living the life you envisioned? or totally changed?

[yakers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy yakers, How was NO? Was that the NO Jazz & Heritage Festival? We have been afraid to go back thinking it would be a shadow of what we knew. Input, please. Gypsy

It was great. We had been to Jazz Fest some years back and it was just as good this time, except we got pretty wet one night. There are a lot of headline acts (Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Krause/Plant ...) but the most fun is finding groups I have never heard of or even types of music I am not familiar with to enjoy. The food is great and the crowd good. The hardest part is choosing which of 8 to 11 bands to listen to at any one time. And the food is great; glad I don't live in NO, I'd be 300 lbs.
We may go back next year but would hit the Cajun music fair in Lafayette on the first weekend and catch the Jazz Fest on the second.

The week before JF we toured around Cajun country, even the fish camps are coming back, maybe a fameous fish camp expat wants to return?

[unclemick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yakers It was great. We had been to Jazz Fest some years back and it was just as good this time, except we got pretty wet one night. There are a lot of headline acts (Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Krause/Plant ...) but the most fun is finding groups I have never heard of or even types of music I am not familiar with to enjoy. The food is great and the crowd good. The hardest part is choosing which of 8 to 11 bands to listen to at any one time. And the food is great; glad I don't live in NO, I'd be 300 lbs. We may go back next year but would hit the Cajun music fair in Lafayette on the first weekend and catch the Jazz Fest on the second. The week before JF we toured around Cajun country, even the fish camps are coming back, maybe a fameous fish camp expat wants to return?

Never say never. But KC is still entertaining - high winds and possible tornado to very near south of us last night.

Skipped the first weekend of Jazz Fest(been there done that) - was across the Lake near Bush at Gina's 47th Birthday party admiring her new used Harley and stocking up on Blue Runner New Orleans Red Beans(Winn Dixie) to take back. Some of the crowd left early to attend Jazz Fest.

heh heh heh - Monday the sun came out - go figure.

[tangomonster]

I had planned/hoped to retire at 57, but thanks to this board, DH and I decided to pull the plug and leave stressful, soul-numbing, and low-paid jobs at 52. The first year was actually kind of stressful due to a sudden and unplanned for move about 20 miles away (the condo below us was being rented and we saw how difficult it was going to be to deal with the type of renters that this owner was allowing).

Now it's wonderful! I love our new place and retired life. I'm discovering a part of me that I didn't know existed---buried under all the anxiety and stress and lack of time!

But there were aspects of FIRE and our new selves that we would never have anticipated. I thought I would write books (I wrote 11 of them while working full-time), but I haven't even felt like doing that---it seems too much like work (and as with my old job, way too much time and energy for the financial rewards). I also thought I would do volunteer work as my whole identity has been about helping others through health/human services employment, but meaningful volunteer opportunities seem to be limited. All I've done so far is donate blood every other month. But I've discovered that I don't need to be productive to be happy.

The other aspect that we never saw coming was new friends and socializing. We were always too introverted and drained from work to want to be with anyone else in our leisure time. After a year of FIRE and just each other, we have the time/energy/interest in connecting with others. We've begun to make a bunch of new friends and have really enjoyed this aspect of our new life.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangomonster I've discovered that I don't need to be productive to be happy.

Can you say that on this forum?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jarhead* Novaman: If your patient needed the extra income to help fund his retirement, it's understandable. However, if that's not the case, and taking a part-time job in a hardware store is the only way that he could find a reason to get out of bed in the morning after retiring is another matter.

Same thought here-- "bored & unfulfilled" seems to be a euphemism for "broke"...

[Kitty]

ER turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. I am not very productive in that I don't work or produce anything for anyone and don't care to either.
I bought a farm and had a wonderful time raising calves, goats, ducks, chickens and a big garden. Due to changes in my health I have sold the farm and I am off to a new adventure. Bored, not me I have so much to do and places, people to see it will be hard to fit it all in.
Not working for someone has improved my attitude and my life style. I find I don't need the structure of a J O B to make me feel useful, I think I have always been a free spirit and now I have the time and means to enjoy that free spirit.
Kitty

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitty ER turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. I am not very productive in that I don't work or produce anything for anyone and don't care to either. I bought a farm and had a wonderful time raising calves, goats, ducks, chickens and a big garden. Due to changes in my health I have sold the farm and I am off to a new adventure. Bored, not me I have so much to do and places, people to see it will be hard to fit it all in. Not working for someone has improved my attitude and my life style. I find I don't need the structure of a J O B to make me feel useful, I think I have always been a free spirit and now I have the time and means to enjoy that free spirit. Kitty

Thats pretty neat. You did what you wanted to do. Sorry about your health though. Enjoy your new adventure.

[newlife06]

DH and myself retired in early '06. For him, no more 3am wake up and bitching about his work environment. For me, leaving a job I loved was heartbreaking.

Now, we LOVE our time together, meeting new folks, planning our running around town to avoid the working folks, traveling, more time with family, and home projects. We are both driven people, so we always find things to do. However, some days, are spent just relaxing or surfing the internet.

Our prized accomplishment has been changing our lifestyle to a healthier one. We hired a personal trainer and work out 3 days a week, aquatics fitness, and now cycling. We have lost 155 combined pounds. We added years unto our lives. We feel and look 20 yrs younger!

Yep, retirement looks great on us!

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newlife06 . Our prized accomplishment has been changing our lifestyle to a healthier one. We hired a personal trainer and work out 3 days a week, aquatics fitness, and now cycling. We have lost 155 combined pounds. We added years unto our lives. We feel and look 20 yrs younger! Yep, retirement looks great on us!

Congratulations ! I have become a gym rat and only lost 6 pounds .

[newlife06]

Awwww, well, 6 lbs less is better than gained! Not every month's progress is worth shouting about, but as long as I dont gain an inch or pound I dont shed a tear. Congrats on your loss and I hope you continue to do well. Are you on the Wednesday Weigh In topic?

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg Congratulations ! I have become a gym rat and only lost 6 pounds .

The lifestyle change is the good thing, regardless of the number at any particular point in time...

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg Congratulations ! I have become a gym rat and only lost 6 pounds .

I have seen your photo. You are already quite trim, you couldn't lose much in fact you might gain pounds by adding muscle!

Ha

[newlife06]

Very true HFWR! If you cant change the lifestyle long term, its just a vicious, frustrating cycle. It took us awhile, but we got it now. The great part is that once you understand the "SCIENCE" of a healthier lifestyle, you will never fall for any fad diet again...you dont have to! But some days, the motivation escapes me...tee hee.

[rkser]

I work partime, I take off on wednesdays, friday afternoons & weekends are free. I enjoy my time off. Today I went to the gym, ran errands, took a nap, got my laptop repaired & cruised the net.

I understand the decrease in the income, am 52 & DW 47 & we will continue to have the much needed time off. I do not know how a full retirement will work out though, we still have one sophomore in High School.

Nice thread, many different perspectives towards retirement. I found a book very interesting "Work less Live more", where a gradual decrease in work load is preached.

Best

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkser I found a book very interesting "Work less Live more", where a gradual decrease in work load is preached.

I knew ESR Bob was an author but didn't realize he'd gone into the ministry.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiringat50 I was talking to someone the other day who said "well you do need money to do things, you'll get bored doing the same thing day after day" I havent even left yet and she's saying these things to me! So are you living the life you envisioned or did you get bored quickly? Did you find totally different interests than you imagined?

Your "friend" or coworker? That there is sour grapes!

Did not get bored quickly - not at all. Every year even more fun.

Did life end up as envisioned? Not really. I thought I would be pursuing certain hobbies, but after retirement I discovered other hobbies that I liked even better. Passions, in fact. I never imagined we would sell the house and go on a fulltime RVing adventure. So that turned out to be even more exciting than I imagined.

I thought that we would travel for a couple of years and then "settle down" somewhere. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would develop serious wanderlust and never quit traveling.

I thought I would spend a lot of time sailing after retirement. Maybe even start doing coastal cruising, etc. Well, it turned out that I sailed a lot before retirement because it helped keep me sane. After I retired, I didn't need anything to keep me sane - just retiring took care of that. And we discovered other things even more important to us than sailing and cruising. I love being on the water, but I love what I am doing now even more.

So, for me, retirement turned out to be even more fun than expected - even though I expected it to be really fun.

Audrey