I retired on May 31, 2024. That means over a year has passed and I am still happy with the decision. Irene and I have had some tough times during the past year that I’ll touch on in this post. But the absence of the pressures of work has made it a lot easier to bounce back.
But my post-retirement lifestyle is not the active and adventurous, check-off-your-bucket-list thrill that most retirement advisors seem to recommend. And I guess I’m here to say that, for me at least, that is perfectly okay.
Figuring things out
I said in my retirement post last year that Irene and I planned to spend the first year figuring out what we wanted from retirement. That has definitely been something we’ve worked on a bit: we’ve talked a lot about it, that’s for sure. But we really haven’t ‘resolved’ any specifics.
To some extent, the things that happened to us during the year had more impact than the things we intentionally did.
Tough times
Irene and I experienced the loss of two loved ones at the end of 2024. Irene’s Mom Celina passed away, and my sister Judy also died. Both deaths occurred within a few days during the last week of November and first week of December.
I don’t think it is possible to adequately express how much losing loved ones can hurt, or how little our plans for retirement mattered in the face of that. It does, however, add a different perspective that can influence thoughts about what does and does not matter.
Standing back up
We picked up our talks about what we both wanted from retirement later in February of 2025. Sticking around home became Irene’s priority. We both feel like our house, surrounded by trees and mountains as it is, feels a lot like living at a resort. My days start and often end sitting on the deck or the porch, reading my news feeds or a book: it just feels really good to be surrounded by nature and have no particular place to go.
We initiated a home improvement to supplement that feeling- a plan to build a special part of our deck into an area with a spa (hot tub). Six months later and no construction has started- but we have a contractor and an engineer is creating plans, which is at least some progress.
I also started a process to get a new kind of motorcycle for my beloved bike tours. This one will have three wheels: a converted Road Glide will be my new ride. This isn’t something Irene and I can necessarily share, but I’m hopeful. She has often said that she trusts transportation that can stand up by itself, so… possibly I can get her to join me for some shorter rides? We shall see.
We’ve also talked a lot about some kind of RV, either a travel trailer or motorhome. But for now we are setting the idea of adopting some kind of RV lifestyle on to the back burner. With a dog and five cats, two of which require elder care, it is not currently practical for us to be away from home for extended periods.
A normal day
On an average day we wake up at around 7:30 AM. Generally speaking animal chores take precedence and Irene runs point on this. I make my coffee and Irene is usually getting ready to go to the stable to either ride or do horse chores by the time I’m out on the deck with my computer, book, and caffeine.
Irene is usually back by around noon, although some days she goes riding in the afternoon. At this point we often sit on the deck together for a bit, and possibly then move inside to watch a show on TV. I sometimes fit in a bit of time in the late morning or afternoon to putter on some small project in the garage or the like. Once every couple of weeks I have the chore of mowing the lawn.
Most afternoons, between about 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM, I have a nap. I love my afternoon naps. Then we have dinner and our evening TV. Irene is usually off to sleep by 9:00 PM or so, and I stay up until midnight reading, playing computer games, and occasionally writing something for my blog.
Looking ahead
Is our life boring? I suppose so, yes. Does it make me happy? Definitely.
Irene and I regularly ask each other “do you want to do <some aspirational thing>?” We’ve talked about a cruise down the Nile to see the wonders of ancient Egypt- that was a nice thing to think about. And we’ve talked about going to Hawaii, or Australia / New Zealand. And RVing around our own continent is definitely something we’ve contemplated. But then we start considering all the challenges of travel, and all the beauty right here where we live, and our simple life at home seems that much more attractive.
The animals we share our home with are a big inhibitor to ‘adventure’, but I wouldn’t trade that. Maybe we’ll be more inclined to go away for a couple of weeks now and then when our elderly pets pass on, but that isn’t really something I want to plan for.
Of course none of us are guaranteed a particular span on this earth so seizing the day is wise. Irene’s health is good right now despite the cancer, and her time is most precious. I’d never forgive myself if something she really wants to experience doesn’t get done. But I ask the question about what she’d like to do next pretty frequently, and the answer thus far is some variation of “just what we are doing.”
As for myself, I don’t feel particularly depressed or unfulfilled. I have lots of aches and pains, and am grumpy more than I should be, but that isn’t because of what I am or am not experiencing. I’m definitely looking forward to having my motorcycle (trike) set up for some touring next year, but the absence of those road trips isn’t making me feel particularly bad.
At this point I don’t feel like I am ‘lacking’ in stimulation. I read a few dozen news articles a day, a book or two a month, and spend an excessive amount of time listening to birds singing in our yard. I also spend far too much time thinking, but not in a bad way like might have been the case for me a couple of years ago. I think the bird song might be helping with that.
I would attest that I am as happy as I have been in 30 or more years with my simple, seemingly boring life. I guess I’m saying that, for me, a quiet retirement is just fine actually. If things change I’m up for travel, and I have a backlog of hobbies I want to sink some time into, but for now… meet me on the deck for a quiet coffee while I read.
Not sure why you would think the life you’re describing wiuld be boring. Sounds pretty idyllic to me.
We were only saying this morning, as we walked in the sunshine back down from the top of a hill where there’s a neolithic burial chamber in fantastic condition (3500 years old, restored in the mid-19th century.) with Beryl the dog chasing her ball ahead of us, on the way to having an ice-cream at the tiny farm shop at the bottom of the hill, that we’re very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country and to have time to enjoy it. Where you are and what you’re doing sounds even better!
Thanks for saying that, Bhagpuss. It sounds like you’ve got a lovely daily life going on as well. Give Beryl a pat for me 🙂
I think that my commentary around our current lifestyle perhaps being ‘boring’ probably originates from a lot of media that gives the impression that retirement should be a non-stop rollercoaster ride of travel, discovery, and adventure. The same media portrays people who don’t have that kind of retirement lifestyle as ‘wasting away’ or ‘sad’.
But here Irene and I are, sitting on the deck or puttering about small things near our home, feeling more than simply content. I feel like this laid back approach is something I must have deeply craved without really even being aware of it. Rushing from work to vacation to chores and back to work for the past 40 plus years feels more like the anomaly to me than my single year of retirement.
As someone who’s only been working for a few years, I really admire your retired life! I think simplicity is happiness, and those small, everyday moments are truly the most precious gifts. Thank you for sharing such genuine and gentle snippets of your life—wishing you both health and joy!
Thanks, 1sle!
If I’ve learned anything from the forty or so years I spent working ‘full time’ it is that work isn’t worth giving up life. Obviously it is easy to say that from my lucky position having made it to retirement with enough savings to, well, retire. Lots of folks can’t do that, and worse yet there are plenty of people now forced to work very long hours and multiple jobs just to keep food on the table. I wish that were not true.
But once a person gets beyond those basics, should luck shine upon them, working more and more just to be ‘successful’ seems (to me) to be based on a false definition of success. And I believe that even more now after a year as a retiree!