When you feel up to it, maybe you will want to tell us about your post-retirement plans (travel, moving?, BTD proposals, home-improvements, hobby-fulfillment, etc.)
Well, since you asked! As much as I like hearing other peoples' plans, I feel like sharing my own is a little like making people watch slides of my summer vacation. But anyway...
Apologies for the long post.
Starting with travel plans:
Guam, Saipan, and hopefully Tinian in June. My partner graduated from high school in Saipan so we hope to go to her reunion...if folks get their act together and plan one. And since moving to Hawaii I have gotten very interested in WWII in the Pacific for a number of reasons. North Field on Tinian was the busiest airport in the world toward the end of WWII. The capture of Saipan and Tinian put our B-29s within range of the Japanese home islands and that is where the most destructive bombing raids of the war were launched including the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombs. Unfortunately the USAF is reopening North Field and it might be a construction site this summer. I've been in contact with the PA office of the Pacific Air Forces but they referred me to NAVFAC which is managing the construction and facilities. I've yet to reach out to them.
Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica with some side trips for family history etc.
Lincoln Highway from Times Square to Lincoln Park in San Francisco
A (mostly) road trip through the Canadian Maritime Provinces starting in Montreal and also incorporating Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. I've always had a fascination with Newfoundland. It's where the first transatlantic radio signals were received, it relayed the distress calls from and coordinated the response to the Titantic. And of course Lans aux Meadows. And until around the 1970s ever transatlantic flight stopped to refuel in Gander Newfoundland so there is a lot of aviation history in a sense.
Sweden next winter including a stay in the Icehotell and hopefully dogsledding plus Northern Lights.
Likely a trip to Japan. We've been there numerous times both together and separately and it's easy from Hawaii! We have mostly been on Honshu and would love to visit Hokkaido and Okinawa.
In April 2025, Saigon on the 50th anniversary of the fall. Likely will include more of Vietnam including the Mekong Delta with also a likely visit to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. Potentially will see a little of Laos as well.
Thailand, China, and Malaysia. I have a friend living in China now with a Malaysian wife so hoping to arrange something.
And that just gets us through 2026!
Not moving, staying on the coffee farm in South Kona Hawaii but hope to get the farm resurrected and producing somewhat, more as a gentleman farmer though. There are lots of options ranging from having a company manage it completely to doing that myself and hiring workers. I'll explore options. I don't need the profits but think it would be fun for a while
Getting back in shape. 10 years ago I did sprint and Olympic distance triathlons but between working long hours and having a long commute I rarely work out these days. I hope to start swimming, biking, and running again.
We just did some significant remodeling. We have a few more projects planned over the next 3 years or so. The only one semi-major is custom kitchen cabinets but I will contract that out completely.
I have a few hobbies to revisit as well but they are mostly what a 12 year old in the 1970s pursued, things like stamp collecting and leathercraft so I'm not sure they will keep my interest for long. I've always wanted to try making stained glass too. And photography, and astronomy.
During covid I watched a lot of youtube videos from people "homesteading" or just making their own stuff. I've made alot of stuff but still want to try making coconut milk and oil and well as avocado oil. (I've got many coconut and avocado trees. Also soap making.
Cooking - I already enjoy cooking but have a lot of new things I want to try including baking. And I would love to go a month eating only things I've grown or caught...but I'll make an exception for meat because I don't want to eat my feral chickens and pheasants.
So, no, not really any plans!
Keep us posted on how it all goes. I can live vicariously through others' reports. Aloha
