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.

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 to take a leap and travel. I was like, “Let me try this travel thing out while I can.”

I’ve always been nomadic in a way; I went from Ohio to New York to Charlotte to Atlanta. Then I thought, let’s try out another country this time. I didn’t really know where I wanted to live; I just knew I wanted to move.

I had a list of countries I…