About Us

Hi! We’re Jackie and Vic – and yes, I’m the HippieVic part of this little adventure. We’re both retired, originally from the United States — Jackie from California and me from Colorado, and before Panama stole our hearts, we last lived in Nashville, Tennessee.

Our Panama journey started about three years ago. First, we lived in a beach house in Guararé, where the ocean was beautiful, and the sand followed us into places sand should never go. Then we moved to Chitré for almost a year, which gave us a whole different taste of Panamanian life. But as we traveled around the country, we eventually found Volcán, tucked up here in the Highlands, with its cool weather, green hills, coffee, clouds, and mountain-town charm. We fell in love with it. We’ve been here for two years now, which in expat time means we still know just enough to be dangerous.

Volcán has restaurants, fondas, grocery stores, mountain views, friendly people, and most importantly, at least according to me, coffee shops. The local community has been kind and welcoming, and the expat community continues to grow as more people discover this highland gem. Through this blog, Jackie and I want to share what we’ve learned, what we’re still figuring out, where we like to eat, where we like to wander, and how we’re building a retired life here in Volcán without completely losing our minds. So far, so good. Mostly.