What's Happening . . .

What does the photograph above represent to you:

• Blue skies and a winged symbol of freedom or
• A nasty, noisy bird about to crap on your head?

I have been somewhat preoccupied lately, with my Panamanian enterprise, and haven't had as much time to comment on other blogs. I still visit and read the posts, but it has been sort of a hit and run situation. Soon, I hope things will be a little more relaxed and I will be able to leave annoying and irrelevant comments again.

There are some very interesting and exciting developments at the Roca Milagro project which I am not yet at liberty to discuss. My partners and I are thrilled at the progress we are making, and things look very good indeed.

Here in London, Ontario, I am interviewing builders and getting quotes for a building I want to put up on a piece of property I bought last year. If I decide to go ahead, it will likely be used as an office for my companies, with a special loft-style, separate area where I can sit and dream up new ventures and read blog posts. Perhaps I'll have some additional square footage available that can be leased to others. We'll see how this all goes. Cash is in short supply right now, because of my investments in Panama, and I don't want to create a lot of debt for myself.

The situation in Panama is unique for me. The Roca Milagro project is too large for me to handle alone, given that I also have other things on the go, so I have two partners currently, another about to come on board with us, and we have invited several other investors to join us in the enterprise. The Roca Milagro project arose out of a 5-minute conversation I had on a hotel patio, with an engineer from Colorado, in November of 2005. Now, a bit over a year later, we have a beautiful property to develop, he has moved to Panama permanently, and he and I and the original owner of the property are all partners in the development.

I make business and decisions based on people, not on business plans, engaging in interminable discussions, suffering emotional drama, or agonizing over every conceivable thing that might or might not happen.

Not everyone is like that, though.

And maybe that is a good thing. A cousin of mine, also a businessman, listened to me gripe once, decades ago, about how inconsistent and tentative people are when they have to make decisions or commitments, and I still remember his response today: "What are you complaining about, Sieg, that simply means that there is more opportunity for you and me."

He was right then, and is right today. Because of the difficulty we initially had getting people to come on board with us at Roca Milagro, one of my partners and I each took a larger share of the company than we had originally intended. With the developments that are happening with our project now, we don't need as many shareholders, and are cutting back on the number of shares we will be selling to others. That enhances our individual holdings and future profitability even further. All's well that ends well, right?

The property I am going to build on in London came about in much the same way. I was at a property auction, wanting to purchase one particular commercial building lot. Someone else had bid for all three lots that were for sale at the auction, meaning I would have had to go home empty-handed. I looked at the guy beside me who had also been trying to buy one individual lot. He was a clean-cut guy, soft-spoken, seemingly of Mediterranean or mid-Eastern heritage, and I said to him: "Do you have the cash to pay for the lot you want?" He looked at me, guessing immediately what I might be proposing, and countered with: "Yes. Do you?"

We both did, so I proposed buying all lots together, then titling the ones we wanted individually, and owning the third jointly. He agreed. When we both signed the purchase agreements, I had known him for a grand total of only a few minutes. He turned out to be a great chap, with strong work and business ethics, a perfect business partner.

Does it always pay to things so impulsively? Maybe not. But how would anyone know, without ever taking a chance? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Life is what happens while you are trying to make up your mind whether to spread jam or marmalade on your toast, whether to turn left or right, whether to trust someone you just met, or whether to trust in yourself enough to allow yourself to make decisions and act on them.

I am sometimes frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, just like everyone else on the planet. It never lasts long with me, though. I shrug the situation off and say: "Next!" Then life goes on, the sun comes out, birds sing, and beautiful women frolic in the meadows. Ooops, I guess I'm mixing a little fantasy with reality again.

That's OK, though, isn't it? After all, I am a dreamer by nature.

Dreaming Big

The two little birds in the photograph above were our breakfast guests this morning. My partner and I ate on the patio of a local restaurant called ‘Olga’s,’ after the owner, by everyone in Boquete. Although there is a sign out front with the actual name of the establishment, I’m sure no-one actually knows what it says. Olga, or one of her helpers, puts out some fresh fruit for our little feathered friends every morning, and these two birds are the ones I actually managed to capture with my digital camera.

Boquete is changing at a dizzying pace. New buildings are going up everywhere. New residential developments are being planned, our Roca Milagro project among them. Many of the locals dream of making that one big property sale, and then having a pile of money to live on. This, after likely having eked out a subsistence lifestyle for decades, or possibly even through multiple generations of the same family. Everyone has big dreams.

That’s OK. Everyone should have big dreams. What if no-one dreamed big? We wouldn’t have cars, airplanes, space travel, computers and cell phones. And we wouldn’t be able to play Super Mario on our personal video game console. Of course, some think that we would be better off without all these things. Not me. I could do without video games, but I like the rest of the things that we all get to take for granted, all because a bunch of someones dreamed big.

My father, born in 1904 in Poland, ploughed fields with horses, rode to town in a horse-drawn buggy, and basically lived through the age of the automobile, the airplane, the jet, the rocket, the advent of computers and much more. To him, the changes in lifestyle that we all take for granted were astounding. We all get pretty blase about these things, don‘t we? Perhaps, in our own future, we will also see dramatic changes that will appear as strange and new to us as many of the things I mentioned did to my father.

In my father’s youth, it was a really big deal to travel twenty kilometres by horse and buggy to shop in a larger town. Today, I think nothing of hopping on a plane to Panama to take care of business. I wonder what he would think of all this. He died before I started this latest adventure of mine. Maybe he would simply think that I was being foolish, and that I should stay closer to home. But that wouldn’t be as much fun. Dream big, remember? And we have to enjoy ourselves, because one day it will be too late for anything but regrets. And then, someday, even regrets won’t be an issue. Dead brain cells don’t think. Nothing will matter.

I’m meeting a lot of people here who are chasing their dreams. Some dream of doing what I’m doing, or something similar. Some have other dreams. We’re all different, and that is how it should be. One man I met today wants to move here, live on $2,000 per month, and work in an orphanage. That’s his big dream. He worked as an energy trader in the United States, made a caboodle of money, now he wants to change his lifestyle completely. Maybe the fact that he is going through a divorce has something to do with it. Or, maybe, he really has had a lifetime dream of helping orphans. Who knows? That would definitely qualify as a big dream, in my books. What could possibly be of more value than helping little kids without parents get a proper head start on life? Not much!

Let’s all dream big. The world will be a better place for it.

Why Panama?

I write posts about Panama on occasion. I love the place, as regular readers know, and I have business interests there. One day I will have a part-time residence there, in our Roca Milagro development in Rovira Arriba, near Boquete.

What is the attraction of Panama? I've never written a long, detailed analysis as to why anyone with a spirit of adventure should at least explore the place, after all there are numerous websites and blogs out there that already do that job admirably.

One of the things I like about the country is its diversity. It is a third-world country in some ways, especially when you are far off the beaten track and you see how the people live who have not yet been affected by the economic boom in the more populated parts of the country. When you are in Panama City, it is a bustling, modern city with every amenity you can imagine -- great restaurants, hotels, interesting things to see and do.

One of Panama's most appealing features is the exuberance of its people. To outsiders, it seems that the locals will use any excuse for a parade or celebration. There is always something going on: loud, colourful and joyous. It is infectious. Life should be a celebration and there is much to celebrate in Panama.

I have come across several interesting blogs about life in Panama, particularly the Chiriqui province where the famous town of Boquete is located, as well as the larger city, David. If you are interested in reading about and seeing lots of photographs of the area from the point of view of outsiders who have moved or visited there, have a look:

• Chiriqui Chatter
• Boquete Guide
• Dixon Hamby Panama Photos
• Sylvain Duford Panama Photos

Back to Panama soon...

I'm preparing for my fourth trip to Panama since November of last year. I'll be leaving on December 11th and will be gone for eight days. Things are moving ahead with our Roca Milagro residential project in Rovira Arriba, in the mountains of Panama near Boquete. We have the first draft of our building lot and street layout ready, and are preparing to move ahead with all of the studies necessary to get approval to begin construction of roads, water and electricity and other infrastructure, hopefully by mid-2007.

Beginning a project like this has been quite an education for me. Someday, when things are steaming along full-tilt, and all of the start-up frustrations are out of the way, I might write about it. For now, just let me say that my oft-stated requirement that for me to get involved in any investment, it has to be fun, is being mocked on occasion. What keeps me going is the stunning beauty of the development site, my commitment to my partners and investors, and the general appeal of Panama as a place both economically and politically stable. What are a few small frustrations along the way? Look at the photograph of our site above, and imagine extinct volcano Volcan Baru in the background, and the sound of the Rio David as it rushes along one side of the property. Imagine yourself riding or walking along the trails, through the lush green areas we plan to set aside, all among beautiful homes designed for tropical living. That is the image I keep in mind to keep me motivated.

I'm looking forward to my trip. Panama is such a beautiful place. One of my partners, our project engineer, has already moved into a temporary home in Boquete with his wife, until he can build their dream home on our site. I have met other people in the area, both native Panamanians and some who have moved to the area from Canada or the United States. Everyone is friendly and relaxed. It is quite a change from our hectic and sometimes frantic lifestyle at home.

For now, though, back to real life and a cluttered desk.