When I travelled through central/south America I liked Panama city (not having any thoughts of emigrating at the time). Then when I got sick of tax/government cracking down on personal privacy etc.) I started looking at other countries. Singapore was my first choice at the time but I wasn't getting any responses to job applications and they've cracked down hard on foreign visas in the past few years.
So I looked at central America and Panama just kept ticking boxes - territorial tax, friendly nations visa, good infrastructure, tropical (which I LOVE - I'm done with winters), in US timezone (since I now trade US markets for a living), no military, it's safe.
So I moved here. Been here just over a year now. It took 3 months to get permanent residency and I love it. I have no intention of moving back to Australia any time soon.