Aging Beautifully in a European Life
Rethinking What “Later Life” Could Possibly Look Like:
A four-part Zoom Conversation in the month of August
What are the choices for aging well in the US right now? 55+ communities, assisted living, continuing care — all built around car dependency, sprawling distances, and price tags that strain families financially. All ending with something no one wants: isolation from the variety of age groups in the world. Innovative alternatives like village-to-village networks and intentional communities try to solve this, but they often mean years of planning, real money, and a real risk of falling apart before ever getting off the ground. It’s not that people aren’t trying — it’s that America’s car-centric, geographically dispersed infrastructure makes this an uphill climb no matter what.
Enter ABEL: Aging Beautifully in a European Life — a chance to explore this dilemma with like-minded, Europe-loving others. The premise: European mid-sized towns already have the walkable, human-scaled infrastructure later life actually benefits from. So instead of the herculean task of overcoming US car-centered infrastructure, what if an option for living well — and affordably — already exists?
ABEL’s first step is four Zoom discussions this August. And we won’t be viewing this through Under the Tuscan Sun rose-colored glasses — aging well is not the stuff of fairy tales. We’ll look honestly at the real downsides too: language barriers, distance from established support networks, healthcare, problems that feel insurmountable alone. One certainty though: these challenges are easier to tackle as part of a well-facilitated small group wrestling with the same questions.
These four 90-minute sessions are an initial exploration of whether like-minded people can skip the US hurdles to aging well entirely — a clear-eyed look at whether building support networks near one another, in a place built for connection rather than cars, is worth pursuing in France. At the end of the sessions, we’ll evaluative whether further joint efforts have promise. If you’ve been curious what an active, supported, intergenerational life could look like without the retirement-community price tag or years-long build-out, join us.
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Can I actually learn French at my age?
Will I feel at home in France?
Can I make friends?
Four 90 minute Zoom sessions: $79.00 ($99 per couple)
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Share visions, resources, wish lists, plans & challenges
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Consider information around four primary topics of aging well in France: Health, Housing, Money, Connection
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Break-out session to permit deeper conversation
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Consider (after 4 sessions) if a collective effort towards aging well has promise
Sundays, August 2, 9, 16, 23: 11:00 AM. EST/US
We have 5 slots left for the August series and we can put you on our waiting list for sessionsYour paragraph textYour paragraph text later this fall