I booked a $200 flight to Panama on a whim, then decided to move there. I found the community I was missing in the US.0

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• August 23, 2026

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Chrysten Crockett, a Cleveland native who moved from Atlanta to Panama City. Crockett, 36, owns a content marketing agency that she now runs from Panama. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I have no kids and I am not married, so I decided