The Journal
Guides, stories and answers for building a FRESH® home in Panama.
Outdoor Living in Panama: Terraces, Pools, and Landscaping That Work
How to plan terraces, pools, and gardens for a Panama home: orientation, materials, native planting, and the FRESH upgrades that bring it...
Jul 03, 2026Open-Plan Tropical Home Design: How to Live Indoor-Outdoor in Panama
How open-plan layouts work in Panama's 24-31C climate, the design principles that matter, and how FRESH standard models already encode indoor-outdoor flow.
Jul 01, 2026Building at Gatun Lake: Rainforest, Fishing, and an Hour from the City
A practical guide to building a home at Gatun Lake — the rainforest setting at the heart of the Panama Canal, lake-access...
Jun 29, 2026Building on Panama's Caribbean Coast: Beyond Bocas del Toro
A practical guide to building on the Panama Caribbean coast beyond Bocas — climate, access, salt, humidity, and how a FRESH home...
Jun 27, 2026Building in Cambutal & Guánico: The Quiet Side of the Azuero Coast
A practical guide to building a home in Cambutal and Guánico on Panama's southern Azuero coast — what makes the area, the...
Jun 25, 2026Building a Home in Altos de Campana: The Mountain Above Coronado
A practical guide to building a home in Altos de Campana — the forested mountain above Coronado — with land, slope, climate,...
Jun 23, 2026Building a Home in Cerro Azul: Cool Highlands Within Reach of Panama City
A practical guide to building a home in Cerro Azul — the closest cool-climate highlands to Panama City — with land, slope,...
Jun 21, 2026Building a Home in Volcán: Panama's High-Altitude Coffee Country
A practical guide to building a home in Volcán — Panama's high-altitude coffee country on the western flank of Volcán Barú —...
Jun 19, 2026From Decision to Keys: A Realistic Timeline for Moving to Panama and Building a Home
A month-by-month timeline from the decision to move to Panama to keys in hand, with realistic faster and slower variants for different...
Jun 17, 2026Buying Property as a Foreigner in Panama: What's Actually Easy (and What Isn't)
Foreigners can own freehold land in Panama almost on the same footing as citizens. The catch is in the land file, not...
Jun 15, 2026Five Real Worries Americans Have About Moving to Panama (and the Reality)
The five worries you hear in every expat forum, answered honestly. Safety, Spanish, building from afar, healthcare quality, and the back-out plan.
Jun 13, 2026The Real Cost of Living in Panama in 2026 for North Americans
An honest 2026 breakdown of what a single, a couple and a high-end household actually spend in Panama, and how insulation choices...
Jun 11, 2026