Small things on your bucket list post FIRE

[WhiskyDave]

I'm going to retire in May of this year and my mind continues to think of small almost illogical things I'm overly excited to do when the day finally arrives.

1, Book a one-way flight and return at my leisure when I'm ready...I traveled a lot for work and always had to cut trips or vacations short and fly back for work.

2. Stay up late on Sunday nights---Just because I have a 7am meeting every Monday now

3. Slow travel in other countries---25% of Airbnb rentals are now for over 30 days---I will be doing that too!!!

4. Taking spontaneous day trips on the fly. Just get in the car and go.

I'm sure others who are planning to or may have already FIRE'd have similar almost whimsical things you want or wanted to do? I can't be the only one?

 

[caninelover]

I wanted to go local museums during the week.

I wanted to take the commuter train to my old w*rkplace, but just wander around at my leisure, have some lunch, then return home.

I wanted to stay up late on Sunday nights, or to watch stuff like the Olympics.

I wanted to go hike during the day when the trails are empty.

May will be here soon!

 

[Ronstar]

Looks like a good list to start with. It will expand from here.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I'm going to retire in May of this year and my mind continues to think of small almost illogical things I'm overly excited to do when the day finally arrives.

1, Book a one-way flight and return at my leisure when I'm ready...I traveled a lot for work and always had to cut trips or vacations short and fly back for work.

2. Stay up late on Sunday nights---Just because I have a 7am meeting every Monday now

3. Slow travel in other countries---25% of Airbnb rentals are now for over 30 days---I will be doing that too!!!

4. Taking spontaneous day trips on the fly. Just get in the car and go.

I'm sure others who are planning to or may have already FIRE'd have similar almost whimsical things you want or wanted to do? I can't be the only one?

I don't have early Monday meetings, but I may co-opt 1, 3, and 4! One of the things my spouse and I talk about is taking a long (3-6 month?) cruise right after retiring, to reset. It doesn't HAVE to be that, though, especially now, so maybe one AirBnB, or we can fix up the family cabin...we'll see! Traveling long and wide, so to speak, will help figure out where we might want to spend more time later on. That's why I liked cruises, we got to see a lot of cities/countries without having to unpack and repack all the time, and now we know some places we might want to spend more time on land.

 

[Music Lover]

I don't know if this is what you're looking for:

On your very first day of retirement set the alarm for the time you would normally get up for work. After it wakes you, shut if off, laugh, and go back to sleep.

 

[Time2]

I've been wanting to go see a street musician that is trying to work his way up to road musician. His joke! I first saw him on Youtube about a year ago.

I finally got to see him last weekend, enjoyed his show a lot. I had to drive 400 miles, but luckily my daughter lives in that city, so family time and a free bed. The venue was Village of the arts in Bradenton.

Street Musisian is Dovydas.
Dozens of his videos are in St. Armands Circle, Sarasota. But, I think that's about over. Here's a good video where he is setup in a parking lot in Nashville.

 

[pacergal]

We did some random travel when we first retired, plan too again when we feel more safe with covid risk.
Loved watching 60 minutes my first Sunday night, and not having that tick of the clock bother me! DH and I just smiled at each other.
We still do random day trips, usually once a week. So much to see in our area that we didn't( or couldn't) take time for before.

Enjoy your upcoming retirement.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Oh! One smaller thing on my list is to find the local restaurants with weeknight specials and happy hours, and then try ALL of them! We have a lot of great, locally owned non-chain restaurants within even a 15-30 minute walk from our house, and I'd like to try them all before we start driving or commuting farther to go to fancier destination restaurants (which is also on our bucket list, but maybe not "small"...). But finding the best that's nearby would be such a fun "assignment' for me!

 

[GTP2022]

Nice to think about. I'm going in May also. What will I do? Whatever I want.

 

[BH58]

Fun to start this list. Go to the movies on a weekday afternoon, go out to lunch with another retired friend on a weekday, spend a whole day reading a good book

 

[djsander]

We relocated so we have things similar to what was mentioned here.
Go to local museums
Go to the zoo
Go hike some of the trails and nature areas
Attend the festivals
Explore the area
Sleep in any time we want
Relax and enjoy our retirement !!!!

 

[Jerry1]

Fun to start this list. Go to the movies on a weekday afternoon, go out to lunch with another retired friend on a weekday, spend a whole day reading a good book

I have to say, one of the simple pleasures of being retired is doing things at times when there is less of a crowd. Sometimes my DW and I will find ourselves out at a bad time and ask ourselves, what are we doing, going out during non-retirement hours.

 

[ERD50]

Interesting, I do think sometimes we focus on the "big things", but many little things really add up to influence our life and overall happiness/satisfaction.

I'm having trouble thinking of specifics that haven't already been mentioned generally, I probably just take them for granted. But there are also the things we don't have to do - like it's so much easier to avoid driving in bad weather, just wait a day or two for the streets to clear.

-ERD50

 

[JDARNELL]

1, Book a one-way flight and return at my leisure when I'm ready...I traveled a lot for work and always had to cut trips or vacations short and fly back for work.

When I retired from active duty I took my wife on a trip to Hawaii. I bought her a round trip ticket and me a one way. After taking her to the airport I took a cab over to the AMC terminal at the base and flew space a to Australia. I spent about month bumming around before making my way back home.

 

[Dalmore]

Like many have mentioned,
Visit all the local museums - art and science
Visit zoos - find a zoo that will do a Red Panda experience
Explore my hobbies - I love 3d printing and designing new projects
Relax and read more

 

[RunningBum]

How about this modification?

On your very first day of retirement set the alarm for the time you would normally get up for work. After it wakes you, [-]shut if off[/-] smash it with a hammer, laugh maniacally, and go back to sleep.

 

[Yoheadden]

Some good suggestions here. I especially like the idea of a one way ticket to anywhere. Lol How many times have you been on a vacation, just to have it end, just when you’re starting to relax.
The other day, the DW and I were talking about looking at our state like a tourist would. Then once we retire, 1 day a week, we would go to an aquarium or museum. Maybe just check out a new trail to hike or route to drive.
This might prove to be too much work (We are retired after all), but the idea is to not just sit around everyday and to see new places and things that you take for granted or just don’t have time for during the working years.

 

[Sunset]

One thing I enjoy is going to things or shopping when others are working, so less crowded.

On the other hand some people can't break a habit.
I know some old folks, that have been retired for a long time. They STILL go to the restaurant once per week on Saturday when its crowded

 

[daylatedollarshort]

One of our first outings in retirement was to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco on a week day. They had a touring exhibit of treasures from India including a silver carriage that was really spectacular. Another week day we went on a rocket boat on the bay and an aquarium with a picnic lunch on Fisherman's Wharf watching the sea lions. I think I had discount tickets and library passes so it was all free or cheap. We took the train home with all the commuters and it felt really good to have had fun times not be one of the worker bees just getting off work.

We kept up having outings like that several times a week up until the pandemic. When people talk about just working 2 or 3 more years, I think of all the fun events we packed in 2 - 3 years and for us it would have been a pretty steep trade off.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Don't really have a bucket list but bought a State Park pass and am trying to hit a fair number of them before it expires. I also bought myself a scratch off map of the US as a Christmas gift to myself and hope to get it all scratched off. Other than the western half of TN, none of my plans for this year take me anywhere new though.



Still need to see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota; guess that's been on my list since Weird Al sang his ode to it.

 

[DrRoy]

Definitely slow travel, and hitting as many of the National Parks as is reasonable. Up to 34 of the 64 now, with 7 more planned for this year.

 

[Christine]

I enjoyed deleting work contacts from my phone.


Kept a few of my work friends but the rest was gone.

 

[WhiskyDave]

I enjoyed deleting work contacts from my phone.

Thats a good one!!!

 

[friar1610]

I enjoyed deleting work contacts from my phone.


Kept a few of my work friends but the rest was gone.

This will show you how long I’ve been retired, but…

I specifically remember deleting all my work contacts from my Palm Pilot years ago. I recall thinking that so many of the names had once been integral to my workday but - poof - gone forever and soon to be forgotten. And thinking that this person was decent to deal with, that one was a real a-hole, etc. When all those names had been deleted it was like a weight off my shoulders.

 

[Sunset]

I just found my old palm pilot in the drawer. It's battery had swollen up making it bulge.
Quite a surprise as I thought those batteries would swell up when charging or freshly charged, not when sitting in a drawer for a decade or longer.
Glad it didn't burst into flames

I tore it apart and threw it out.