Panama. That’s where I was for most of the last month, as several people astutely guessed. I went because it’s freezing here and warm there. That was nice. I went to recharge my batteries, as Kevin Wilmeth put it. I went to play tourist. I went … just to go.

And I went to answer the question, “Can I be more free outside the U.S.?”

A lot of Americans have expatriated or retired to Panama, including a few I know. Some have urged me to head down that way and have a look, saying they found the place much freer, much more sane, than the growing Police State U.S.A. I was dubious.

I still have no answer to that question about freedom — and perhaps shouldn’t expect to after so short a stay.

In some ways, Panama is undeniably more free than the United States. Medical freedom so outstrips ours that the two countries might as well be on different planets.

On the other hand, being stopped for ID checks isn’t exactly a hallmark of any Land of the Free.

Gun laws there require jumping through all sorts of hoops to be “allowed” to obtain a weapon. On the other hand, once you’ve made all those leaps, I’m told that you’re more free to carry and use firearms than you are in most parts of the U.S. (On the other, other hand, I don’t live in “most parts of the U.S.” I live where firearms freedoms are already exceptionally good.)

So I guess it’s as one of my ex-pat friends says, “There are no free countries in the world. (That’s because they are countries.) However, different places offer different aspects of freedom, so it is a matter of picking one (or more) that are congruent with your personal needs.”

I’d like to open a discussion via the comments section of this blog entry. If you have any questions about my trip, or if you have experiences of Panama or Central America you’d like to share, please go for it. If you’re interested in learning more about Panama from an ex-pat’s point of view, I can put you in touch with a knowledgeable American who has lived and done business in the country for a decade. (I’m sure he’d be glad to hear from anybody; he might charge a fee if it gets down to being a real consultation.)

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