Even bad advice welcome...New at retirement

[lmontgom]

At the end of December, I retired as a university journalism teacher and look forward to returning to my true love, real journalism. Since very little of that exists in today's marketplace, the 'net will be my target.
At the moment, I'm still guiding several MA students through their theses, but when they finish, I'm back to my own writing. My main project is a small book (under 300 pp.) explaining how the United States evolved over the 20th C. to become the nation is is now. Your thoughts on that are welcome, though my main question for the forum is this:
How did I ever find time to go to the office and to class? I exercise 3 hours 3 times a week and 90 minutes on the other four. (My 12-year-old Shih Tzu gets 90 min. a day walking in the park, come rain or shine.) I spend too much time on email and reading online in addition to reading my two local dailies. I make my own soy beverage (it is NOT milk!), eat vegan and organic. Fixing food takes a lot of time.
My other big question is this: I want to live in Latin America. My original plan was to live in Saltillo, Mexico (a lovely city), but the drug wars are scaring me away for now. My new favorite is Rio Dolce, Guatemala. I know many close-by CA & LA nations other than Costa Rica are cursed by wars between drug lords managing the flow to the US, but I'd like to avoid as much turmoil as I can.
Feel free to send your thoughts on any of these topics or any you think of.

[Coach]

Hi Imontgom and welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll get some helpful advice from the members -- we have both writers and ex-pat retirees, and many others interested in those subjects as well.

It sounds like you're transitioning into retirement well. Congratulations! I'll be looking forward to your future posts.

Coach

[lmontgom]

I'm curious about responses to the "Hi, I am" postings. Are "regular" members asked to respond to the postings on some formula, such as each third posting goes to Coach, etc.?

I am intrigued that so many young people join this site. I expected most members to be either retired or anticipating retiring soon.

I look forward to more communication from you and others.

[CuppaJoe]

Welcome!

AFAIK, there is no rhyme or reason to who posts on any thread, it’s purely voluntary. Although all members are encouraged to be welcoming, you are right that Coach often jumps right in and welcomes people; thanks Coach.

[REWahoo]

lmontgom, welcome to the forum - or should I say "Whoo Pig, Soowee!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmontgom I'm curious about responses to the "Hi, I am" postings. Are "regular" members asked to respond to the postings on some formula, such as each third posting goes to Coach, etc.?

As Joe says, there are no posting assignments for anyone on the forum. You'll find we're and independent lot and anything resembling w*rk is generally treated with disdain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmontgom I am intrigued that so many young people join this site. I expected most members to be either retired or anticipating retiring soon.

Barring a large inheritance or winning lottery ticket, it is difficult to reach the FI portion of FIRE without several years of planning. Similarly, if you don't start young you may reach FI but miss out on the RE part of the equation. That's why you'll find ages ranges from the 20's to the 70's here - and an occasional poster who is rumored to be 14 and living in Missoula, Montana...

[Bestwifeever]

Welcome! We all just jump in any time (or not), as you should too whenever the topic interests you, whether welcoming a new member or weighing in on one of the other issues here, such as where to invest or the merits of pajamas .

I bet your puppy is thrilled with the walking schedule!

[lmontgom]

I tried to post this to all of you who had responded to my earlier questions, but I got an error message: We don't know any of those three

So perhaps CuppaJoe and ReWahoo, both of whom are administrators, will see this posting and know it's intended for them as well.

Thanks for your responses.
And more questions (remember, I'm a journalist).

Why is that "dryer sheet" line under my ID? (I found the answer on the site...and, please, administrators, take it off! I do NOT use and never have used dryer sheets; they're full of awful chemicals.)

Does the list have many administrators and moderators, or are Bestwifeever and REWahoo special? (Not in the education sense :-)) (I found a partial answer to this.)

REWahoo, I have a freind in Pontotoc. Are you near there?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmontgom Why is that "dryer sheet" line under my ID? (I found the answer on the site...and, please, administrators, take it off! I do NOT use and never have used dryer sheets; they're full of awful chemicals.)

If you found the answer to why it's there you probably also understand it is a running joke that goes back to the beginning of the forum. The line isn't individually selectable so it will have to remain. However, we'll do our best to keep those awful chemicals off you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmontgom REWahoo, I have a freind in Pontotoc. Are you near there?

No, I'm about 100 miles south.

[CuppaJoe]

The reference under your name indicates the number of posts you've written. If you post as often as I did when I first came here, you will reach Coach's level, "Full time job, posting here" very soon.

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ets-28341.html

If you roam around the board you can get a lot of answers from the Frequently Asked Questions section.

[steinj]

Welcome. Have you also considered Panama and Uruguay as retirement destinations? JoJo

[LoftyNotions]

Welcome, Imontgom.

I'm sure the wiser posters here will be happy to share some of their oft used, no chemicals remaining dryer sheets with us newbs.

[freebird5825]

Hmmmm...looking for bad advice....go back to w*rk!

Welcome and good luck with your writing.

[ratface]

Welcome and congrats on your FIRE status. I'm envious. Having some connection to the island of CUBA and the recent presidential relaxing of travel restrictions you might want to keep one eye on developements there. You might also gather some research for your book. Although I wouldn't own property there I see business oppurtunities abounding there in several short years. Already there is talk of providing cell phone service. With your credentials a work/vacation/explore visa may be the way to go if the avenue opens. Bienvenido again!

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmontgom At the end of December, I retired as a university journalism teacher and look forward to returning to my true love, real journalism.

What is "real journalism"? Maybe this should be in another thread.

FYI - I'm ER and traveling so I won't be checking the posts here every day.

Background - I was envolved with television network news (general and business) and sports (primarily) near production and a high level on the finance side for 25+ years. What was great about that was that I could observe it and the people involved when they were unguarded. I also have relatives that were/are news field producers, VP of news a network news and local station reporters.

[citrine]

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your retirement.....well earned.
I have been obsessing about early retirement since I have been 25 years old! Now I am working on semi-retiring by 45.

[DFrancis]

Congrats on making it to retirement. Good luck with getting back to your passion of journalism.

Best,
DF