Unexpected Transport Snags in Central America
Getting around Central America is turning into an adventure of its own. 🚌😅
We’re two months into our journey from Panama City to Mexico City, and right now, we’re in León, Nicaragua, trying to figure out how to get to Honduras and El Salvador.
Sounds simple enough, right? Think again.
We’ve spent DAYS piecing together four separate transportation legs, navigating international border crossings, chasing down unresponsive operators on WhatsApp, and battling booking websites that may or may not work.
The one daily international bus? Fully booked.
The alternative? A private, door-to-door transfer for $500. 😳 (For context, the bus would’ve cost us $200 total!)
And then there’s AI. We put a new assistant called Muse to the test, and it managed to find a booking website that we couldn’t find ourselves, fill out a form in Spanish, and navigate all the way to the credit card payment screen. 🤯
Was it impressive? Absolutely.
Are we confident everything will go according to plan? Ask us again after we cross the border. 😂
We’re learning that overland travel in Central America requires a lot more research, flexibility, and patience than we expected. Sometimes, getting to the destination is the adventure.
We Asked AI How to Cross the Panama-Costa Rican Border. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? 😅
We thought we were prepared for our overland crossing from Panama to Costa Rica—we researched the border, consulted ChatGPT and Gemini, printed our paperwork, and had transportation lined up. Naturally, none of that went quite as planned. From a border crossing that had apparently moved two miles down the road, to negotiating a taxi we didn’t realize was taking us on a round trip, an unexpected malaria test, and somehow gaining an hour along the way, our journey from Boquete to Uvita was a perfect reminder that in Central America, sometimes the best travel plan is simply to show up, figure it out, and enjoy the adventure.
Travel Planning through Central America…So Far
We finally sat down and mapped out the next six weeks of our Central America adventure—from Panama to Costa Rica and Nicaragua to Honduras and El Salvador. Between border crossings, buses, vans, volcanoes, whales, turtles, and plenty of pupusas, we’re trading our usual aimless wandering for a real travel plan…at least for now. And at the end of it all: a month in Mexico City!
Dear Friends: Stop Being So Generous
Coming home to the States reminded us just how good it feels to belong. ❤️ Friends opened their homes, shared their food, drinks, couches, pools, cars—and a whole lot of love. We don’t take any of it for granted. But before you get any more generous and convince us to stay…we’re back to our Coddiwompling! 🌎 Next stop: Central America.
Where To Next? Inside Our Travel Decision Playbook
2 weeks in Melaka… and we still don’t know where we’re going next 😅✈️ Actually—we kinda do. Just not in the way you’d expect.
Here’s our simple 4-step system for figuring it out without overplanning:
1️⃣ Start with a shortlist
Anywhere is fair game. This time? Tioman Island 🏝️ (hello snorkeling + nostalgia)
2️⃣ Map the logistics
Flights, buses, ferries, stays—we piece it all together like a puzzle.
3️⃣ Find the bottleneck
There’s always one. For us? Ferry schedules = everything.
4️⃣ Book fast (but flexible)
Divide & conquer. Lock it in. Make sure we can still cancel if plans change.
Result: Melaka ➡️ Tioman ➡️ Singapore… for now 😉
No rigid plans. Just enough structure to keep the adventure going.
Goodbye Harvey…and Virgil and Olive, too.
Goodbye to Harvey-the-House, Virgil-the-Versa, and Olive-the-Outback. Our last tethers to Kansas City!
Unexpected Joy in Giving Away All of Our Belongings
When we shared that we were planning to give away ALL of our belongings, sell the house and cars, and downsize to a backpack for all our worldly possessions; reactions were, “I could never do that”, and “That’s gotta be so emotional…so hard.”