Two hours east of Rome, hemmed by the glittering Adriatic, Abruzzo offers dreamy hill towns, tiny farms, ruggedly wild countryside, and the diamond-bright peaks of the Apennines. Most towns and mountain villages are within an hour’s drive of sandy beaches.

My wife and I moved to Managua, Nicaragua, six years ago with our young daughter Amanda. The trail leading to Nicaragua began over 13 years ago when I was living in Northern Virginia, running the sales department of a mid-sized computer manufacturer. A friend of mine, Joel, called one Tuesday, said he had an extra ticket to Belize on Thursday, and would I like to go. I said “yes” and then asked, “where’s Belize?”