"But what will I DO all day?"

[Nords]

Let's help out the Young Dreamers who are concerned about making the most of their ER.

For those of you who are ER'd, please take a break from your busy routines for a minute to try to think waaaaaay back to your working years when you worried that you'd be bored & unfulfilled in ER.

Now reflect upon your ER lifestyle today-- how's that workin' for ya?

 

[Cattusbabe]

The issue never occurred to me about what I would do with all of my free time once I FIREed. Didn't care just wanted out of the job. I'm going on 18 months out and I can honestly say that I have found much to do with all of the time that is more rewording than punching a clock. Nor do not feel the least bit guilty when I just laze around all day vegging out.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

oh god, i dont need to vote. man, i already know that i will not be the other 8 millions retiree going back to work after retire more than one year.

i will be soo busy having fun and DO WHATEVER i please...

enuff

 

[Goonie]

................try to think waaaaaay back to your working years when you worried that you'd be bored & unfulfilled in ER...........

It was never an issue with me. I knew I would have plenty to occupy my time and energy. I have hobbies and other pass times to keep me busy. 4 1/2 months into ER and haven't been even close to boredom!

Trips, concerts, farmer's markets, hobbies, hiking, classes @ local community college, get-togethers with friends, cookouts, gardening, routine maintenance and chores around the homestead.......and the list goes on, and on, and on! And when Winter weather eventually sets in, and outdoor activities and hobbies start to dwindle down until Spring......I have a lot more trips and travel plans to keep me busy!

I'm never bored.....never over w*rked. And I've never, even once, missed the old j*b! Absolutely NO regrets!

So don't be afraid.....come on in......the water's fine! The FIRE'd life is the best life!!!

 

[maddythebeagle]

I assume that this poll is a result of this thread (i.e. I hate working but what am I going to do if I am not working)?

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/concerned-about-being-bored-in-er-29481.html

 

[landover]

I guess poll is only for ERs.

 

[Nords]

I assume that this poll is a result of this thread (i.e. I hate working but what am I going to do if I am not working)?

That was the trigger, but the ammo clip has been loading for a long time over all of the threads of a similar nature.

I think part of this apparent angst is driven by what seems to me to be a recent tsunami of media stories about Boomers working forever, age 80 being the new 60 (*shudder*), rewiring & repurposing instead of retiring, and not being able to spend all one's time golfing from a rocking chair on the front porch. Or maybe it's just a massive government/corporate conspiracy to simultaneously fix Social Security, Medicare, and the dearth of U.S. citizens willing to accept low-paying jobs.

I guess poll is only for ERs.

I was hoping to give this poll the credibility derived from that status. Maybe we should start another poll for those not yet ER'd?

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

At 30, I'm unconcerned about what to do with all that free time...

I wouldn't be planning to ER if I were!

 

[Arif]

Since I'm semi-RE I guess it's ok to post. It never occured to me what I would do when I quite working. The driving force for me was always freedom and not neccessarily quitting my job. Now i get to decide what I want to do and when. Works out great for the times when we get a desire to go to the beach in the middle of the week or go lift weights at the gym for a few hours. I've always known that I was low maintenance and it wouldn't take much to fill up my days especially with a four year old running around. If I had a dollar for everytime he said "daddy lets....." I would be ERd instead of semi-ERd. I could also be in Iraq picking sand out of my teeth though so all things considered I won't complain.

 

[Bigritchie]

Today I got up, fixed myself a good breakfast. Played some World of Warcraft, had a great workout, enjoyed the sunset, and swam some laps in the pool, and swimming in the pool, I thought, Man I cant wait to go surfing with Nords in Hawaii one day!

 

[SteveR]

I have not had time to think too much about being bored in ER. I had a long list of stuff I wanted to do in ER but have only done a couple of them and have learned to not sweat it any more. When I was working my list of ER stuff seemed to be important but now I don't really have a timetable to get these things done...if ever. Some will have to be done as they are directly related to our downsizing task but there is not real hurry to do it...we will get to it once we want to. We have too many other things to do.

We have taken 3 RV trips...the last one took 3 weeks and covered over 3000 miles.

We adopted two new puppies which have taken a HUGE amount of time as they were 12 weeks old when we got them. We are learning to be good doggie parents and hope they finally "get it" when it comes to house training.

We are getting some final house repairs and upgrades completed and this has kept us busy; again, it could not have been done if we were still working.

I made two trips back to TN to see family and spend some quality time with my mother who recently had surgery and needed to be taken care of and subsquently moved to a nursing home. Had I been working I would not have had the time to do these things.

We are getting ready for our next long RV trip in early September. This one will be 4500 miles over 40 days or so. After that it is getting ready for a house full of family for Thansgiving and then Christmas. After that, we will be heading South for 3 months to escape most of Winter.

Yeah, we are really bored.