We're Back!

Just like every person on the planet, 2020 had other plans for us. We were SO holding out hope we would make it down to South America by waiting out the virus and border closures, but after 15 weeks stuck in Boquete, Panama and border closures for every surrounding country continuing to be pushed out, it was pretty clear that we wouldn’t be able to continue our journey south any time soon. We spent the rest of March and April still pretty hopeful and enjoying our quarantine house with our roomies, Joel & Alicia. In May, rainy season hit and with it came a month of wallowing as we grappled with the situation we were in. And finally, in the first few days of June, we had officially yet begrudgingly made our decision to return to the states and began planning our escape from Panama.

HOW DID WE DO IT?

Beginning in April, there had been anywhere from 3-10 humanitarian flights from Panama City to the US each month. They were usually to either Houston, Fort Lauderdale, or Dallas, and mostly booked up pretty quickly. So once we had made the decision to return to the states, we were going to have to be ready to go as soon as the next flight that worked for us was announced. The tricky thing was deciding what were we going to do with the van. We could store it in Panama for up to 1 year, but then what? Go back to the states and have no transportation or place to live? There was no way we could drive back. Aside from Mexico, every border from Panama to the US was completely closed and had continuously pushed back plans to re-open. I plead our case many times to the U.S. Embassy in each country on our path with the hopes of receiving permission to drive north, but was always met with a simple "no." We ultimately reached out to the shipping agent that was going to assist us with getting our vehicle from Panama to Colombia to inquire about shipping to the US instead. Lucky for us, the carrier she typically works with has weekly sailings from Colon, Panama, to Miami, FL, that sail every Monday. And even better, the sailings are short at only 3 days long and arrive in Miami every Thursday. So we started wrapping our heads around the logistics of it all.

First thing was first. Not only were we trying to get to the states, but our roomies were trying to get back to their home in Canada as well. And luckily, the US was still letting Canadians in, so we decided to tackle this endeavor as a group, and let me tell you, it was A LOT.

1) We hoped to get a flight into Fort Lauderdale since we would be shipping into Miami. 2) We needed to drop off the vehicle in Colon by the Tuesday prior to sailing. 3) We needed to complete an inspection in Panama City prior to dropping off the vehicle in Colon for sailing. 4) We needed to book a flight that departed after we dropped off the van for sailing and before it was scheduled to arrive in Miami. Seems simple, right? I should probably mention that much of Panama still had strict movement restrictions that would greatly inhibit us from completing the necessary tasks to prepare for shipping. We also had no idea when flights would be scheduled and where they would fly into. Oh, and the language barrier.... there was that.

The U.S. Embassy in Panama kept us in the loop for any humanitarian flights that were scheduled back to the states. We had sorted out that we would need at least a 14 day notice for a flight (which in our experience the previous few months- that much notice was rare). This way we could arrange all of the necessary preparations to ship the van before flying out. Our thought was that we would leave Boquete on a Sunday, complete inspection in Panama City on a Monday, and then drop off the vehicles on a Tuesday. The sailing would happen the following Monday and arrive the following Thursday, so essentially after drop off, we had an 8 day window to get ourselves and Miles from Panama City, Panama, to Miami, FL, USA. With the days continuing to pass, we were getting more and more anxious and ready to go. On Tuesday, June, 23rd, we got an email from the Embassy announcing 3 upcoming flights and within the next hour, we had booked a spot to fly to Fort Lauderdale, FL, Thursday, July 9th and requested sailing for Monday, July 13th. It was happening! And we had A LOT to do.

We knew we were going to need accommodations in Panama City and in Miami for the time we were going to be without our vehicles, so we began working on that. Next, our vehicle permit to drive in Panama was about to expire on June 30th, and we needed to get that renewed so the vehicle could exit the country legally. Then we needed to schedule the inspection for the vehicle with DIJ- Panama's motor vehicle department. This is needed for customs to stamp out the vehicle upon drop off at the port. Just like each person is stamped into the country, so is the vehicle, and so is the dog. Essentially, DIJ wants to make sure the vehicle being exported is owned by the exporter and also isn't stolen :) We got an appointment for the morning of Monday, July 6th. Chugging right along! I mentioned a stamp out for the vehicle, well we also needed to make sure proper paperwork was done for Miles. So we scheduled an appointment with a local vet to issue a health certificate and process export paperwork for him so he could also leave the country legally. Knowing we would have to fly with him, and with him being 15 years old, there was no way I was going to put him in cargo. I managed to get an ESA certificate via an online service and the vet also filled out my ESAN forms that were required for the airline. Yay! OK now the biggest hurdle...... movement restrictions.

Miles' paperwork giving him permission to exit Panama & a certificate of health giving him permission to enter the US.

All of the prep work mentioned above was able to be completed remotely or in the town we were staying in. The big problem was all of the traveling we were going to need to do to get our van inspected, dropped off at port, and then transport back to Panama City and to the airport. You might recall in my last post that in order to control the virus, Panama had implemented movement restrictions across the country where women were allowed out for essentials Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and men were allowed out Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday all in 2 hour blocks. Well, towards the end of May, Panama began to re-open and phased out the 2 hour/3 day time restrictions. However, as soon as that happened, there were massive spikes in positive COVID cases in the Panama City and Panama Oeste provinces- which makes sense as this is where 90% of the country's population lies and is extremely dense living. As a result, the country re-instated those two hour/three day blocks for those two provinces only. We were located in the town of Boquete that is in the Chiriqui province and in order to get to our first stop in Panama City for inspection on Monday, July 6th, we had to drive for 7 hours directly into provinces that were in total lockdown on Sunday, July 5th. Not to mention that we would need to be mobile within Panama City on the 6th to complete the inspection and be in direct violation of the men/women days. Or that on Tuesday we would need to drive to the other side of the Panama Canal to Colon where the port that we would be shipping out of was located. And then after that, take a taxi back to Panama City where we would have to wait until Thursday to then take a taxi to travel to the airport. Again- all violating the Men/Women 2 hour window/3 day travel restrictions. Soooooo now what? How do we accomplish all of this and avoid fines and hassle from the Panamanian government?

In the nearest big town, David, there is a MINSA office- Panama's health department and the organization in charge of handling cases like ours. They hand out "salvoconductos", which directly translates to "safe passes", to people who need travel exceptions. These typically go to people who need to travel as part of their job, like delivery workers, taxi drivers, etc. But they also go to people like us who have necessary reasons to travel across the country for humanitarian purposes. So we set out printing out all of our backup and a letter to plead our case. We gathered our flight confirmations, Airbnb reservation for Panama City, our Bill of Ladings for our shipping, a schedule from our shipping agent, etc. And then we hired ourselves a translator and we set off for the MINSA office. What would have taken us hours, took Claire minutes and we were told to come back in a couple days to pick up our salvoconductos. Yay!

Our Salvoconducto giving us permission to travel!

GETTING OUR VAN OUT OF PANAMA

It was all lined up, so we began gathering our belongings, cleaning out the van, and packing our things! On Sunday, July 5th, we began the 7 hour drive from Boquete to Panama City. We had 4 police checkpoints along the way. Some took our temperature, some checked our salvoconductos, some just waived us through. Overall it was smooth and traffic free and we arrived at our Airbnb in Panama City to relax the rest of the afternoon.

The BEST road trip snack, and a luxury in Panama.

One of our checkpoints- Joel & Alicia ahead of us in their van, Klaus.

Checking over our documents.

Our Panama City Airbnb

The next morning, we arrived at DIJ for our inspection of the vans. The entire process was confusing mainly because of the language barrier, but after we had our paperwork in order and presented it to the inspector, he quickly verified the VIN on the vehicle and engine and directed us to return later that afternoon to pick up the certificate. Easy enough! Also, no one cared we were violating travel restrictions because we weren’t the only ones…. I guess we have more insight as to why it’s been hard to get the virus under control.

Paperwork for inspection.

All set!

July 7th- drop off day- consisted of a 1.5 hour drive to Colon. For reference, the Panama Canal runs north to south across the country with Panama City located on the south end and Colon located in the north. Once we got there it was another confusing day. Lots of running around to different offices, processing paperwork, ending up at wrong offices, etc. All in all, considering our Spanish still isn’t very good and VERY rusty after spending 4 months cooped up in a house, we managed to get it all done. We picked up our Bill of Ladings, we got the vehicle stamped out with customs, we had the vehicles inspected one more time (this time a drug dog sniffed around!), and then they were driven off and loaded up in our container. Yay! We hopped in a taxi back to Panama City and enjoyed our Airbnb until our flight.

Now, this post is already long, so I won’t bore you with any further details of shipping. Just know that we shared a Flat Rack container with our roomies which is about 40’ long and has no height restrictions unlike a closed container. There are other options for shipping too, but this was ultimately the most secure way of shipping (versus Roll On Roll Off) and also fit our super tall Fran. 

Walking around the port.... a lot.

Showing up at wrong buildings...

Finally got our paperwork done and Fran stamped out of the country.

After drop off- Klaus & Fran in the distance being loaded on container.

Nervous, sweaty faces after dropping off our homes.

Our street in Panama City.

The pool at our Airbnb.

Miles loving the AC :)

A little rnr before our upcoming flight

GETTING US AND MILES OUT OF PANAMA

Flying with Miles was a breeze! Miles currently is 15 years old and too big to fit in a carrier for under the plane seat. There was NO way we were going to put him in cargo. Months ago, I had gotten an ESA letter from an online service in preparation to fly to Colombia. The letter gives permission for a dog of any size to fly with their owner as an Emotional Support Animal and is good for a year, so we were all set to fly to the states instead. Normally, we wouldn’t condone bending the rules like that, but again, he’s 15! And if he was in cargo, I probably WOULD have had an emotional breakdown. After his vet appointment back in Boquete and completing the specific airline forms required to travel with an ESA, we were all set! As soon as we got to the airport on July 9th, we were approached by airline staff confirming our reservation and completed paperwork in the system and we were good to go. Once we dropped off our checked bags, we made it through security and to the gate. Other than the lack of food and water options in the airport, the overall flight experience was a breeze. The airline followed CDC guidelines and no middle seats were booked on our flight. Which was GREAT because Miles climbed his butt right up in between us and laid his head on my lap the whole flight.

Full flight!

Bags dropped off, ready to go!

Our flight was the only one leaving Panama City that day. So strange!

Miles was ready!

Miles on the floor between us wondering why he wasn't allowed on the seats during take off (notice the blanket.... baby)

WAITING IN SOUTH FLORIDA

We were lucky enough that our roomie, Joel, had a family friend with an empty vacation home in Naples, FL, that he was so kind to let us stay in. We landed in Fort Lauderdale, grabbed our bags, zoomed through customs, showed paperwork for Miles, and hopped in a rental car. The condo was located in a community with a community pool, across the street from Publix (pub subs! IYKYK), and close to many state beaches. We stocked up on groceries and swam in the pool and mean mugged everyone without a mask (FL is crazy y’all!).

On Monday, July 13th, we got confirmation that our container left the port in Panama and was on it’s way to Miami, scheduled to arrive on Thursday, July 16th - yay! Then began the process of filing all the necessary paperwork to ensure that once the vehicles arrived in FL, we could retrieve them. We ultimately hired a broker to file the paperwork on our behalf and he was incredibly thorough and helpful throughout the process. Expensive, but worth it, because 1) we had NO clue what we were doing, and 2) he had everything completed before our ship arrived. The risk of not completing all paperwork on time is the shipment being held up in customs for further inspection and incurring fines of not filing proper documents before the arrival of the ship.

Once we he had everything sorted out with our broker, we passed the time by exploring the beautiful beaches near Naples, spending our final days with our new friends and roomies, and soaking up the sun. Back in Panama, we hadn’t had a full sunny day in 3 months!

So many rules! Yet no one was wearing masks.....

Sugar sand, water, sun- HAPPY.

Joel & Alicia

Delnor-Wiggins State Park

Playing frisbee at Lover's Key

Our final day with our roomies, Joel & Alicia.

PICKING UP FRAN

On Thursday, July 16th, the vehicles arrived in port! It was now a waiting game to clear customs and for our broker to notify us where and when we could retrieve the vehicles. The next morning he called with the news and we scrambled to pack and clean our little sanctuary in Naples. We were about to be reunited with our little home on wheels!! The separation anxiety when everything you own is on a random ship crossing the ocean is REAL. We arrived at the port and within a couple hours we were driving off into the sunset (literally).

Patiently waiting at the Miami port.

Only one persona allowed inside- Joel went back to retrieve our vehicles.

There's Fran!

So pretty!

SO HAPPY. Many happy dances were had this day.

Looking back at the entire process, I truly can’t believe we made it happen. Over the course of the 3.5 weeks of planning and the additional 2 weeks of the shipping process, there were MANY moments it all felt impossible. We were so lucky to have our friends to go through this process together so the four of us could lean on each other. We were always reminding each other to take it in stride and offer support along the way. We were sad to part ways, but can’t wait for future visits. I’m pretty sure we are bound for life after escaping another country in the middle of a global pandemic.

Photos from our final photo shoot in Boquete with our new, dear friends.

Notice Zach's arm... he managed to get up there after setting a 10 second timer. talent!

Mas selfies with our new amigos.

<3

What’s next? Well, tbh my fingers are tired so that’s gonna have to wait until next time :)