When we first made plans to come to Central America, they were pretty grand. It was going to be an epic bike journey from Cancún, Mexico, to Utila, Honduras. But plans changed. I found work as a dive instructor in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, which necessitated bringing all of my dive gear and, with it, most of my worldly possessions. Which made it a bit tough to travel. I hadn't completely scrapped the bike trip idea until my bike was stolen in December.

In January, JJ and I moved to...