By George Hobica, Tribune News Service

“Why is everyone going to Portugal?” my friend Justin asked when I told him I was going there for a visit.

People travel for many reasons, but visiting friends and relatives (VFR in industry-speak) is one of the largest and most resilient segments of the travel industry. Travelers spend over $400 billion a year doing it.

And it was the primary reason for my trip to Portugal. I’d been promising to visit my friend Bill, who had became an “everyone” like thousands of Americans in recent years who have relocated to the coastal European country.

I also planned to visit my friend John, whom I first met in junior high school more than 50 years ago. He was planning to visit the country with his son, yet another person planning to join “everyone” moving th

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