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In this week’s travel roundup, five Americans reflect on starting fresh in Europe. There’s also Mongolian throat singing, towering Portuguese surf and a Greek holiday romance that endured for decades.

Living the dream

For plenty of people, moving abroad is an irresistible ambition, though every relocation comes with benefits and challenges. CNN has spoken with people who made the leap. Here’s what five Americans who moved to Europe learned from the experience.

Retiree Paula Dreyfuss traded San Diego for Porto, Portugal, five years ago. She enjoys being able to afford several trips each year and dine out multiple times a week. She says the people are “so warm and so nice,” and she appreciates feeling safe enough to walk by herself at night.

Still, there are frustrations, including paperwork and the difficulty of learning another language. “Nothing is perfect,” she says.

Jeffrey Davidson and Walter Zak were nearing 60 when they chose to leave Florida for Greece’s Peloponnese region.

“We lived in the land of make-believe,” Davidson says of their old home near Walt Disney World. “Now we stumble over ruins that are several thousand years old in every direction.”

They enjoy Greece’s “wonderful chaotic energy,” although they believe the move would have been more difficult had they waited longer, since they still have plenty of time to learn and adjust.

“We still have issues here with earthquakes and wildfires,” Zak says, adding that “Greece will still get a little colder than we’re used to.”

Emily and Robert Toole moved to Switzerland more than 10 years ago after Emily was offered a job in Geneva.

Although she arrived with employment already arranged, Emily describes the first year as “horrible.” Adjusting to a different culture and forming new relationships was difficult.

“There’s no welcoming committee,” Robert agrees, explaining that Swiss residents can be inclined to “keep to themselves.”

Now, however, the family feels at home. They value the active lifestyle of hiking and swimming and believe it offers an ideal setting for raising their five children.

Trouble in the air

A disruptive passenger was reportedly restrained with flexible handcuffs and duct tape during an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Newark, leading the crew to divert for an emergency landing in Baltimore.

The disturbance happened last week, when the passenger was secured in his seat after causing problems aboard the aircraft. The diversion brought the flight to Baltimore rather than its planned destination in Newark.

A Delta Air Lines flight was diverted last month for a different reason: a crew member became ill. A pilot landed a Boston-bound plane in Detroit after reporting that he needed hospital care.

A dramatic July episode, in which a passenger was said to have been partly pulled toward a broken airplane window, drew attention around the world. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary questioned the injured traveler’s account this week, while acknowledging that the man was “certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window.”

Live long and prosper

Katsunori Oba has explored the ways Japanese people may have run centuries ago, and his distinctive approach has made him an online sensation.

Two men on opposite sides of the world offer inspiring examples of remaining physically active as the years pass.

A 91-year-old hiker has become the oldest person to complete the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. His journey also turned him into a social media favorite.

Dale Sanders, known on the trail as “Gray Beard,” was born in 1935, two years before the route was finished. He also holds several other age-related achievements, including the record for the oldest person to paddle the full length of the Mississippi River.

In Japan, 61-year-old Katsunori Oba has gone viral for his uncommon long-distance running style. He believes it may resemble the way people ran during Japan’s Edo period hundreds of years ago.

In the six-part series “Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta,” Gupta travels internationally in search of the keys to a longer, healthier and happier life.

Epic waves

Nazaré, Portugal, is famous for producing some of the planet’s largest waves. The explanation lies under the ocean, where Europe’s biggest underwater canyon shapes the surf.

Each winter, Nazaré attracts surfers from across the globe in pursuit of its enormous swells. Far beneath the surface, the vast underwater canyon helps create the powerful waves that have made the town legendary.

In case you missed it

A significant technology launch. A new weather record. A memorable act of reflection.

How much do you remember from the past week?

He never expected to encounter his Greek vacation romance from 1985 again.

Then someone tapped him on the shoulder.

You may never have heard singing quite like this.

Discover a place where an extraordinary musical tradition continues.

This was the hottest summer ever recorded in the United States.

And more extreme heat may still be ahead.