STARTING OVER One of the unexpected pleasures in writing this Blog is to have received responses from people we had not previously met. And then to add to the pleasure of the experience, there have been a few newly made acquaintances that then included Ascoli Piceno on an Italian visit itinerary. After you have exchanged Email correspondence with people and begun to have a sense for each other, it is very satisfying to finally meet face-to-face. Many of the people who have been corresponding with us are approaching retirement. Several who are following the Blog have said they are looking at what we have done and wonder if this is something they might also consider doing. And a few people contemplating an Expatriate life have posed the question, ‘what does it take to start over?’ We have heard some version of that expression enough times that we found ourselves asking if we had felt we had been starting over? Of course how we individually feel and interpret events is deeply rooted in our own unique temperaments and personal histories. Initially, in considering trying the Expatriate life, we gradually explored different ideas and then rejected many along the way. I’m not sure we ever thought about a ‘label’ for what we were in the process of doing. But I have to say in considering life as Expatriates, I don’t recall having it come into our minds that we were starting over. Naturally, there are a lot of semantic issues in play here. My own quirky makeup conjures up for me an image imbedded in the expression, starting over, as wanting to go back to attempt to redo an essentially similar, familiar experience. The term conjures up in my mind a desire to not stray too far beyond an already established ‘comfort zone.’ Let’s be up front about an inevitable process we all face. The experience of aging is not something that tends to generate a great deal of optimism. Someone said, “Aging is not for the faint of heart.” The further along in life we go, the more we are exposed to some very close and personal, existential realities. That includes the loss of others close to us and we...