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I think "regular" is a matter of perspective, so I'm asking what you feel is a regular life. But then I also think that "conforming" is a matter of perspective too
To me, regular means breathing in and breathing out on a consistent basis. The rest changes day-by-day, sometimes almost imperceptibly but changed nonetheless. Conforming? Wazzat?
....Once you've reached retirement, what is a "regular" life? What do you think is a regular life for a retiree?
"Normal" has several meanings, but I am assuming that the one intended something on the order of "acceptable" or "usual."
It seemed in my parents generation that there was that kind of expected life in retirement (at least among small town, working class folks.) You stayed put to be near the family, or you moved to Florida and came home on visits in the summer.
I just decided to give up my home furnishings, take books and music, and on a very small nest egg move to Europe. People were very taken aback, my maternal cousins who are very conservative were horrified, whereas my paternal cousins had a "Wow, great!" reaction.
So, my choice of retirement was not the regular one because it involved relocating to a foreign country, but it is certainly regular in that I have a "regular" life routine, quite repetitious and thoroughly wonderful. I do many of the same "entertainment" things over and over again every day, but no one that I know does any of them...they are my own peculiar interests that I share with people on the internet in various countries, and with some distant relatives or faraway friends.
Quite frankly, I think in relocating abroad I snapped so many daily patterns and have drifted among various other foreigners for so long now that a "regular" life is whatever I want to do. There are many retired English-speaking people around me, but I purposely do not live in their neighborhoods or enclaves because they seem boring "regular" in what to me are the worst sorts of way, which is really just saying that their regular seems horribly confining to me.
Bottom line, I guess, is that I don't know what a regular life for a retiree is. I'm zooming in on seventy-eight, so maybe I needs be finding out what it is very soon.
There's a new movie out starring Robt deNiro, who at 70 finds that retirement is not all what it's cracked up to be. He joins the fashion industry as an intern. Probably fluffy, though maybe worth a look. Something I've thought of doing, LOL.
Still trying to wrap my head around "regular." Is there some other word? Regular how?
For me regular life is individual for each of us. Whatever it is that we do, do it consistently, I think can be thought of as regular. I don't think there is a universal regular life. But I've been wrong at times.
I'm with kevxu. Life in retirement can become routine and repetitious, kinda like working life was in the civilian world. The difference is, the routines and repetitions are of my own choosing and my day starts when I want it to and ends the same way. It's not driven by someone else's schedule.
Now I had thought that moving from California to the SW Missouri Ozarks was my last great adventure in life and for six years it was. Now a new adventure has emerged which may turn out to be even more challenging and, all in good time, perhaps even more enjoyable in some ways. This one is adjusting to life alone in the rural Ozarks. I always did like a good challenge! It stirs the blood.
I'm with kevxu. Life in retirement can become routine and repetitious, kinda like working life was in the civilian world. The difference is, the routines and repetitions are of my own choosing and my day starts when I want it to and ends the same way. It's not driven by someone else's schedule.
Now I had thought that moving from California to the SW Missouri Ozarks was my last great adventure in life and for six years it was. Now a new adventure has emerged which may turn out to be even more challenging and, all in good time, perhaps even more enjoyable in some ways. This one is adjusting to life alone in the rural Ozarks. I always did like a good challenge! It stirs the blood.
Me too, Curmudgeon. I like a good challenge, too. Even the hard ones!
The last thing I'd want is a "regular life" as most people perceive it. I thankfully had a very different and adventuresome life and that became regular for me. Now I am bored to death not having MY regular life. Age and reduced physical ability are the reason.
For me, it's expanding the life I used to squeeze in around work and work related stuff.
You said it perfectly for me. Right now (and for years) work has taken the highest percentage of my time. Things like my boat, playing music, riding motorcycles and other hobbies have been crammed into "spare" time. At 63 I'm beginning to look at retirement (with the help of the great people on this forum) and I think for me it simply boils down to dialing down the work percentage and dialing up the percentage of time spent doing these other things that I enjoy. I'll always work a little, because it's one of the things I enjoy doing, but in my business I can control the volume of work I accept. Plus, the thought of no new cash coming in ever again kinda creeps me out. I probably need to work on that.
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