*We only have one life, so why not make it the maddest one?*

Greetings roadies,

A little over a month ago the DDR crew took our first international trip! We spent a week in the beautiful Panama City, Panama - and finally I’m here to tell you all about it. You can watch our newest YouTube video here which has snippets of our favourite moments, but for a more detailed breakdown read the blog post below.

#DownDiRoad goes to Panama City

Growing up, my friends were into anime, cartoons and video games, but I found myself spending so many hours watching the Travel Channel and Food Network. I was privileged enough to travel to Canada or the USA every year for maybe the first 13 or so years of my life. If I was to think back on my earliest memory of travel, I was maybe 2 years old - spending time in Canada with my parents. I can still remember the smell of the air, and just how BIG everything seemed. Those early experiences really helped me develop my fascination with travel. Human behaviour is largely based on culture and I have always found that exposing myself to different worldwide cultures has made me an open and well rounded individual.

Since inception, DownDiRoad JA has primarily been about sharing the Jamaican experience, but it has always been a goal of mine to visit and document an international experience. Times are hard, so you ask yourself “how” and “when”, but earlier this year something changed. A friend mentioned interest in travelling to a new country for his birthday, and I thought to myself this might be the right time. I was finally in a place professionally where I could now entertain the idea of affording a trip like this, as well as find the time. After a quick discussion, I did some research, consulted with a travel agent, and it was decided - we were going to Panama!

If you are a good planner, I think you would be more than capable of planning an international trip on your own, but I opted to go with a travel agent to organize our flight, airport transfer, and accommodation. We used the services of Saskia Skyers Adventure, Travel and Tours and I have no complaints, Onya was great and always willing to assist. Planning on your own is liberating, but I think travel agents are able to find great deals and sometimes things may even work out cheaper in the end. Our trip lasted a little under a week, Monday - Friday and we were 8 travellers in total. We had a direct flight to Panama City travelling on Copa Airlines (Norman Manley Intl. Airport Kingston - Panama Tocumen Airport), and we stayed at the Hotel Riu Plaza Panama right in the heart of the city.

Panama City is interesting. I would describe is as a mini-Miami, with a homely feeling. The city is quite developed with a very organized road network. As a visitor, it looks confusing but most roads are one way which really helps with traffic flow. We used Uber as our main mode of transport, as it was the most affordable and convenient way to go. If you’re taking the trip to Panama City I would suggest planning an itinerary of activities for each day. We had a list and an idea of what we wanted to do, but we never set it in stone so for the whole time we just woke up and tried to decide what to do on each day. This was a bit choatic at times, but we made it work. I won’t go into great detail of everything we did, but here a few highlights of the activities we participated in.

There is A LOT to do in Panama City, so throughout or time we pretty much just did all day activities. A few members of the crew went to the Panama Canal, which really is a marvel up close, but I opted for some other activities. Considering the fact that Panama City is the business district of Panama, there aren’t much beach activities unless you go out of the city. We did take a day to go to a place called Taboga Island, which is about a 30 minute boat ride off the coast of the city. It wasn’t the best beach I’ve ever seen, but it was a fun gettaway and a fun adventure. Drinks are cheap, and it is a really nice experience to see the city from a different vantage point.

We also spent some time in Panamá Viejo, which is the remaining part of the original Panama City. Panamá Viejo is the former capital of Panama and was destroyed in 1671 by the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan.

***Panamá Viejo*** is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has a museum but the real attraction is the ruins. It’s a great photo opp!

My favourite memory was visiting Casco Viejo. Casco Viejo is the ‘old quarter’ and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s the historic district of Panama City which was built following the near-total destruction of Panamá Viejo. Casco Viejo is home to the heart of the gastronomy scene in Panama City. We visited Casco Viejo a few times and I must say, I had no bad meals - it was the best mix of culture, street food, drinks, and fine dining. The old quarter has beautiful architecture and it’s filled with many beautiful views. Make sure you visit Casa Casco Rooftop bar if you are ever in the city!

There were a few other restaurants we went to here and there, but overall the food in Panama City is amazing. The city has a great nightlife culture we well, we went to a few nightclubs and bars while we were there, so whether you prefer live music or a live dj - you have many options to choose from.

Another important point to note is that there are so many shopping options in Panama, as they have many of the major stores that you’d find in North America. Major malls like Albrook and Multiplaza were two stops that we made during our visit.

Overall, Panama City was a great experience. For airfare, hotel and airport transfer it costed us about $800 each for our four nights. Spending money is based on if you want to go shopping or just do regular activities. There are many resources online, so happy hunting! If you made it this far thanks for reading. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on all our latest updates and adventures!