I drove from Mexico to Panama. The Pan-American highway group and several of the expat groups were indispensable sources of information. I was able to get out

I drove from Mexico to Panama. The Pan-American highway group and several of the expat groups were indispensable sources of information. I was able to get out of Nicaragua during the big protests in 2018 because someone on the Nicaragua expat group told me they were letting foreign-plated vehicles through the roadblocks. I never would have had the nerve otherwise to walk up and say, "Hey, I'm an American, that makes me special, please let me through." Several hiking groups here in LA have also been invaluable for me. Not everyone has the same lived experience.