Retirement at Last

Although my official retirement day was the 2nd of June, due to two weeks of PTO I really retired May 16th. I think it may be time for an update on my first few weeks of freedom. Are things as I thought or am I longing to get back?

What's left of Work Life?

Honestly and most surprisingly to me, I haven't thought about work at all. Not one single second. However, I have thought about the people I have enjoyed working with and I miss them. It's mostly little things, certain behaviors of colleagues or just non work related small talk. Fortunately, I still continue to see some of my previous colleagues outside of work which dampens this. On the other hand, now that I am thinking about work there are some folks and meetings I enjoy not having to deal with anymore. I'll leave it at that.

Here are a couple of things that worked well for me entering this new phase of life:

• Participate in online retirement and financial planning forums years ahead of retirement. There is so much valuable first hand experience and knowledge that people are happy to share to help planning financial independence and defining own expectations. Published articles on the internet around these topics are generally useless, just as financial advisors - both have typically their own agenda. 

• Announce retirement early. This is against most advice, but worked well for me. Not only were folks informed as this diffused through the company, but this also led to valuable discussions with like-minded. Most importantly, it provided management time to plan ahead and combine my departure with an unrelated reorganization leaving me in the believe that things will be fine without me.

• Go out with a bang. I was very fortunate to have had a fantastic retirement party at a colleague's house combined with a colleague's MBA graduation party. This event had the right participants and amount of alcohol to not be forgotten!

Celebration Cakes for Two Major Events

The Retired Life

I don't think I have comprehended retired life yet. After all, a few weeks into this could still be PTO. However, as I am usually away from the house while on vacation I do start to realize some unexpected changes living at home:

• Always just wearing flip flops, shorts and a T-shirt is amazing!

• Shopping is so much better! No full parking lots or rushing customers, better stocked vegetables and meats and easy to find customer service.

• Driving around is peaceful. People drive slower and less aggressive than during rush hours.

• Apparently, I am much slower too. I haven't accomplished anything and the day is over. What happened to all those hours? I start many things, forget half of them and hardly finish anything that takes longer than a few minutes. Hopefully, this will fix itself.

Some Recent Trips

• Hanging Rock State Park 5/26-5/28: Went camping with four friends from the running club. Hiked 11 miles on Friday and 8 miles on Saturday. Fortunately, the weather remained stable Saturday night, but heavy rain started Sunday morning. I was happy I slept in my new van and not in my tent!

Waiting for Sunset at Moore's Wall

Pilot Mountain on Left

• Old Fort & Pisgah National Forest 6/2-6/5: Four of us runners went to Old Fort for a long weekend staying in a nice AirBNB. Sunday was the big event of either running the Ridge to Rails 1/2 Marathon or a 6 mile loop on newly built mountain bike trails. I had decided to run the 1/2 marathon, but it proved to be quite difficult with many uphill hikes and fast downhill runs. I finished 30th out of 107. My legs were so sore I could not run for 5 days!

Ridge to Rail 1/2 Marathon on the Katsuma Trail Parallel to I-40

Mile 8 or so

Beer and Cinnamon Rolls at the Finish Line 

• Medoc State Park 6/10-6/11: This was a quick one night trip to Medoc State Park. I arrived at the campground at 11 AM, set up my stuff and hiked 7 miles. Skipping breakfast in the morning I was really hungry and devoured some steak skillets I had prepared the night before. After a beautiful night with campfire I ran 8 miles on Sunday morning before packing up at around 1 PM. I needed this trip to have some alone time. Started also reading The Lost City of Z by David Grann. Can't beat a 1.5 day trip for $22 plus gas.

Campsite at Medoc Mountain State Park

Steak Skillets for Lunch on Both Days