Unstoppable Family February Newsletter

Published: Tue, 02/08/11

Hi from Bocas del Toro!

We're stoked to be here in Panama and it has been an incredible way to kick off 2011! At the start of our stay in Panama we spent four days in the walled city of Casco Viejo in Panama City, which has stunning architecture and colonial buildings. Our visit also coincided with the 8th annual Panama Jazz Festival, which featured international and local jazz artists who performed to crowds of people at Plaza de la Catedral (Cathedral Park). We had so much fun enjoying the festival food, watching the street performers in the square and jamming to the music! We also received a bit of a history lesson when we visited the Panama Canal, and spotted crocodiles and monkeys when we took a Monkey Island Cruise to the Gamboa Monkey Forest.

We couldn't stay away from the surf for too long though, so now we're in Bocas del Toro staying by the beach at the Palma Royal Hotel and Suites. We really believe in the Law of Attraction and it was like we were meant to stay here! A chance meeting on a plane with the hotel manager brought us to the penthouse suite in the best place in Bocas del Toro.

When we first arrived we took a water taxi to Red Frog beach on Bastimentos Island, which gets its name from the species of red poison dart frog that lives on the island. Hanalei has made a new best friend and her family took us out on their boat to try our skills at wakeboarding, which is our new activity! We love surfing and snowboarding, so wakeboarding is perfect for us. When we see Hanalei getting to spend the day on a tropical island, swimming in the Caribbean sea, enjoying the sunshine and spotting dolphins, we're so happy that we quit our corporate jobs to travel the world! After wakeboarding we had lunch at Bastimentos Island, which they nickname 'Little Jamaica' because all the people living on the island are Jamaican. We went to a place called 'Roots' where we ate traditional Jamaican food, drank wine and listened to the music, before heading into town where Hanalei got to learn all about the Rastas. It was so strange to take a short taxi ride from Bocas del Toro, where they speak Spanish, to Bastimentos, where everyone is Jamaican! Beautiful sunny days like this make us so grateful that we made the choice to leave the corporate rat race.

We've had an amazing time in Bocas del Toro enjoying the tropical island vibe and the Caribbean sea. Our next stop-Peru in April!

We would also like to say thank you to everyone who nominated us for the Matador 'Breaking Free' show- we really appreciate it. The video web series will be documenting Americans who have broken out of the 9 to 5 to pursue their dreams by establishing a life abroad. We felt the show was perfect for us and we received 68 nominations- more than anyone else. So thank you everybody and we hope you're having a powerful start to the New Year.

The Unstoppable Family