You know, it just occurred to me that this Striver guy could actually be someone really dangerous. It truly could be that he made up this story so he could lure some weak, depressed woman in order to get her to travel to another country and then rape and kill her.
This is not like meeting someone locally for coffee! She's actually traveling to another country. Unwisely, she's putting herself in a very vulnerable position.
I don't mean to scare you Cherishher, but really anyone could be on the other end of those emails. Hopefully your wife will be careful and let people know where she is. Of course, that doesn't guarentee anything. The whole thing could be a set-up. She could still travel there all trusting, he could act nice, pretend to be honest, stick something in her drink, sell her off to be gang raped and then murder her.... and he could then disappear and never be caught.
There is no arriving, ever. It is all a continual becoming.