One of the aspects I really appreciated while traveling around Panama was the excellent Internet availability. They have both cable and satellite in the country, but cable is available only in the more populated areas.  When I asked about pricing, however, I learned that it wasn’t cheap. I guess that’s no real surprise, since it’s still a growing service and serves a smaller population than we’re used to here.

 I was dismayed, however, to find that I couldn’t use my AmazonBox download for videos. The error message I received something to the effect that I appeared to outside the U.S. and this service was not available for this area. It relates, I later learned, to broadcasting and licensing restrictions.

That got me wondering if my entertainment options would be severely curtailed if I moved to Panama, so I did some follow up checking. Here’s what I learned.

 Netflix has announced it is expanding into Central and South America, but the timeline for launch is unclear. Kindle appears to be the only e-book reader that enables downloading books outside the U.S. without major issues. (Nook is not set up for international delivery at this point.) I think, however, that if I were to buy a tablet and maintain my library membership back here in the U.S., it could still work to download in Panama, provided that…

 I use a VPN or Virtual Private Network to do my surfing and downloading. GH understood this immediately, but I was unfamiliar with the concept. A VPN effectively hides your Panama IP address and shows you as being somewhere else in the U.S. Think of it as a Magic Jack for the Internet.

 Several kind individuals explained VPN’s for me. Some are free and some cost only a few dollars a month. Apparently you get what you pay for most of the time. Using a VPN, Panama expats are able to stream Netflix, Hulu, RetroTV, Amazon videos, books for Sony and Nook, etc. Presumably I could also still satisfy my cravings for audio books as well.

 Future expats, fear not! You need not give up your entertainment downloads when you move to Panama.

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