I understand this in a way, my deceased wife and I were planning a trip to Italy, but she became ill and then disabled before we were ready to go. If you want to do something, you should do it while you can. I don't really understand the fascination with Europe. After my wife passed away, when I was 54 and was laid off I took a few months to visit friends and toured the southwest United States. I left New Orleans and went to St. Louis (with its big arch and the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and other attractions), went from there to Denver, then Reno, Tahoe, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Carlsbad Caverns, San Antonio, Houston and back to New Orleans. All in my Subaru packed with camping gear with a canoe and bicycle on top. Sometimes I stayed with friends, sometimes I camped out, sometimes I stayed in hotels. Probably over the two months I spent 6 days in hotels.

Sorry, I know that is mostly off topic. There is so much to explore in the U.S. why go to Europe?

TEK