Page 3 - Panama Review

“THE THRILL OF VICTORY”
My wife had been planning a trip to Southern Spain for six months. We are considering relocating abroad post retirement for a few years and had narrowed our choices to Europe, Central America and South America. Southern Spain was our number one point of interest. After going through several months of research, we decided that we would plan a two-week exploration/vacation around the Southern Spanish cities of Malaga’ and Altea. These cities were born out of our research for places that were very accommodating to expatriates, based on cost of living measures and a warm embrace of expatriates, particularly from the United Kingdom and the United States. My wife and I are from Arizona, USA and are looking to retire in 2020. The allure to Southern Spain also centered on the beautiful climate, which is similar to San Diego, California where the weather is on average, typically 72° (F) year round with nearly 100 miles of beaches, and housing cost and living expenses quite affordable on a retirement income.
The trip was planned for two and a half weeks in March. My wife, the frugal person that she is, found great fares for air travel through her Delta Skymiles mileage points and the same as a Hilton Honors and Hyatt Rewards member for lodging. I contributed nothing to this except my charm and good looks. I just show up when and where she tells me to. Thirty-five years of marriage does have its benefits.
So, for nearly six months we had been preparing for this trip. We bought new clothes, new stylish Away luggage, new camera equipment, and we were doing our best to make our friends and family envious and jealous of out jaunt to Europe. We downloaded language conversion apps, money conversion apps, measurement conversion apps and Spanish dictionaries that could even speak to you. I applied for my passport and received it in record time. My wife already had her passport (We will come back to that later in the review). We practiced our Spanish nightly before bedtime as religiously as one would say their nightly prayers. We were all in!
So, the big day finally arrives. We are on our way from Phoenix to Los Angeles and from there, prepared for our 18-hour expedition to our potential new home, Spain. So, as my wife and I clumsily wheeled and maneuvered our stylish Away luggage from one terminal to the next for about 30-minutes (after an airport representative said it would only take 10-minutes), we finally arrive at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. We meander our way over to the Air France Airline ticketing counter that would begin this momentous journey. My wife and I are giddy with joy and pending excitement. We are slapping each other high-fives and smiling from ear-to-ear. Everything has gone according to plan. As an ardent “A-Team” viewer from back-in-the day, I could not
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