60 and ready to speed up!

[Max Power]

OK, I don't look at retirement as slowing down. Quite the opposite, I have too many plans to even think of sitting back in the Barca-lounger and watching TV. My plan is to retire in July of 2010 at age 62. As a cyclist, triathlete, and backpacker, I'm in fine shape with no medical issues. We're going to sell our home here in Massachusetts and move to Flagstaff, AZ where I can continue my love for hiking in the Grand Canyon. I've been there twice already on extended backpacking trips and now I want to become even more familiar with this big hole in the ground.

I'm looking forward to interacting here and hope I can find lots of good information and contribute as well.

Max 8)

 

[REWahoo]

Welcome to the forum Max.

... and now I want to become even more familiar with this big hole in the ground.

...before you take up permanent residence in a substantially smaller one?

 

[Max Power]

Welcome to the forum Max.

...before you take up permanent residence in a substantially smaller one?

LOL...no chance, I plan to donate my body to science fiction. (thanks to Rodney Dangerfield for that one)

 

[Moemg]

Welcome !

 

[friar1610]

OK, I don't look at retirement as slowing down. Quite the opposite, I have too many plans to even think of sitting back in the Barca-lounger and watching TV. My plan is to retire in July of 2010 at age 62. As a cyclist, triathlete, and backpacker, I'm in fine shape with no medical issues. We're going to sell our home here in Massachusetts and move to Flagstaff, AZ where I can continue my love for hiking in the Grand Canyon. I've been there twice already on extended backpacking trips and now I want to become even more familiar with this big hole in the ground.


Max 8)

Welcome aboard, Max. I entered retirement with exactly the same sentiments, albeit a little less aggressively. I'm a runner/jogger, hiker, paddler, light weight lifter (but definitely short of being a triathlete.) I've been retired about 5 years now and have to admit I've slowed down a wee bit. Although I hope you never slow down and are always as active and healthy as you are now, things do happen. (I had a medical issue out of the blue, about 3 years ago. Something I never expected, so one never knows.) So I would caution you, based on my own experience, no to assume you will always be as healthy and active as you are now (although I hope you are for a long time!)

Did you hear the piece on (I think) NPR earlier this week about ideal retirement places? Flagstaff was mentioned as one of the places that people really want to move to but if too many people do it might destroy the character that attracts people there in the first place. I live in VT, considered by some to be an ideal place, so I put up with some of the same stuff mentioned in the radio piece.

 

[Max Power]

Did you hear the piece on (I think) NPR earlier this week about ideal retirement places? Flagstaff was mentioned as one of the places that people really want to move to but if too many people do it might destroy the character that attracts people there in the first place. I live in VT, considered by some to be an ideal place, so I put up with some of the same stuff mentioned in the radio piece.

Darn, I missed that but I did see something in a local paper about Flagstaff being one of the top places. We'd actually thought about simply moving a few hours north to Plymouth NH, but after 35 years of backpacking in the White Mountains, I decided it was time for a change. Oddly enough I did live in Vermont too (Waitsfield) for a short period of time, but that was quite a number of years ago.

Thanks for the welcome BTW!

 

[Coach]

Max, welcome aboard.

The NPR report was interesting --here's a link. That's today's story, but there was one yesterday as well.

Imagine, Flagstaff is flourishing so much that people are living in Winslow and commuting! The world sure changes.

Coach

 

[Sarah in SC]

I heard the Flagstaff story on my podcast today. Interesting. Must be a really great place to attract so much in the way of new residents. I know nothing of desert living, so I wouldn't know what to do without hurricanes and humidity.

Oh, and thanks Rich and you Florida folks--we got our first feeder bands (and likely the last) from Fay just now!

 

[kcowan]

We were in the GC in April and there was a foot of snow. Flagstaff is a small mountain town although the mountains go down instead of up. There is plenty of opportunity for extreme hiking there. And the weather is very different than Phoenix (a good thing for me). It was 25 at the rim and 85 in Phoenix!

 

[rs0460a]

OK, I don't look at retirement as slowing down. Quite the opposite, I have too many plans to even think of sitting back in the Barca-lounger and watching TV. My plan is to retire in July of 2010 at age 62.

Uh - I retired last year (age 59) and am more busy than ever. Retirement (regardless of age) dosen't mean that you slow down (and sit in front of the TV).

In fact, it means that you can persue "your indivudial dream" (be it, whatever) without the limitations of a j*b.

Age does not equate to a "defined state of mind"...

- Ron