Retirements are typically framed like an extended vacation. Our vacations are planned play time. We seek to be more active, outdoors, or visiting places. Retirement will be when we get to put our feet up and relax, play unlimited rounds of golf or hands of bridge, or take off to travel monthly. Retirement can often be thought of as play time, or at least a change from working. Either retirement or vacation, we wish to do what we can’t do while working.
A good vacation will match what we need for a short period of time meaning: the right amount of rest, activity, fun, and planning. One of my favorite vacations was taking my daughter to Paris for her 16th birthday. Everyday had an adventure, and we adjusted the schedule to match our interests. We rented an apartment, varied our dinners between what we gathered in the local market versus dining out. We left time to meander in the museums and added a couple of guided excursions. I learned on that trip what type of art I like. Who would have thought it would take 50 years for me to learn that about myself? What a sweet experience to have this revelation linked to a magical time with my daughter. This was a good vacation.
That experience was possible because of many factors. I had a desire to do something special for my daughter’s 16th birthday. It was a destination we were interested in and I had access to friends to assist in the planning. There were also my prior experiences with what I liked and didn’t like to do on a vacation. Lastly the novelty of being in a foreign land with limited skills translating or speaking the language added a pleasant edge to every day which was exciting in being successful doing what we had planned. This vacation required quite a bit of energy versus other vacations which were more for charging my energy reserves.
Is Retirement an extended Vacation?
How do vacation experiences relate to retirement? To answer this question, you must first answer what retirement means to you. Retirement could be an extended vacation, or it could be a shift from doing things to make money to doing things for my personal enjoyment which may or may not include making money doing them.
Regardless of your definition, a good retirement is similar to a good vacation in it will be aligned to the right amount of rest, activity, fun, and planning that we need at any given time. It requires we are aware of what brings us happiness and what robs us of the same. In both cases it is a departure from our work life.
Unfortunately, many people continue to work because of the fear of boredom, their fear of running out of money, or not having anything else they think they can do. Use your experience around vacations to prepare you for a retirement you will love. Succeed in shifting from working for pay to working for you.
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