One day, out of the blue, my parents told us, “We’re going camping!” In truth, we were walking illegally from Romania into Greece. They didn’t want us kids to accidentally reveal anything to the locals, so they disguised it as a family trip.

As we moved, I remember my father carrying my younger brother on his shoulders. He was only in his late 20s, but had already given up so much to secure our future. To us, it felt like an adventure, not the dangerous journey it really was.

Along the road, my father quietly started teaching us simple things - maths, the Greek alphabet - he was preparing us for the life that awaited, though we didn’t fully understand it at the time.

Once, we were in the mountains, resting among piles of rubbish that had been dumped illegally. Even in such bleak surroundings, my father continued teaching, as if it were the most natural thing to do.

We slept outside under branches, using them as makeshift shelters. As we walked along motorways, we’d hide in the trees whenever we saw headlights. It dawned on us that we weren’t just camping—this was something much more serious. Water ran out, and we begged and scavenged for food.

One night, in a forest, we heard men screaming as soldiers approached. We were taken to border control. One by one, families were sent back, and we were next. After everything we’d been through, it felt like it was all about to be for nothing.

But then, one guard did something unexpected. He looked at us, paused, and waved us through.

Everyone else was turned back, but we were allowed to cross. Why? Was he incompetent, or did he just feel like rebelling in that moment? I’ll never know.

I’ll also never forget my father saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” We had made it to Greece, illegally, but we were safe.

Picking my favorite experience from an event was tough, as I’ve been attending science fiction conventions since the early ‘80s. But if I had to choose, my favorite moment was actually quite recent -- the surprise John Williams Star Wars concert hosted at Star Wars Celebration Orlando in 2017, which closed out the 40th anniversary panel.

I’d seen Williams in concert before, but not one dedicated exclusively to Star Wars, and certainly not one that was totally unexpected. When the lights came up following the Carrie Fisher tribute, I was absolutely floored to discover that Williams was actually on stage to lead the symphony (my in-the-know Lucasfilm colleagues had held the secret very close).

His opening with his classic “Princess Leia’s Theme” (my favorite of the entire saga) made this a home run of a Celebration experience, and one of the most emotionally poignant for me." - Pete Vilmur (Senior Writer, Lucasfilm Publicity).

International payments are riddled with hidden fees in the US, which is the largest source of remittances worldwide. Specifically, providers can advertise “$0” or “no fees”, but hide fees via a bloated exchange rate. Recent research found that these hidden fees in international transfers are costing Americans billions:

$5.8 billion was lost by Americans in exchange rate markups in 2023 alone. Alarmingly, Californians made up over a billion of these fees. Further, New Yorkers, Floridians, and Texans each lost over $500 million.