Chasing Adventure

I failed at retirement. I have come to the conclusion that retirement is harder than working.

Well, I guess I only “kinda” retired, so I only “kinda” failed. Greg didn’t retire at all, so he is still working 8-10 hour days. It’s not fun being retired without him! I can only read so much without feeling like a bump on a log, and I get antsy just hanging out. When the market isn’t busy, we go and do things together, but that’s not all the time.

July 6th was my last day of work. We had yet to sell the house, but construction was done. Going from working full-time (most times more than full-time) and nearly full-time construction to not having anything to do was shocking to my system.

For July and August, I was in the gym at least 5 days a week, sometimes twice a day since I swam a mile 3 days a week. Best shape of my life! I also took gun lessons so I can apply for my concealed weapons permit. I’ll call July “retired”.

In August, after we had a contract on the house, I worked on selling all the furniture and our possessions (outside of sentimental, Christmas, and tools). I also picked up a contract commercial painting job for a couple weeks, because why not. I was “not retired” in August.

In September, we moved into Maverick and to Tennessee. At that point, I immersed myself in all things RV. There were forums, blogs, manuals, etc. to help me learn about living in and taking care of our new home. Never mind the travel planning to make the move. Between the move and the learning curve, I was “not retired” in September.

In October, we did a lot more fun activities – hiking, festivals, music, visiting the kids, etc. Definitely “retired” in October.

In November, we went down to FL to visit family. I volunteered to remotely help a friend with his training business. There were also many tasks dealing with Maverick (new fridge) and travel planning to get to Melbourne, FL and then Fort Pierce, FL. I’ll call November “semi-retired”.

In December, I helped Uncle Jim with his 1940s trains and massive set-up and we helped work on the farm. We also had to deal with the shower leak (ugh). Let’s call December “semi-retired”.

In January, I tiled Uncle Jim’s large back patio and helped my parents re-do edging on their patio. Definitely “not retired” in January.

Recently, I picked up a remote Project Manager position (not full-time) to help a friend, while she helps me not be bored and keep my mind active. I’ve also signed up for the Project Management Professional course so I can sit for my PMP exam, something I have wanted to do for a while. I’m also waiting on another friends’ training platform to be complete so I can manage that learning environment.

So, in the 8 months since I “retired”, I have spent about 6 of those months working in some sort of way. Did I epically fail retirement, or just slightly fail? The Uncles on the farm still get up everyday and work on something even though they are in their 80s! I do think retirement is harder than working.

I do take the time to enjoy hobbies that I was not able to do much of previously, outside of reading in my hammock. I have a couple cross-stitch projects going, I am cooking fun meals, I taught myself how to make a mesh ribbon wreath (now I have 2), I’m trying (and failing) to learn how to play guitar, I am well-versed in RV living/maintenance, and I’m sewing again. We get to spend great time with family and friends, too! Now that we are settled back in TN, Greg is helping around the campground trimming trees, etc. and I’m going to help with the books and the gardens.

Maybe it will be easier to fully retire when Greg does? Either way, we like being able to work side-by-side at the desk counter or outside, even though we are working on different projects. God told us that we would need to be ‘mobile and available’, which we still very much are. We still plan to hike, travel, and enjoy whatever adventures God brings to us. We are definitely still living our best life being nomads in the mountains of TN!

~Katie