TWO THOUSAND NEW FRIENDS
Thank you for subscribing to this website. I will be forever grateful to The Wall Street Journal for publishing my article, which enabled you to find me here and I am honored that you found our story appealing! Your enthusiasm has exceeded our wildest dreams and Tim and I are thrilled that you want to read more as our journey continues. Your subscription is an enormous compliment and we will try to be worthy of it.
Next week we will provide an interactive forum section so you can speak with one another. As we answered hundreds of emails we realized that readers could enlighten us with their advice, experience and insight. I’ll send you an email when the forum is available and I hope you’ll join in the dialog.
THIS WEEK IN IRELAND
The last week has been surreal. From the tall windows of our apartment, which is a small part of an elegant Georgian house, we have watched Ireland become enveloped in a blazing autumn coat. We’ve looked across lush green meadows where horses graze and gazed at the wild Irish Sea doing its dramatic dance on the horizon. While all of this has been going on outside, we have been inside, hunched over our computers for ten, sometimes twelve hours at a stretch, trying to answer all of the emails from you. We have learned so much and been encouraged and enlightened by you. It’s astonishing how many people share our love of travel and wish us well.
SO MANY FRIENDS
Two thousand new friends have joined us. It appears that we have struck a chord and the idea that perfect strangers would invite us to stay with them in India, Toronto or Chicago, ask us to dinner in Stockholm or Barcelona, or want to meet us for a drink on the ship we’re taking to the U.S. for the holidays in November took us completely by surprise. You sent us blessings and called us inspirational and brave. We’ve answered questions ranging from practical advice like how to find an apartment in Paris to whether international health insurance is necessary. Several people have said the story helped them convince their spouses to take the plunge and follow our lead.
It’s heady stuff to be us right now and even though we lost a week of seeing Ireland’s 
sites, we wouldn’t have it any other way! It’will be our pleasure to answer every letter, every question eventually. Please be patient. We’re really trying hard.
WHO ARE YOU?
We expeced that many retired people who have been considering their options would respond. Many of them were jubliant to find that there is a way to slag their travel lust in their maturity without spending all of their childrens‘ inheritance. Younger people, many of whom had already done some traveling, realized that once they had reared and educated their children they would be free to travel light in the places they dreamed about. Those considering their options at forty or fifty said that they had been thinking about just such a lifestyle but were afraid for various reasons that they couldn’t do it. Our article made them see how. Every single writer was inspired and positive, and the notion had given them new courage and hope.
SHARING YOUR LIVES: Many of YOYU shared your own stories, which were fascinating and sometimes deeply affecting. You were generous with tales of your own travels, your aspirations, and your excellent suggestions and tips, and we hope that you will continue to communicate with us.
OUR FUTURE
In the midst of a dreamlike week since the article appeared, we have signed an agreement with an accomplished literary agent, Dana Newman. She is has a wonderful reputation and we are overjoyed that she will present Home Free: The Romantic Adventures of Two Senior Gypsies, a Travel Memoir, to the publishing community. The book proposal, which was created by Robert Yehling, at Word Journeys, Inc. is dynamite and between these two professionals, it looks as if the book about living home free will become a reality.
THANK YOU
None of this would have happened if you hadn’t responded so emphatically to the article. You have propelled our notion into a viable movement and I which a growing number of retired people will start making plans and packing up their rolling duffles. We hope you’ll be part of our Home Free family for a long time because our travels will be much more fun with you along!
More news, photos and a book are on the way! We’re off to Marrakech, Morocco this week and we’ll be sending impressions and photos from that exotic locale.
