• After retiring early at 53, Kelly Benthall and her husband spent a year slow-traveling. • She's been calling it her "gap year abroad," a do-over decades after the one she never had. • What began as a midlife escape made her realize she feels more at home abroad.

I was born on the East Coast, and my family moved around a lot. By the time I graduated from high school in Texas, I was the new girl again, surrounded by people who'd known each other since childhood. Everyone seemed to "belong" somewhere, but I was still trying to figure out who "everyone" was.

I went to Texas A&M University. It's a big school in a small-town bubble, where friendliness and tradition rule. I built a good life in Texas. I married a local boy, raised kids, built a career, and did everything the cultural syll

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