Colorado Expats Find Breathing Room on a Panamanian Island

The Denver Gazette reports on a small but growing colony of Colorado expats finding a new rhythm in Bocas del Toro, Panama, a Caribbean island community full of beaches, jungle, music, food, surfing, and, apparently, a noticeable number of people who used to call Colorado home. The article follows several former Coloradans who moved there, opened businesses, bought homes, raised families, and found something they say feels fresh, fun, and free.

The piece describes Bocas del Toro as a lush island setting with palm-lined beaches, mangroves, turquoise water, coral reefs, howler monkeys, sloths, dolphins, sea turtles, and more than 500 bird species. It also notes that the place is not some polished resort fantasy. Residents deal with power outages, water shortages, trash issues, and the kind of island-life inconveniences that separate vacationers from people who actually live there.

Still, the pull is obvious. Former Coloradans in the story talk about community, safety, slowing down, tax advantages, and the feeling that people are there to be happy. Which, frankly, sounds suspiciously appealing to a native Coloradan who hates being cold. Hates. It.

The Bullet Point Brief

• The Denver Gazette found a growing group of current and former Coloradans living in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Apparently, some people looked at Colorado’s cost of living, winter, politics, and general grouchiness and said, “How about beaches?”
• Bocas del Toro offers the usual tropical brochure material: turquoise water, coral reefs, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, jungle, birds, monkeys, sloths, and beaches. I am trying to find the downside and so far have landed on “humidity and needing sunscreen.”
• Several expats say the biggest draw is the sense of community. People help each other. People are happy. Remember that? Colorado used to have that before we all became unpaid interns in a statewide argument.
• Panama also offers tax advantages for foreigners, including exemptions on income earned outside Panama, according to services cited in the article. Around here, government mostly treats your money like it wandered away from its rightful owner.
• Island life is not perfect. The article mentions power outages, water shortages, trash service problems, and rapid growth. So no, it is not paradise. But it does sound like paradise with a punch list.

My Bottom Line

I do not know that I have some grand political point here, other than this: geez, this sounds cool.

I am a native Coloradan, which means I am supposed to love snow, skiing, frozen windshields, and pretending March is still charming when it punches you in the face with one more storm. But I hate being cold. Hate it. I like the tropics. I like beaches. I like warm water. I like the idea of walking outside and not immediately questioning every life choice that led me into a sideways sleet storm.

I also like the idea that someone wants me badly enough to offer tax breaks. What a concept. Around here, the ruling class looks at your wallet like a Labrador looks at an unattended sandwich. Panama says, “Come live here, bring your income, build something, enjoy yourself.” Colorado increasingly says, “Nice refund you’ve got there. Shame if someone called it school funding.”

But what really sticks is the happiness. The article keeps circling back to it. Community. Freedom. Safety. Kids wandering around without everybody acting like civilization has collapsed. People helping each other. People choosing joy instead of marinating all day in outrage stew. It sounds like Colorado used to feel, or at least how I remember it feeling before every conversation became a policy fight, a cultural grievance, or a government invoice.

Maybe that is the real point. People are not just chasing beaches. They are chasing breathing room. They are chasing a place where life feels human-sized again. Where work does not eat the whole plate. Where government is not always reaching for your pocket. Where neighbors still matter. Where people remember that being happy is not a political betrayal. If a Panamanian island can remind Coloradans of that, maybe the rest of us ought to ask why we forgot.

Source: The Denver Gazette