# Retired Dopers:  What aspects of retired life surprised you?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-what-aspects-of-retired-life-surprised-you/671387>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 16, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-what-aspects-of-retired-life-surprised-you/671387 "2013-10-16T10:10:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-what-aspects-of-retired-life-surprised-you/671387/41 "2026-02-07T18:56:08Z")

</div>

> [@pullin](#):
>
> - You’ll miss work more than you think (I still find this hard to believe)
> - You’ll need to find something to “do”, because humans thrive better with goals.
> - Your social net will fray, and effort will be needed to maintain it
> - You won’t travel as much as you think.

I posted in this thread before I retired, I’ve now been retired for almost 10 years.

1. I didn’t miss work at all. Work was fine, but the commute was awful. I had a deal where I worked one day a week for 3 months at full salary and benefits, so I had time to adjust. We have a lunch every two months now, so I still get to see people, almost all of whom have moved on.
2. As I mentioned, I had plenty to do. I made a spreadsheet of about 60 items when I retired, not all are done. In addition I wrote a book with my wife, finished a book of my own, and took over leadership of a writer’s group. I still did paper reviewing, was involved in a conference (just dropped that) and still have a column. I also judge books for a contest, over 100 of them.
3. My social net is probably better than it was thanks to the writing group.
4. We’ve been on a bunch of cruises. We drove around the country, visiting kids and staying in New York for three weeks. We went to Hong Kong to visit our daughter, and we got to go help out when our kids were having babies. We visit grandkids. I’m beginning to lose interest in too much traveling, but I still have some.

So, it has been pretty good so far.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-what-aspects-of-retired-life-surprised-you/671387/42 "2026-02-07T19:19:57Z")

</div>

I fully retired last June. I miss the money, but I don’t miss work. I find no difficulty in staying busy with various projects around the house. I’m determined to keep my mind busy as well and to that end I devote a little time every day to solving problems from my college textbooks. I actually enjoyed those courses and I’m pleasantly surprised how I’m doing well with things I learned 50 years ago.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-dopers-what-aspects-of-retired-life-surprised-you/671387.md?page=2)