Quoting Linux O'Beardly (linux.obeardly@???):

> Thanks for the quick response. I don't know if I'll make it; airfare from
> the states to Europe is a very expensive luxury [...]

(Hi, son of a commercial airline captain, here.)

Mark, I would encourage you to look into the exceptions. I see on your
blog that you're a participant in DC Linux Users Group, so you _might_
be in the Washington, DC metro area. (That does not necessarily follow,
For example, people on the Melbourne, Victoria LUG mailing list who
invite me to join them down at the pub are sometimes surprised to hear
that this would be a logistical challenge, starting from near San
Francisco as I would be -- rather a ways to travel even for a pint of
Victoria Bitter.)

Taking the DC metro area as an example, I note that WOW air (somewhat
obscure Icelandic low-cost carrier), Icelandair, American Airways,
British Airways, Aer Lingus, and others fly to Amsterdam-Schipol (AMS)
from either Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) or Dulles
International (IAD). Round-trip fares are running currently around
$340-500. Inexpensive lodging abounds in Amsterdam, and public
transportation is cheap and very reliable, not to mention the city being
very walkable.

One tip: Assuming you're a fellow Yank, get in your application for a
US passport _ASAP_, because the State Department's Passport Bureau is not
really a world-class model of speed and efficiency.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/where-to-apply/passport-agencies.html

Other than that, trans-Atlantic travel is really neither expensive nor
difficult. Also, don't sweat the language thing. Especially in the
Netherlands where everyone seems to speak English with breathtaking
acuity, you'd have zero problem. Walking around Glasgow, you might find
the brogue bewildering, but in Amsterdam? Never.