Hannah and I just started thinking creatively about how to take Ellie home with us in a year from now. At 120 lbs, she's over the weight limit for checked baggage and would have to sent cargo in a very large and expensive crate which I've yet to find (she has to be able to turn around and stand up in it). Furthermore, she can only be shipped as far as Miami.
One idea: buy a 1965 VW bus and drive back on the Panamerican highway. Afterall if we'd have to drive from Miami, why not start in Lima? These buses are very common in Peru and normally serve as combis (Peru's version of private city buses). They're cheap, easy to come by, unassuming (granted, we need to be a bit more conservative than this with the paint job) and we could possibly sell it for double the cost in the US.
Who knows if it will happen, but we think it would cost the same as flying home (or less), we'd have a car when we got there and we'd get to see all of Central America on the way. I have been warned by my brother to be careful. He likes the idea, but he's worried I'll become the weird uncle who still lives in a van after 20 years.
I think it's a great idea and can totally see you guys doing it! But Tim, you'd definitely become the weird uncle....