachy...I love being able to run into an air-conditioned environment and have a quick fix of my culture, too – even if that amounts to sitcoms, BBC and HBO. The same goes for food. I like pineapple and other tropical delights - and the charm of local beach cafes - but I love a good burger from a world-renowned fast food chain, as well. Other days I might want a proper meal of, say, International fusion, and a really nice glass of wine.
So, what is one to do then? Surely to have all of the above – the best of Paradise living AND first world, one must be a permanent resident of Club Med or some such resort. Isn´t that what makes the high life the high life? The ability to fly off to a tropical resort whenever time permits, money not an object?
I´m happy to tell you....no. You CAN live the dream life I describe – from hammock to high class restaurant – without being Richard Branson. You can live the high life, or your own personal variation of it, in Panama.
No, I am not saying you can live in a 5-Star Resort 365 days a year. You can skip that part. Instead of a resort you will have your own home to return to after a long weekend on a tropical beach. If you do it just right you can have the beach on your front porch, but at worst you only have to drive an hour or so and return to a perfectly lovely and modern house or condo. Beach. Nip home. Shower. Watch a bit of cable and cool off in a/c. Check your emails. Change for dinner. Dine in a gourmet restaurant. Repeat as needed!
The best part is you don´t need to be a millionaire to do any of this. You don´t need to be anywhere near a millionaire. I´M certainly not even in the lower echelons of millionaire. Heck, I´d love just $50,000 or so....$10,000 even! Alas and alack I´m not rich. Yet, I have my cable, internet, could-be-nicer home, and regular access to all things beachy. And even without the beach, every day feels like paradise. Must be the copious amounts of pineapple.
If you want to live the high life for mere dollars a day –
Think Panama.
For All your Panama Lifestyle, Panama Travel or Panama Real Estate needs, contact
Douglas M. Choy at
ThinkPanama.com. He will be happy to provide any guidance and information you may need.
