Think you'll do that in ER? Maybe not

[marko]

There is a lot to be said that after you retire, you may be too old to do the things you looked forward to doing.

As I read some of the replies, I wonder if a lot of it has to do with just getting older and, while often still able to do those things, the attraction to do them just isn't as strong.

Sort of like instead of going skiing, just sitting at the lodge by the fire with a drink, checking out the ladies' ski apparel (and falling asleep before and after).

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I did not have a list of things to do, just thoughts of: have more time to work around the house and car, more quality time with pets/local friends/ volunteering at Church. All things i did before RE at 55, but with a lot more stress because I was under a time constraint because of work. What I have found as others have said, is that things do seem to take longer to do once retired. Having that clock to watch i guess inspired efficiency or something. Not that i care as even after only 4 months in, retirement is so great. I did expect to want to travel more, and probably will after the first year or two is over, depending on how my sweet elderly pets, and some dear local friends who are in ill health, are doing. My cats and dog do actually travel well, and they are certified therapy animals so they travel locally to visit folks as their aging animal bodies allow.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I wanted to work with a friend to do some consulting but that is off to a slow start.
I also wanted to do some garden art welding. I did aquire some tools but no place to work yet.
Big acheivement: total remodel of main floor of the house starting with the kitchen. Took 6 Mos and about $20k, but we budgeted $35k, so all is good. Driveway is next.

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[RobbieB]

I love "goofing off", it's my favorite activity -

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I always thought I'd love to travel extensively when retired. I used to live for vacations when working to get away from stress.

However, now that we are retired, I'm not as anxious to travel. We do go places, but I find that getting ready to go, getting a pet sitter, packing, making all the arrangements brings its own stresses. It turns out that we are pretty darned happy staying home most of the time.


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I echo this sentiment. I expected that once retired (even though only 18 months now) I would be all about the travel. When I was in the AF, I obviously traveled a lot...A LOT. I saw much of the world and professionally, it started getting old after about 5 years. I just assumed that personal travel would be so much better...but I am finding that I am just as miserable. DW and I just got back from Aruba and I was pretty disappointed in the whole ordeal. After about two days there, I was longing for my bed, my house, my hammock. I am realizing that I am definitely a home body.

And yes, the couple of weeks leading up to the Aruba trip was way too reminiscent of w*rk...and that is NOT COOL!

I am not sure how this will play out in the future since the DW hasn't traveled nearly as much as I have and I don't think she was as miserable in Aruba as I was. Although she wasn't happy when someone tried to break in the house the second night we were there...but that's a whole 'nother story!

 

[W2R]

DW and I just got back from Aruba and I was pretty disappointed in the whole ordeal. After about two days there, I was longing for my bed, my house, my hammock. I am realizing that I am definitely a home body.

I am a home body too. I traveled extensively in my youth and hated it then. I traveled for work and that was even worse. Frankly I don't enjoy travel at all, especially now that I am growing older. I love being at home, where everything is predictable and exactly the way I want it to be.

The nice thing about retirement is that we get to invent and shape our retirement ourselves. Other than our Hurricane Isaac evacuation to rural Alabama in 2012, we haven't set foot outside the New Orleans metro area since we retired. We are happy here.

Since I'm not spending money on travel, instead I used that money to buy my "dream home" a year ago. For me, this is maximum value for my money.

 

[marko]

I've mentioned before that during my work life, I logged over 4 million air miles to Europe, Asia etc.; did it for over 30 years. Never got tired of it, never found it to be a chore. (of course, travel with my company was VERY good...and got paid for it too!)

Retired 11 years now and on one side, I feel like I saw everything I wanted to see. On the other side, that travel itch is still there and I do scratch it a few times a year.

However with all the strife of late, DW commented that she was glad we went to all those places when we did. Now limiting our overseas to 'quiet' places like Italy, French countryside and maybe Japan.

 

[W2R]

that travel itch is still there and I do scratch it a few times a year.

The vast majority of our forum members seem to feel just exactly like you do. I have even seen posts by people "freaking out" because they found out that travel actually isn't fun for them, and so now they don't know what to do with their time in retirement. They point out that travel is what everyone expects to do in retirement and now they feel lost and different.

However, as I was pointing out to Flyboy5, there is nothing wrong with being a homebody. There is no reason any of us cannot design our retirement independently, to fit our own personal wishes, whether they match those of most others or not. There is no reason to feel pressure from others who think they are well traveled (many of whom actually are not), and yet still are dying to travel more.

 

[NW-Bound]

In contrast with most people who leave work abruptly, I was able to segue into full retirement with more than 8 years of on/off part-time consulting work. So, no grandiose plans for me, as it was just more of the same.

A hiccup did result from my sudden illness shortly after full and permanent retirement 4 years ago. I had some DIY home improvement works that were delayed for 3 years. I have been able to resume those, and it makes me feel good.

Another aspect of full-retirement is more and longer travel trips. I was taking month-long RV trips even before full-retirement, and should now be able to spend an entire summer up in Alaska if I want to. Perhaps next year. Or a month or two abroad? I have more time now, and all it takes is just good health and more money.

 

[W2R]

A hiccup did result from my sudden illness shortly after full and permanent retirement 4 years ago. I had some DIY home improvement works that were delayed for 3 years. I have been able to resume those, and it makes me feel good.

Another aspect of full-retirement is more and longer travel trips. I was taking month-long RV trips even before full-retirement, and should now be able to spend an entire summer up in Alaska if I want to. Perhaps next year. Or a month or two abroad? I have more time now, and all it takes is just good health and more money.

So glad to read that you are feeling this much better, NW-Bound! I hope that your illness is not the type that will return. Whether it is or not, at least it sounds like you are feeling back to normal right now and that is wonderful to read. If a summer in Alaska is your dream, then I hope you can do it soon.

 

[NW-Bound]

Thanks.

Well, to quote Gilda Radner, "if it's not one thing, it's another". None of us will get out alive, so might as well enjoy what time we have and have no regrets.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The vast majority of our forum members seem to feel just exactly like you do. I have even seen posts by people "freaking out" because they found out that travel actually isn't fun for them, and so now they don't know what to do with their time in retirement. They point out that travel is what everyone expects to do in retirement and now they feel lost and different.

However, as I was pointing out to Flyboy5, there is nothing wrong with being a homebody. There is no reason any of us cannot design our retirement independently, to fit our own personal wishes, whether they match those of most others or not. There is no reason to feel pressure from others who think they are well traveled (many of whom actually are not), and yet still are dying to travel more.

Yep. I had a sneaking suspicion that I may not like travel since I had done it SOOO much, so it has just been confirmed. I don't mind a couple of trips a year, but I think it's more for my DW than for me. I do think that being a introvert really lends itself to hanging around the house. I can go days without talking to a soul and it's really just fine for me.

That being said, I have always enjoyed our trips to Isla Mujeres...but it had almost become a routine. Same house. Same travel arrangements, same schedule...just different food and scenery. I guess that means I could envision having a second home somewhere similar to this arrangement as long as it's the same.

 

[NW-Bound]

I've mentioned before that during my work life, I logged over 4 million air miles to Europe, Asia etc.; did it for over 30 years. Never got tired of it, never found it to be a chore. (of course, travel with my company was VERY good...and got paid for it too!)

Retired 11 years now and on one side, I feel like I saw everything I wanted to see. On the other side, that travel itch is still there and I do scratch it a few times a year.

However with all the strife of late, DW commented that she was glad we went to all those places when we did. Now limiting our overseas to 'quiet' places like Italy, French countryside and maybe Japan.

We traveled some for work, though not as much as many posters here. But work travel did not take us to some places like the hilltowns in Tuscany, where I like to spend some time wandering. Or to some fishing villages on the Mediterranean shore, where I can sit in the shade sipping some ouzo. Or I can also be in Provence sipping pastis. I am not picky.

We traveled for leisure through our working years, but we should have more time now, and less worry with the kids all grown up and established. We also have more money. The one thing that we have less is stamina, so need to do more soon while we still can.

 

[W2R]

Yep. I had a sneaking suspicion that I may not like travel since I had done it SOOO much, so it has just been confirmed. I don't mind a couple of trips a year, but I think it's more for my DW than for me. I do think that being a introvert really lends itself to hanging around the house. I can go days without talking to a soul and it's really just fine for me.

That being said, I have always enjoyed our trips to Isla Mujeres...but it had almost become a routine. Same house. Same travel arrangements, same schedule...just different food and scenery. I guess that means I could envision having a second home somewhere similar to this arrangement as long as it's the same.

That sounds perfect for you. In my case, I have no desire for a second home but I also need to get out of the house and talk to people now and then, like, every day! What's important, IMO, is to figure out exactly what we like and want in retirement, and then take steps to design our retirement around that to the extent possible.

 

[W2R]

We traveled some for work, though not as much as many posters here. But work travel did not take us to some places like the hilltowns in Tuscany, where I like to spend some time wandering. Or to some fishing villages on the Mediterranean shore, where I can sit in the shade sipping some ouzo. Or I can also be in Provence sipping pastis. I am not picky.

We traveled for leisure through our working years, but we should have more time now, and less worry with the kids all grown up and established. We also have more money. The one thing that we have less is stamina, so need to do more soon while we still can.

Watch out for that ouzo! It'll get you every time, or did me anyway, in a small run down place on a hill overlooking Athens years ago. My parents, who insisted that I try it, were not amused with my behavior when I did.

You need to start scheduling your next trip today! None of us are getting any younger, that's for sure.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I always thought I'd love to travel extensively when retired. I used to live for vacations when working to get away from stress.

However, now that we are retired, I'm not as anxious to travel. We do go places, but I find that getting ready to go, getting a pet sitter, packing, making all the arrangements brings its own stresses. It turns out that we are pretty darned happy staying home most of the time.

We're in the same boat. We were going to downsize and travel, but decluttering, fixing up the house to sell, deciding where to live, and house hunting, started to seem like more work than work had been.

I guess without working we have no stress to get away from. We take a lot of day trips now and plan on more overnight driving vacations to places nearby like Lake Tahoe, Monterrey and Yosemite where our pet can come with us. The most fun thing we've done is buy a few memberships in groups that get seat filler tickets. Sometimes there are a 50 or more events to pick from each week just from those lists, and the surprise of seeing what pops up is half the fun.

 

[NW-Bound]

A strong drink when you are hot and thirsty will get you anytime, like the double margarita I had recently, and I am a reasonably strong drinker.

So, one needs something else in his stomach to tame that drink. Like the following photo from the Web.

 

[braumeister]

During my Air Force career, I spent a couple of decades traveling all the time, all over the world. Not as aircrew, just ordinary business travel. Despite the rigors of it (and you haven't really lived until you've spent half a day in the back of a cargo plane), I thoroughly enjoyed all the travel. Going someplace you've never been, meeting the people who live there, taking in the local sights -- priceless.

There were compensations, too. For example, I spent years making monthly or bimonthly trips between the US and South America. The only option was the sole US-flag carrier, which was Pan Am in those days. I had so many frequent flyer miles that after the first year I was always able to use them to upgrade to business class, and once they got to know me they would occasionally upgrade me to first. Believe me, back then if you were in first class on Pan Am you were in hog heaven. Steaks cooked to order, etc., etc.

So when I eventually retired (after a second career that also involved quite a lot of travel (but just in the US), I wondered if I would still want to do it. Answer: YES!

Now, after 15 years in retirement, I still love it. I go to some part of Europe at least once a year, often twice. I make trips to New England, Canada, or the Pacific NW at least once a year. I put nearly 25K miles on my car every year.

My only concession to normality is that I typically start looking forward to getting home after 2-3 weeks away. But that's good, too.

 

[Statch]

This is a great thread! I really thought it was just me :->. I planned to read, take up quilting again, and garden when I retired a little over 2 years ago. I found that I had lost almost all interest in reading, which was a shock since I've been an avid reader my whole life. When I did read, I wanted to read different topics than I had been reading previously. Since I had stockpiled a lot of books on sale before I retired, that was unfortunate.

I also found I had zero interest in quilting, and a bad back prevented most of the gardening. As others have mentioned, I think the reading/quilting were my stress relief from work. I'm an introvert and I'd come home from work and just stick my nose in a book. I'm finding that I prefer more social activities now. It's like work sucked the social part of me out, and it's free to come back now.

I finally did start reading my book stockpile again, and am back to enjoying those books, thank goodness, but it's taken the whole two years for that to happen.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I'm doing pretty much what I thought I would. Playing lot's of golf.

that's my plan.....that and gardening

 

[Souschef]

We traveled for leisure through our working years, but we should have more time now, and less worry with the kids all grown up and established. We also have more money. The one thing that we have less is stamina, so need to do more soon while we still can.

This is true, as we are aging our bodies cannot tolerate being in a plane for 10 to 12 hours.I am glad we did our longest distance traveling while we were a bit younger. Right now at ages 78 and 72, we have decided we are done with overseas travel. Our last two trips were to the East Coast and to Western Canada.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not taken any tour and always arrange my own travel and lodging. I am no backpacker, but like to travel light so that we can hop on buses, trains, and metro. And we walk everywhere to tour the cities on foot. Will see if I still can do what I did.

Back on the OP's observation that one's interest may change when retiring, it is quite normal. I have many hobbies, and my interest in any of them waxes and wanes. After quitting work, I have not been doing much electronic works for the last few years, but am in the process of setting up a hobby room to get back into doing some hardware and firmware design, just for recreation.

I am also getting more involved in gardening with my wife. This year may be the 1st year I get some home-grown tomatoes after several miserable attempts over the years.

Doing a variety of things keeps one from falling into a rut. We had several recent threads about how doing the same things day in/day out makes the time seem to go faster as each day blends indistinguishably into the next. I want to do something new every year. I want to try to make different dishes, etc...

 

[braumeister]

we walk everywhere to tour the cities on foot.

This is one of the things I love about Europe. Most of the cities are eminently walkable. Last year I was in one and at the end of the day my iPhone said I had done over 28,000 steps. Surprising, because to me it was simply an enjoyable stroll to explore the city, and I've never done that much in the USA.

 

[Idnar7]

Ed-The-Gypsy I am in awe of people who can do a remodel themselves. How much do you estimate it would cost if you had contracted?