I'm leaving my job at the end of the year for an open-ended slow-travel trip through Latin America. I have no return date, and I'm not booking ahead beyond the first couple of weeks.

Rough plan:

- Late January: a few days in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, with my family before I head off solo.

- First 2 weeks of February: Spanish school with a host family on Lake Atitlán. I'm starting from zero Spanish.

- Next 3–4 months, Central America: the rest of Guatemala → El Salvador → Nicaragua (probably there for Semana Santa) → Costa Rica → Panama. I'm going with the flow, not setting a fixed number of days per town.

- After that, South America: slower travel with longer stays in cities.…