Coming home after an around-the-world trip can be daunting. Is it as daunting as selling everything you own, saving like crazy, and then throwing caution to the wind and stepping on a plane with one-way tickets? Probably not. But your entry back home should require some thought before you leave.

The little road had dead ended at the very end of Las Peñitas. And it was here that our eyes were met with the startling blue ocean, vast expanses of sandy beach, and an endlessly bright blue sky. Everywhere we turned our eyes were met with picture perfect tranquility.

Perhaps not surprisingly, travel has been one of the best ways to keep us distracted. Whether it's traveling itself or simply daydreaming about it, traveling has been taking care of us. And so now the question remains, where should we go next?

In 2006, in the middle of the Thai jungle, Jessica and I were adopted by a warm-hearted, broad-grinned doggy named Belly. We adopted him right back, and brought him home to the States to live with us. We made for ourselves a little family, and Belly was always the fuzzy, loving heart of that family. And now he's gone. And it hurts.

We had never been to Nicaragua before, or even Central America, but somehow our trip there last week felt like returning home. It was almost like all of our favorite parts of traveling were rolled into one country just waiting for us to explore.