Profoundly, in ways that I couldn’t have forseen, and in which I wasn’t advised. (Although, to be fair, I didn’t seek such advice.)
I came to realise that paid work answers four questions for you. Where should I be? When should I get there? What should I do there? And (usually) with whom am I to do those things? Post retirement, these are all questions one needs to find answers for oneself. Just filling in the day can be a challenge. I think one or two posters said not to over-commit oneself, and that can be a problem initially. Finding that magic balance between too much and not enough is something everyone has to figure out for themselves.
There is an existential aspect to it as well, in that one can no longer define oneself by one’s occupation.
I don’t want to knock being retired – afer seven-odd years, I’m happy with the freedom (and lower stress). I certainly don’t miss commuting or meetings! But it is definitely an adjustment, which each person has to carry out in a way that works for them. A former GP (who I met when volunteering) said he thought people needed something physical, something social, and something mental (i.e. mentally stimulating). This is the best advice I never got! But what this will look like will vary with each person. There is definitely trial and error (or, as I prefer to call it, trial and learning) involved. You won’t get it right first time.
I retired 2 years ago with plans to buy a travel trailer so my wife and I can see some of the US. We have spent the past 2 summer traveling around the Northwest from Canada to Oregon and Idaho. Next spring we are spending the month of May in South Dakota and Wyoming. Then in September it’s Utah and Northern Arizona. Then we hope to travel to the east coast in 2024. The one thing about being retired that has surprised me is the number of job offers I have gotten, especially now that Covid restrictions are loosening. None really fit in my schedule so I have turned them all down.
I noticed in the “Do you regret your choice of college major?” thread, and also in this and other retirement threads, that Dopers as a group tend to be pretty positive about opportunities to learn about and do stuff that interests them.
I have not seen many Dopers complaining that their higher education was a meaningless boring waste of time, or that they have no idea what to do with themselves now that they don’t have job responsibilities to give their lives meaning and structure. Just turn us loose on that seashore and we’ll do fine playing with the shells and pebbles, as Isaac Newton did not exactly say.
@Bullitt How are you planning to visit all the places you’ll go? Do you have trailer? I’ve been to all 50 states, most of it driving and camping. There’s a lot I’d like to see again (or visit for the first time), but f*ck if I’m putting up a tent that many times. A trailer sounds like heaven to me.
@racer72 How has the trailer worked out? It sounds great to me, but I haven’t tried it yet so I’m sure there’s a lot I need to learn. Someday. When the kids are out of school. * sigh*
They’re not complicated. Two things you absolutely need to do, though.
Learn how to back one up with your vehicle. Seems like it should be easy, but until you get the hang of it, you’re a problem waiting to happen. Find an empty parking lot and practice until you’re really good at it.
Have a “touchdown” and “pre-flight” checklist of what you must do when you reach your campsite and what you MUST do prior to leaving same.
I don’t have a trailer, at least not yet. I’m starting to rent them to see if we like the “rhythm” of towing and sleeping in one. We rented a rather larger one two weekends ago for a weekend drive to Los Angeles (from San Francisco) and that went pretty well. But I would never want a large one like we had (29’ long). I tried that size merely to see what comforts we would want.
So yeah, I’m thinking of a trailer. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and we do explore off road, so I’d want an off-road capable trailer.
I’m still in the early research phase of RV trailers.
Bullitt, my husband and I are the exact ages of you and your wife. DH retired from the hospital we’ve worked at since 1990 last June, 2021 but went back to a full-time job within a few months because he was bored with me still working. And my retirement date is in 2 weeks…! I do not have my head wrapped around it yet. I have not figured out who I will be after my 34+ years as “Nurse”. For now, I’m planning to go back after my requisite 60 day waiting period to work contingent in my same unit. Who knows how I’ll feel after that 60 days! I’d love to pack up and move to Palm Springs (kind of a dream of ours) but I have elderly parents, an autistic son with a job here, and another son who is out of the house but is “underemployed” and kind of needs us around. I think I’ll just be glad to throw off the drudgery of the 4 10-hour shifts a week, get up when I like, go to the morning gym classes I like but always miss, and maybe get this house cleaned for a change!!!
Congrats, Bullit! May your retirement years be long, happy, and healthful.
Can’t speak to how my life changed after retirement as my retirement lasted 17 days. My next retirement is in about a year and a quarter and this time it will be for good.
I had to get up at 3:30am to get to work by 5. For about three months after I retired I kept the alarm on just so I could half wake up, think, “Ha! I don’t have to go to work today!” >thwap< and go back to sleep.
Trailers are typically not so well built and a really rough road, like the haul road and the road to Inuvik are going to beat them up some. I know there are tougher ones out there now. Pioneer trailers had the best steel frame when I was selling them.
But there are two ways to resolve the shortage of sleep: in bed earlier or out of bed later. Were I single my sleep/wake cycle would be much earlier than it is now. I more often have to sleep in for work, not get up earlier than desired. Admittedly it’s a weird job.
Quite nice once we learned everything. We realized shortly after buying our first trailer that our tow rig was too small, I had a half ton pickup, we needed at a minimum a 3/4 ton. 7 miles a gallon makes for a lot of stops for fuel. We got rid of that after one season and bought new. The size of the trailer is perfect for us but the dealer that sold it to us sucks. They refuse to fix some on the stuff we have found wrong. We bought a third party extended warranty and they have saved our bacon. Also don’t run out and buy everything that people on the internet say you need. With our new trailer, I reduced the amount of stuff we carry by half. If I was starting today, I would talk to some folks that have been trailer owners for a while. That would have saved us a bunch of money.
Both are spot on! And if you don’t get a trailer and opt for a van/RV/pickupbedcamper, the 2nd is still spot on.
Edit to add: Goal is to retire when 60. I believe we could retire when I am mid-50s, but there are long-term projects I want to see completed (large capital building projects can be that way). 7 years to go.
