Second Year Retirement Highlights

Second Year Retirement

Our second year of retirement was wonderful, except for a couple of months which were quite difficult.  We settled into a routine when not traveling that was comfortable and companionable.   I can honestly say I do not miss working.  We were also able to travel extensively and it was amazing.

I am writing this post primarily for my husband and myself.  It is like a journal of our experiences.  Because it will likely be boring for those who do not know us, it will not be posted on camping social media sites.

Our first year retirement summary, Retirement: First Year Highlights , is also a blog post.

Daily Routine

The time that we previously spent working is now being taken up by a slow, comfortable pace of living.  We start our days later now, with ample sleep.  Most of our meals are at home and are generally healthier than before retirement.    We work out at the gym about four times a week,  me with classes and my husband doing a combination of exercising and socializing.  Our days start around 7:00 and we are usually asleep before 11:00.  Sadly, we have officially become old folks!

Family Time

We now have much more time for family and we see them every opportunity, but we do try not to encroach upon their lives too much.   It is great to know that we can be there for them if they need us without having to worry about working.

I have been working on a family cookbook since I retired and finally finished it.  I gave family members copies of it on Thanksgiving.  They seemed to like it and the personal notes in it.   It is nice to have all my favorite recipes in one spot and on line.

We were able to take a couple of road trips to Tampa to visit our son.  Retirement has enabled us to have much more time for trips like those.

I am trying to keep my brain challenged, so I spend a good bit of time doing Luminosity games, Sudoku, and others.  For some reason, I find them relaxing and somewhat addictive.

Planning trips and later writing about them is also something I enjoy.  I know that one day, we will not be able to go like we do now and I am working to capture our memories.   Also, in a small way, I believe I am helping some new campers navigate their way.  I have received responses from several who let me know how much they appreciated the blog.

Yardword and housework also take up parts of our days and it is good to be able to devote more time to them.

Lastly, we watch way too much television.  We try to limit it and honestly do get a little sick of it, but there you have it.

Our Big Event

Knee replacement for my husband is something we have been working on since we first retired.  It was delayed by needed vein surgery that was done in our first year of retirement.  Unfortunately, there were complications that resulted in pulmonary embolisms.   Then, we had a period of time on blood thinners and testing to see if it was advisable to move forward.  It pushed the surgery to August of our second year.

He got through the surgery fine.  While he was at a higher risk for blood clots, thankfully there were none!  However, his rehabilitation was harder than for most because he had significant swelling related to the vein issue.  It was very,  very painful for him and challenging for me as well because I helped him with his rehab at home.  Wow, it was tough!    It was scary too because I wasn’t sure at first that he would even get back to where he was before the surgery.

He is now much better and we are told his knee will continue to improve many months after the surgery.   We are so glad to have this behind us.

The Inevitable Decline

We both are very aware of the effects of aging.  My husband had the bad knee for several years and though older,  I was much more active.   Now, his  knee is better and we are hoping he will be able to do more.  It seems that now I am going to be holding us back.   An orthopedist told me that I will eventually need shoulder replacement.  Additionally, a hip that was only occasionally an issue before has become quite painful.

Not to be all doom and gloom, but these things make me acutely aware that we had better go and do what we want to do while we still can.

Recreation

Yes, we do have lots of fun!  I think it makes it that much sweeter knowing that this is not something that is just going to go on forever.

Camping in the T@G

We have been camping for just over two years now and we both love it.  I think we got along better in that small teardrop camper than we do in our very roomy home.   There is so much beautiful country to see.  There is also the feeling of overcoming obstacles and working together.

Our retirement goal is to camp in all fifty states.  Toward that goal, we were fortunate to take two amazing month-long trips.  The first west all the way to California and the second north to the Upper Peninsula.  Both were incredible!

Our summer trip included the nüCamp 18 rally in Sugarcreek, Ohio.  We also attended the Key Lime Rally in Gulf Shores and the Tiny Christmas Campout in Pensacola.  Lastly, we went camping with several friends at Stone Mountain.  We have so many wonderful memories of those trips!  I feel so blessed that we had this time together.

Next Level Camping

Our little T@G gave us so many wonderful days camping that we knew we were all in for much more.  We had been looking for something that offered a few more amenities—a bathroom and a place to be comfortable when inside during the day.   The nüCamp T@B 400 was our choice.

We loved it immediately, but felt that the tongue weight on our tow vehicle was under too much strain.  So, we traded our tow vehicle for something bigger.   Lots of changes in our camping world occurred that week in November!

We were able to use our new toys on our last camping trip of the year to the Tiny Christmas Campout.  We did some camping in South Carolina on the way.  Another state for our map!

We made quite a bit of progress in our goal of camping in all fifty states.  Still a long way to go though!

Big Cities

We were fortunate to be able to travel to two big cities during our second year, Los Angeles in January and Chicago in July.   Both cities were exciting to visit—amazing food, interesting museums, and lots to see and do.  We like to stay at hotels in the heart of big cities to be able to see as much as possible.

Dancing

Ballroom dancing has been a big part of our lives for several years.  We are members of a dance club and two dance groups.  From the sound of that, you might assume we are good dancers.  That is not the case, but we do enjoy it and we get to spend time with some truly wonderful people.

The declining knee has resulted in declining dancing over the last few years, but I hope we can dance more in the next year.

Second year retirement was a great for us!  We look forward to our third year of retirement and whatever adventures it may bring.