Hi Debbie, and welcome to the forum.

I was in a very similar situation to yours when I made the big leap - single, in my 40's, anyway. First big question is whether or not you have any languages - obviously Spanish would be helpful given your interest in Central and Southern America.

Your HR background should be useful, if only to help launch a job search for yourself. I had a very good international head hunter when I was looking to move over to Europe, and her campaign on my behalf really made things go more smoothly.
Cheers,
Bev