Julianna drove us to the airport for our early morning flight to Milan.  We had booked a hotel room within the airport.  The hotel accommodated our early arrival allowing us to check-in get settled and get an early lunch.  So many airports in Europe have hotel connected to terminal, it makes it so easy when you have a short stay between flights.

We had a 9AM flight from Milan to Newark the next morning.  Generally on flights, I keep to myself, but on this flight I struck up a conversation with my seat mate.  Judy had moved from Pennsylvania to outside Milan in March.  I quizzed her the entire way over the European continent and over the Atlantic.

It was the second time in my 2025 travels I had met an American that had moved to Europe for retirement.  The couple I met in the Phoenix airport in January had moved to France.  I told her it was my dream to live in Europe.  She asked me, “what are the things that are stopping you.”  I thought about that question the entire flight to London.  

Now here I was again, meeting another American that had done the same thing.  Maybe my dream could be a reality.